Triumph of Chaos (Red Magic) (24 page)

I thought for a minute. “You mean Isis?”

He snorted. “Prissy little thing, isn’t she? Just because her worship spread with the Romans and mine didn’t. Doesn’t give her a right to lord it over a fellow, now does it?”

I shook my head, not really listening to him. The tea, although hot, was surprisingly refreshing, and I drained my glass quickly.

“More?” Set raised his eyebrow and I nodded.

“It’s different.”

“The Egyptians are different. I may not get out much, but I’m happy here. This is a good land for me.”

“It’s like a furnace out there!”

He smiled, and for a minute, his eyes looked like fire. “I
am
a god of chaos. Surely you’ve realized our connection with fire?”

I thought about Loki and Pele, and I nodded. “But why did you want to talk to me?”

He leaned back on his elbows. “I know what you’ve been considering. It’s not a good idea.”

I spilled my tea, burning my hand. Set ignored me and kept speaking.

“Bargains with gods never turn out the way you mortals expect, but this is a particularly bad bargain. Didn’t you learn your lesson with Loki? Gods can twist the truth.”

“I don’t think it’s any of your business.” I tried to sound cold, but my voice shook with anger.

“You’re a Red. That makes it my business.”

“I won’t be for much longer.”

He stared at me levelly for a moment. “That’s exactly the problem.”

“What do you mean?”

“I don’t generally meddle with Red Witches. Hell, I don’t generally meddle with mortals, period. But I don’t mind you.”

“I don’t want a patron,” I said too quickly.

He narrowed his eyes. “I wasn’t offering.”

“Sorry.”

His nostrils flared. “I just mean that if someone has to be a Red Witch, you’re a nice change from the last few millennia.”

“How so?”

He rolled his eyes. “Do you really think the other Red Witches have ever cared much about balance?”

“But you’re a god of chaos. Why would you want balance?”

“Chaos
is
balance, girl. It’s a force of nature, and according to most of the old stories, it’s the creative force that birthed the universe. But that doesn’t mean it has to rage unchecked. You want to check it, and I like that.”

I stared at him skeptically, and he pointed to the tent’s opening.

“There is nowhere on earth where balance is more important than in the desert. It’s a whole world on the tip of a pin.”

I started to understand. “You don’t want Hecate to destroy Egypt.”

“I don’t want her to destroy anything, but I know enough about chaos to know that it has a long reach. This war will damage my people and my country, regardless of the outcome. But if the world dissolves into chaos, we will be destroyed.”

“You actually sound like you care.”

His eyes burned with intensity. “I do.”

“Then tell me one thing.” I leaned forward. “Why did you kidnap Izzy? That wasn’t exactly a friendly gesture.” My voice was sharp with sarcasm, and Set winced.

“That had nothing to do with any of this. My interest in Isadora was different.”

“Different how?”

Set looked down at the empty glass in his hand. “She belongs to my sister, and there’s not much I wouldn’t do for the chance to gain power over that puffed-up goddess.”

I glared at him. “So you took Izzy to piss off your sister?”

“The girl is more than an ordinary mortal. I believe that Isis is grooming her to become her daughter.”

“She raised her from birth. Of course she treats her like a daughter.”

Set shook his head. “That’s not it. I have a suspicion that my sister wants to make a god out of the girl.”

His words startled me. “Is that even possible?”

“It has been done before, in the distant past, but always with disastrous results. Mortals and gods each have their role in the universe, and there are some lines that shouldn’t be crossed.”

“You sound like an old prude.”

Set flashed his teeth. “Believe me, I am anything but. But Isadora is important to my sister, and I took her to prevent Isis from altering the order of things.”

“That still doesn’t make sense.”

Set shrugged. “The quarrels of siblings run deep.”

I was about to object, but then I thought about Loki and Baldur. “Maybe. But why did you release her?”

He snarled. “I didn’t have anything to do with that. If it were up to me, I’d have kept her indefinitely. That fiend Loki took her from me.”

“You’re really not making me want to trust you, you know. You just said you wish you still had my best friend locked up.”

