Tut

by P. J. Hoover

  “I thought you were dead,” he said, and I swear he wiped at his face, though I didn’t dare say anything about it.

  “It was touch and go for a while,” I said. “But I’m happy to report that I’m completely un-mummified.”

  “I missed a mummification party?” Henry stepped from the shadows. I had this weird, crazy urge to hug him because it was just that kind of moment, but I held back. No need to take it too far. So instead I punched him on the arm, and he slapped me on the back. And I figured we really were friends, whether I’d wanted us to be or not.

  “It was the best party ever,” I said. “Fun times for all.” So much fun I could hardly wait to go back. But the next time, I couldn’t make any mistakes. Osiris had given me an opportunity to do away with Horemheb, and I’d blown it. That was never going to happen again.

  22

  WHERE I FLOOD THE CITY

  It started raining the next day, and it didn’t stop. School was canceled because the only uninfested building was knee-deep in water. Henry’s parents wouldn’t even let him come over because they said he’d drown if he went outside. So I sat in my town house with Gil—who hadn’t left me alone since we got back—and watched flood coverage until my eyeballs hurt.

  “Perhaps Great Master would prefer the television off?” Colonel Cody said. He wrung his hands like he did when he worried about my mental sanity.

  I couldn’t turn it off. Too much was happening. After the school flooded, next came the Smithsonian. Sandbags were carted in from Ocean City to stack up against the doors and basement windows. Museums kept more stuff in their basements than I’d had in my tomb, and it was all on the verge of being ruined. Next was the White House. By the second day, the president declared D.C. a disaster zone. His security advisors insisted on flying him off to the mountains. But he couldn’t fly because the runways at the airports had all flooded, so they had to drive him out in a Humvee.

  And then there was the black mist.

  It filled the air with the awful scent of sulfur and swirled around everything, mixing in with the rain. Meteorologists had no idea what was causing it, but I knew.

  It was the curse. My curse. Osiris and Set had placed it on my tomb. It was out of control—destroying everything in its path.

  To make matters worse, by day three, Horus still wasn’t back. I tried not to worry about him. He was a god. But he was also my cat. I’d grown pretty attached to him after all these years. I didn’t know what I would do if he never came home.

  “This is why we need to do away with Horemheb,” I said to Gil.

  “Because it’s raining?” Gil asked. He sank back in his favorite chair and crossed his legs, like somehow the world would just right itself.

  “Because of the curse,” I said. “If I kill Horemheb, the curse on my tomb goes away. Everything goes back to normal.”

  “And if Horemheb kills you first?” Gil said.

  I had to fight to keep from wrapping my hands around his Sumerian neck. But seriously. I was fourteen, not some baby. I could handle this.

  “Let’s just go back and finish it,” I said.

  “No, Tut,” Gil said. “Didn’t you hear what I said? The knife can’t be used for vengeance. If it is, the gods will retaliate. We can’t risk it.”

  “This has nothing to do with vengeance. All I care about is stopping the curse.” I tried my hardest to sound sincere, but even I heard the desperation in my voice.

  “You’re a horrible liar,” Gil said. “You think I’d believe for one second that you’ve just given up your quest for revenge.”

  “I have,” I said, opening my eyes wide like an innocent puppy dog.

  Gil shook his head. “We have to hide the knife.”

  “And then what? We sit back and watch the world get destroyed? Maybe make some popcorn?”

  “Would Great Master care for popcorn?” Lieutenant Virgil asked, bowing before me.

  “No, we’ll wait for the world to end first,” I said, drilling home my point. “Then we’ll have popcorn. With butter and salt.”

  “We figure out another way to stop the curse,” Gil said.

  “There is no other way. It started because of the fight between Horemheb and me. And it will end with the fight between us. The fight where I come out victorious.” I started pacing the room. Why did Gil have to be so stubborn? Why couldn’t he just give me the knife? Wrath of the gods. As if my quest for vengeance was something I should just give up. I had to complete it.

  Colonel Cody paced alongside me. “Oh, Great Pharaoh, is there anything I can bring you to ease the pain being caused by the heathen lord?”

  If only he could get me the knife.

  Wait a minute …

  Maybe he could. If I could distract Gil long enough—maybe get him out of the town house—the shabtis could find it and steal it. And then, while Gil was still gone, I could go back to the Cult of Set compound and get the revenge I’d missed before.

  “No, nothing,” I said. But I winked at him.

  “Great Master?” Colonel Cody said.

  “Seriously, nothing,” I said. And I winked again.

  This time understanding dawned on Colonel Cody’s face. The shabti smiled like the world wasn’t coming to an end. “Ah, yes. Nothing it is, then. Perhaps Great Master would enjoy some quiet time in his room reading a book?”

  Great Amun, I loved my shabtis. It was almost like they could read my mind.

  “That sounds perfect.”

  Colonel Cody crossed his arms over his chest. “Our master is more than kind. He is the most gracious ruler in the world.”

  From his chair, Gil groaned.

  I turned to Gil to make a good show of my frustration. “This discussion isn’t over. We’ll talk more about it later.”

  After Horemheb was dead.

  “It’s over, Tut,” Gil said.

  I frowned like I was angry. I even slammed my bedroom door to make it more convincing. And then I waited for Colonel Cody so I could tell him my plan.

