"Yeah. That. So…let's go."
He slipped from my grip and rushed through the house like a man on fire. Until, that was, he came up against a dark oak door. He stared at it as if it was more than a physical barrier and I came to stand next to him.
The fear, the anticipation, the hesitation. I'd felt it all every time I'd been on the cusp of freedom. Every time there was an opportunity to put an end to Horus and his cruel ways.
I squeezed his hand and took a step to the side as Drew let himself in. I pinned myself against the wall and listened for any reaction, any hints that Horus hadn't been frozen while I summoned my khopesh in my hand.
A second later, Drew appeared at the door and beckoned me in.
I relaxed for a moment as I entered what appeared to be an office with dark red walls, stuffy and dim, that smelled of fermented tobacco and cruelty.
A man stood to attention by the desk on the other end of the room and another, more sinister man with dark hair and dark eyes just like his soul. I would recognize him anywhere, any time, under any disguise. It didn't matter what body he possessed, how different he looked, his spirit was as tarnished as anything I'd ever seen and there was no hiding such filth.
He was still as a statue and so was the poor kid acting as his bodyguard. He appeared so small, so vulnerable like this. If it were anyone else I might have felt pity, but this was the same man who had put me through eternal torment and had killed my husband. There was no shred of kindness left in my heart for him.
"It worked," I whispered as if speaking any louder would cause him to awaken, and approached him, scarab at the ready in my hand.
I reached for his chest and pressed the scarab onto his skin. The silver legs of the jewel dug into my brother’s skin and drops of blood dripped down. I put all my focus and energy into the magical siphon and tried to give it life.
That was when I noticed the smoke.
The smoke from his cigar wafted in the air and his stomach sunk.
Crap.
"Hello, brother," Horus said and turned toward me.
Drew yelped. I took a step back. My brother rose from his chair and his axe appeared in his hand.
"I can't say I missed you," he said in a tone that was almost like a hiss, and spittle flew from his mouth. "But I can thank you for bringing me a present."
He brought up his hand to touch the scarab, but, on instinct, I blocked his axe with my khopesh and yanked it out of his chest and pulled back before he could react, tripping on something and sending my khopesh skidding across the room.
"Give me the scarab, Sett!" he growled, feeling the bloody spot where the scarab had been only seconds ago.
"Your words have no effect on me, Horus!" I growled back.
His whole body trembled before he composed himself and his rage turned to amusement. "Hard way it is," he said and turned his back on me.
I frowned.
What was he doing? Why wasn't he attacking?
"Kill him," he said, and Drew launched at me from the side like an animal chasing his prey.
I stepped back and grabbed him before he could inflict any damage on me, not because I cared about getting hurt, but because I knew how fucking broken he'd be when he came out of this compulsion.
He pulled his leg back and kicked me right to the core. The khopesh flew out of my hand and skidded across the room. I let him go and smirked.
My Drew packs a punch. Or a kick as it were.
"You think this is going to save you?" I asked Horus as I deflected another attack from Drew.
Horus raised an eyebrow and took a drag of his cigar as if this was nothing but a small inconvenience.
"You think you can survive me again?" he asked as he blew smoke onto the face of the man standing by his desk. He didn't flinch or blink.
Even with a different face he was so punchable. So disgusting. I felt sorry for the man this body belonged to because no one, and I meant no one, deserved to have Horus inside them, to take over their body, their existence, their life and sully anything they'd accomplished in this world.