Set looked bitter. “Isis bound me with an oath after her release that I would do the girl no more harm. I cannot capture her again, and whatever my sister does to the girl will have repercussions.”

“I don’t know about that. But I know I don’t trust you.”

Set smiled. “Good. Reds shouldn’t be too trusting.”

I threw up my hands in exasperation. “And you want me to stay a Red? You aren’t making it sound very attractive.”

“It’s not. But like me, you are a keeper of chaos. This is not a responsibility that can be ignored or taken lightly.”

I almost burst into tears, but I kept myself in check. “But it’s not a responsibility I want. I haven’t done a very good job so far.”

Set stared at me, his eyes hard. “Do you really not understand,” he said finally, “that you are the only thing that has kept the world intact for the last two years? Without you, Hecate would have already plunged the earth into Armageddon. You are the single thing standing between us and destruction.”

His words startled me, but a tiny piece of me wanted to believe him. “Us?”

“Everyone, gods and mortals alike. Hecate will not leave any alive who do not worship evil: her world will be one of darkness and terror, and the mortals who survive will likely kill each other off in short order.”

I shook my head, trying to deny his words. “But I don’t want to be a Red anymore.”

“Then everything is lost.” His tone was final, and I felt as if he’d just dismissed me completely. It made me angry, but what could I say? I’d told him what I wanted. It didn’t matter what he thought. Still, a niggling fear wormed its way into my mind.

I spent the night in the tent. Set wasn’t there when I woke up, but I could feel the protective wards he’d set around the structure. I boiled some water for tea and was on my second cup when the god reappeared. His strange half-animal appearance was less jarring than when we first met, but he still wasn’t a god I wanted to get too friendly with.

“Have you thought any more about your choice?”

“I have.”

He looked at me expectantly.

“It’s not something I’m prepared to discuss with you.”

Set sighed. “That probably means it’s something I don’t want to hear.”

I shrugged.

“Let it be known that I tried to avert the coming disaster.” He spoke loudly, as if for the benefit of unseen listeners, and I glanced around the tent nervously.

“You told me what you know. And I appreciate the fact that you got me out of Athens.”

He laughed. “You would be useless if you were broken by torture.”

My stomach churned. “Were they really going to torture me?”

“There’s video footage of what happened at the museum. The staff at the embassy knew who you were and what you had done from the moment you walked in.”

I swallowed nervously. “But isn’t torturing a teenager a little extreme?”

“Nothing is too extreme to those fighting terror. Things have changed in the years since the Twin Towers fell.” Set banked the coals and said casually, “Did you know that the definition of what constitutes torture now is far beyond that of the Spanish Inquisition?”

“No.” I looked at him closely. “Seriously?”

He nodded. “Man can do terrible things in the name of peace and justice. And it’s not likely you would have received much sympathy: your attack was fairly brutal.”

I shuddered. “Then I really owe you for getting me out of there.”

“Why
did
you destroy the museum?”

I hesitated. I wasn’t sure how much of my theory to share with this god. “I saw an enemy, and I lost control.”

Set clicked his tongue. “You know better than that. I’m not against a good disaster every now and again, but murder is quite another matter.”

I bristled at his tone. “Look, it was an accident. If I weren’t a Red, it would have never happened.”

Set didn’t answer, but the fabric that made up the tent began to unwind itself. The tent melted around us, and the rich carpet under my feet was replaced by desert sand.

“I hope you make a wise choice in the end, Darlena.”

“Aren’t you going to help me get home?”

Set raised one eyebrow at me. “You aren’t willing to help me, and yet you still expect my support?”

I glared at him.

Finally, he relented. “There’s money and a passport in this bag.” He pulled a sack out of thin air and tossed it to me.

I hesitated, looking around at the sand. “What good will that do me out here?”

Set chuckled. “So you want the full fairy godmother treatment? Aren’t we greedy.”

I crossed my arms to control the Red magic that surged in me. I had the sudden urge to blast a hole in the desert. The god just looked at me, eyeing the sparks that danced on my skin. He seemed almost amused.

“A truck will be along in about five minutes. It’s headed to Cairo. I trust you don’t need me to hold your hand on the way to the airport?”

