"What's going on? What are we—" he started when Sett stepped forward and blew sand in his face.
Gene turned away and coughed but once the sand cleared he looked at me as if for the first time.
"Drew! You came," he said.
I glanced at Sett and thanked him silently. That was good thinking. If Anubis had been compelled nothing guaranteed Gene hadn't too.
"Of course I came. You're my little brother. It's my job to protect you. Idiot." I rubbed his shaven head and Sett broke his chains.
“Everything is…so weird. I don’t understand what’s going on,” he said.
“What do you mean?” I narrowed my eyes and stared at my brother as if that would help me understand the damage Horus could have done to him.
“I…I don’t know. It’s as if…” He ran his hand down his chest, where Anubis had cut through him before. “As if the last couple of days keep repeating themselves. As if I keep dying and coming back to life.”
Impossible.
He shouldn’t remember. He shouldn’t have felt his previous deaths or any of the other loops. He shouldn’t remember them.
“I’m not sure how…” I started and caressed his face. “I’ll explain later,” I said. I hoped the shock of his deaths would fade for him like it had faded for Sett and I. I hoped he’d forget.
"What about Ani?" he asked, turning to look at Anubis.
"Don't worry. Nobody's getting left behind," I said and gave him his key. "Now go. Get home. Yaya is waiting for you. She's eager to see you again. We'll be right behind."
Gene took the spare key and stumbled toward the basement door when he slid the key into the keyhole and disappeared back into the safety of our ancestral home.
"He's good. He's safe," Sett confirmed, taking me in his arms and I savored the embrace for a moment before I let go and focused on Anubis.
Time unwrapped from around him like a silk cloth dropping to the floor and he faced his father.
"Father? Is that you?" he asked.
Sett stepped forward and broke Anubis's chains.
"Are you okay? Are you still compelled?"
"Compelled? Compelled by what?" he asked then turned to face the frozen Horus to his side. "Oh. Is that…is that who I think it is?"
Sett and I both nodded.
"I have no idea what happened. I don't remember anything."
I narrowed my eyes. That must mean everything Anubis had told us in the previous iteration was all Horus's doing. As if he wanted us to know what he'd done. As if he wanted to brag. I guessed narcissists needed validation no matter how powerful.
"Drew? Are you okay?" Sett asked and I nodded, shaking myself back to the moment.
"Yeah. Are…are you ready?"
Sett's eyes went wide at my reply and I was about to ask him what was wrong when I heard it.
"You came back. You truly must love me," Horus said. "Anubis, kill your father."
I turned to face my master and tormentor and fear washed all over me.
Fuck! What happened?
I’d lost my concentration on my power, my thoughts had wavered and now Horus was awake as a consequence.
