It was bitter at first then it turned sweet, just like death, and it went down like lead, its presence felt over every inch of my body like a shield worn on the inside.
Even if I hadn't known what it was, after drinking it I'd be certain.
But it didn't make me feel invincible just yet.
No. I only felt that when Drew took my hand and kissed the back of it like I'd done to him so many times since we met.
"What do you say? Should we go save our family?"
I smiled and kissed him back.
"One final time," I said.
And it would be. I'd make sure of it.
Drew
Yaya walked us to the front door and just before we left, she held my hands and spat on either side of me to ward off evil then she proceeded to do the same with Sett.
"May the goddess Soteria watch over you always and forever keep you safe."
I kissed Yaya's cheek and felt her warmth radiate to me. I really should have confided in her sooner. I should have told her what was going on as soon as Sett had cleared my mind from Horus's compulsions. But better late than never. I just hoped this time would be the last we'd ever need all these wards and protections.
I walked out of the house and back into Horus's porch and when Sett joined me and Spiti's door was shut, he kicked Horus's front door in just like he'd done before.
I followed him inside and froze everyone around us who looked at us with equal amounts of shock and horror. I took in the room disgusted by the level of undress of some of the men. I didn't know if I never noticed before or if I'd been ordered not to notice but my throat filled with bile at the view.
All this time I'd believed I'd had it worst, I'd been one of Horus's favorite toys both in and out of the bedroom but at least…at least I got to go home at the end of the day. The ones he didn't favor as much, the ones in here, the boys and men who never left—who could never leave—had it so, so much worse.
They weren't just disposable in Horus's fight to ascend to his ultimate throne, they were puppets, marionettes who were never truly free to make choices, not even given the illusion of freedom like I had.
I stopped in front of a big, topless, bulky man and took a deep breath.
Why had I always seen him and others like him like the enemy? Like Horus's faithful little soldiers when no one wanted to be here. Maybe they had, in the beginning when they’d sworn allegiance to him like I had, but Horus didn't like choice. And this man, all of these men, they were trapped here.
"I'm sorry," I told him.
I would do better. If—whenwe defeated Horus, I'd take care of them. I'd set them free.
"Drew, are you okay?" Sett asked from the other end of the room.
I turned to him with some hesitation. There was a part of me that didn't want to let this man, any man in this room, alone. I wanted to let them go now. To give them their lives back. But as long as Horus was around, whether frozen in time or not, they were all a security risk.
"Yeah," I croaked. "Yeah, I'm okay."
I joined Sett and together we ran down to the basement, where just like before, we found Gene, Anubis and Horus frozen still.
I looked at all three of them, running through all the options at our disposal. Trying to figure out the best way forward even though we already had a plan in mind.
Sett worked his sand magic around the room while in my head I walked up to Horus and planted the scarab in his chest like I'd done before. But I wasn't about to make the same mistake again.
Instead I approached my bound brother and held him tight. I needed him to be safe. I needed him to survive this time. I couldn't take any more deaths. Not his, not Sett’s, not mine. I needed us all to live. Only one person in the room deserved to die and it wasn't us.
I held him tight and closed my eyes, focusing on unwrapping my magic from around him until he hugged me back.
"Drew. I was so worried," he said.
"You were worried? Are you kidding?" I glared at my brother but I squeezed his pretty face with my fingers like I used to do when he was little.