“I can handle it.” I squinted at the hazy horizon. “Are you sure a truck is coming?”

“Would a god lie to you?”

“Yes. Especially a god who kidnapped my best friend.”

“Interesting.”

Set was watching me with his head cocked to one side again. It made me nervous. “What?”

“That’s the second time you’ve referred to her in that manner. Would she feel the same after all this, I wonder?”

I shrugged self-consciously. “I don’t know. But they’re just words: it doesn’t matter what I call Izzy.”

“Words have power, Darlena.” Set’s voice was soft, and I realized he was dissolving. “More power than you imagine.”

“Wait! Will you try to stop Hecate and Rochelle and all the crazy Red gods?” I called out to the wind, but Set had faded completely.

For a moment, I thought I heard his voice whisper the words, “Will you?” But the desert was quiet. I shook my head, deciding that I had imagined Set’s response.

Before I had time to think about the strange conversation, I spotted a cloud of dust on the horizon. I stood up and waved my bag in the air over my head, and a ratty pick-up truck sped into view.

The bed of the truck was full of men. Some were leaning on a wooden railing built around the bed like a cage while others squatted in the back. They were packed in tighter than should have been possible, and I eyed them nervously. The driver leaned out the window.

“Where’s your camel?” The man laughed, but it wasn’t a mean sound.

I laughed too. “Ran off last night!” I lied. “I was out here camping, but now I’m stuck.”

Hands reached for me, and I was pulled aboard the truck. The smell of hard-working men who hadn’t bathed filled my nostrils. I tried to hold my breath, but that didn’t work. No one questioned my story, so I supposed that I should feel grateful for being rescued so simply, but the press of bodies and the smell made the heat even worse, and I breathed shallowly.
Set couldn’t have made this easy, could he?

I watched the scenery fly by, marveling at the rocky, barren desert. Once or twice, I caught some of the men in the truck staring at me with a fierce expression, but they dropped their eyes as soon as I stared back. After we’d been riding for what must have been an hour, hands reached for me, pointing off to the horizon. I turned and gasped.

“Are those really the pyramids?” Three triangles were just visible in the distance, and we moved toward them at breakneck speed. The men in the truck didn’t answer, but they smiled at me and nodded.

I watched the ancient tombs grow closer and closer, and when we were passing in the shadow of the smaller pyramid, I felt the presence of spirits, much like I had in the Underworld when I’d gone after my parents. I shivered. Looking around, and I noticed that a few of the men kissed their hands and made a swift gesture against evil. Whatever I’d felt, they clearly felt it too.

After the creepy sensation of being right by the pyramids, I wasn’t prepared for what I saw when we passed them. A city curled around, coming right up to the area surrounding the ancient wonders.

I shook my head in surprise as the truck merged onto a real road.
Set’s right,
I thought.
Egypt is different.
If the drive across the desert was bumpy, I was not prepared for the drive on pavement. The truck accelerated, and I slammed against the wooden cage surrounding the truck bed. None of the men seemed to be the least bit concerned, but I felt the swaying motion of the vehicle and realized that it was likely that we would flip over or crash or both.

I squeezed my eyes shut and crossed my fingers. I didn’t want to risk using magic in case chaos got the better of me and I caused a wreck, but I didn’t need to worry. The truck screeched to a stop, and my eyes popped open. We were unharmed, and the men began streaming off the truck. A few reached up to help me down, but they had already walked away when I turned to thank them.

Helplessly, I watched the men walk into the city, and then I turned to the driver. “Thanks!”

He grinned, showing two gold teeth. “Baksheesh?”

“Huh?”

He held out his hand, and I understood.

“Oh! Right!” I dug in the bag Set had given me and pulled out an American ten. I handed it to the driver, and his eyes got wide.

“Welcome, welcome to Egypt, miss!” He sped away before I could ask if I’d paid him enough. I shrugged. It shouldn’t surprise me when people behaved oddly: no one was ever normal around me.

I joined the press of people on the street, looking for someone I could ask for help. It surprised me to see so many street signs in English; I hadn’t expected that from a country in North Africa. In no time at all, I had tracked down a taxi and was flying through the streets of Cairo, headed toward the airport.