Page 35 of Her Dark Powers
“That’s him,” West murmured softly. “That’s Ptah as he always was. His body hasn’t died once. If Apophis’s followers condemned him to that sarcophagus ritual, then he’s been the same for thousands of years, never dying, never reincarnating...”
“Never living...” Tory added quietly. She had tears in her eyes again. “West, I was in that box for a few hours, and it was terrifying. How has he lived so long alone in the dark? What could that have done to his mind? I hate to say it, but even if we did find him, is releasing him the right thing to do?”
West’s eyes widened. “Are you saying we should abandon him?”
We all stared at her in shock. Leave Ptah now that we knew he was still alive?
She looked down at Kitty Cat who sat up on her lap and miaowed loudly. She rubbed his head and sighed. “I’m just... Can you even imagine being locked somewhere like that, alone in the dark for... You’re saying thousands of years? What if we release him, this powerful god, and he’s... gone mad?”
Silence fell around the table. I had to admit, as much as I hated it, that she had a point.
“Did he sound crazy when you spoke to him?” West asked after a few moments.
“No, he didn’t... I just don’t want to rush into anything. You said we already did that last time.”
“Maybe if we found the sarcophagus, there might be some way of communicating with him before we let him out?” Jasper suggested. “You could talk to him and make a decision once you’ve been able to talk to him again.”
“Could you do that?” I asked him.
He nodded. “I think so. If we actually had the sarcophagus, I might be able to make some kind of connection and take Tory with me. We’d both enter his mind and be able to communicate, but we’d need the sarcophagus.”
“We’ve never been able to track him down before, so why would now be any different?” Jack queried. “We still have no idea where they are keeping him.”
“No, but we know where they are going to be,” Wesley murmured.
We all looked down the table at him, and he blushed at the sudden attention. “I mean, it’s obvious, isn’t it? If Apophis is trying to create a new Ennead around himself, one powerful enough to allow him to leave the underworld, then it will need to be formed where he is—in Amenti.”
“You’re saying Coulton has to get all of the gods he kidnapped down into the underworld?” West asked. “How on earth is he going to do that?”
“Well…” Wesley paused to consider. “He could—”
He was interrupted by Teddy’s phone going off. Teddy pulled it out, going to turn it off, but then he saw the screen and answered it. “Thompson, any news?” He listened for a moment and nodded. “No, that’s great. We’ll make a few plans and we’ll... Fine, yes, we’ll let you know when and where. No, I get it.”
He hung up and looked over at West. “That was one of my contacts at the Home Office. Hattie’s been sighted.”
Tory sat up straight. “She has? She’s okay? Where?”
“At Heathrow. She just got on a plane to Cairo with a group of other people. He’s sending me the CCTV footage now.”
“We’ll need to reach out and find out where they go next. I can see if one of my contacts back in Cairo can tail them when they get off the plane,” I said, taking out my own phone and scrolling down my contacts.
“Well, you could, but I know where they are going,” Wesley replied.
I looked at him. “You do? Where?”
“Well, if he’s taking them to the underworld, then they’ll be heading for Abydos.”
“Of course he is,” West said. “But how is he getting them there? I can’t see Hattie just getting on a plane because Coulton told her to.”
“I think they are under some kind of enchantment,” Teddy replied. He tilted his phone towards me, and I watched the CCTV footage of a line of people threading through the airport gate.
“That’s Hattie,” Jasper said, pointing at a young woman in jeans and a hoodie, her bright red hair loose around her shoulders. She didn’t pause or talk to anyone, just handed her passport to the air steward and then drifted through without looking to the left or right. The man behind her did the same, and then the woman after him.
“They look like zombies,” I murmured.
Jasper nodded. “He’s controlling them somehow, maybe some kind of charm or amulet...”
“So we’re going to Cairo then?” Tory asked. She stood up, letting Kitty Cat drop onto the floor. “If that’s where Coulton and Hattie are, then that’s where we’ll find Ptah as well.”