  * * *

  After I explained everything to Colonel Cody, I grabbed a couple of scrolls from the Book of the Dead and tucked them under my jacket. I still had my one spell left, though I wasn’t sure yet what I could do with it. The knife could kill Horemheb. The Book of the Dead couldn’t.

  I lifted my bedroom window. Rain poured in through the opening. It was like the apocalypse was coming. I jumped onto the fire escape and slammed the window closed. I took the metal steps as loudly as I could. I needed to make sure Gil would follow me.

  The streets and alleys were all flooded, and the black mist was everywhere but I slogged through, knee-deep in water. I waded across the street and turned the corner. And then I waited for Gil’s head to appear. He looked to my open window and let out a string of words I couldn’t hear but could imagine. It was perfect. I took off at a run as best I could through all the water. It was like the flood myth recreated. I needed a boat.

  Now that Gil was out of the town house, I needed to mislead him so I could get back and get the knife from Colonel Cody. My phone buzzed.

  I figured it was Gil, but instead, it was a text from Henry.

  ok b there soon.

  I wasn’t sure what he was talking about. I hadn’t made any plans with him.

  Gil turned the corner, spotting me, so I stuffed the phone in my pocket and kept going.

  Five minutes later it buzzed again. This time it was Gil. I didn’t answer because I was still too close to home for my plan to work. I did make sure my GPS was on so he could track me.

  He called three more times. I finally answered when I got as far as Georgetown. “What?”

  “What are you doing?” Gil said. I could barely hear him over the rain.

  I ducked under a canopy so the phone wouldn’t short out from the deluge.

  “I’m looking for Horemheb,” I lied. “I need to take care of this now, even if you won’t help.”

  “Wait for me,” Gil said, and then he hung up.

>   That was exactly what I couldn’t do. I tossed my phone in the nearest trash can and ran back toward my town house, making sure to take the route Gil wouldn’t travel. By now, the shabtis would have the knife. I’d get it and pay another visit to the Cult of Set.

  * * *

  No sooner had I walked into the town house when my side erupted in pain. I barely had time to close the door before I fell to the floor in a series of dry heaves. When they finally stopped, I lifted my shirt. The scar was blazing red and swollen.

  I staggered to my feet and into the bathroom where I lay on the cold tile floor, letting it soothe my side. Within ten seconds, Colonel Cody stood in front of my face. He fell to the floor. “Oh, Master! How can I help you? Anything you want—please tell me.” His words came out fast and fell over one another.

  I held my side, still feeling the scar pulse beneath my hand. The pain had subsided—maybe just a little. “Did you get the knife?” I managed to ask, trying my best to sit up.

  Colonel Cody clenched and unclenched his little hands. “Of course, Great Master. But you need help first.”

  I shook my head. I had to get it together. So I grabbed the sink and pulled myself to my feet.

  “I’m fine. Please. I just need the knife.”

  Colonel Cody nodded to the shabti behind him who nodded to the shabti behind him, until the entire line of shabtis seemed to be in agreement. Within seconds, I saw the golden knife being passed from one shabti to the next until Colonel Cody held it in front of himself and bowed.

  “The immortal-killing knife,” he said.

  That certainly put things into perspective.

  “Thank you for always knowing exactly what I need and want,” I said. I would’ve hugged the little shabti, except I didn’t want to crush him.

  He squeezed my finger, which was close to a hug. “It is my greatest honor to be able to serve you.”

  I stuffed the knife into my belt.

  Colonel Cody ran in front of my foot. “I cannot let you venture into the den of the enemy again without me, Great Master. I could never live with myself.”

  I started to shake my head, to tell him no, but the concern flooding his face wouldn’t let me. I picked him up instead.

  “Just you,” I said. “And we need to move quickly.”

  Colonel Cody beamed. “Of course. Quickly it is.”

  I ran for the door with Colonel Cody in tow, ignoring the pain in my side. I needed to get back to Chinatown. Back to the elevator entrance to the Cult of Set compound. I had to hoof it, because all the public transportation was shut down.

  When we got there, the limestone block structure was gone. There wasn’t even a crummy subway elevator illusion. Instead, the earth was paved over and topped with a giant statue … of Horemheb. Rain pounded in the mud at the base of the statue.

  I sank to my knees, and Colonel Cody scurried off my shoulder. Every single thing was working against me, from the gash in my side to the curse smothering D.C. It was like the gods were already retaliating for something I hadn’t done.

  “Won’t this ever work?” I screamed at Osiris. There was nobody else around to hear me.

  There was also no response from Osiris.

  “He has to die!” I said. “He killed everyone!”

  Nothing.

  “Just a small amount of revenge. Please?”

  My only answer was the unending rain and the black sulfur mist that pressed in on me from all sides.

  Everything had been futile. There was no way this was ever going to work. Even if I did find Horemheb—even if I did manage to kill him—it wasn’t going to bring my family back. Nothing would. I’d be cursed by the gods forever for using the knife in vengeance, no matter how much I tried to lie to myself and say it was all about the curse. My quest wasn’t noble, like Tia’s quest to reunite the gods. It was selfish, just like I’d been for the last three thousand years.

  Vengeance wasn’t the answer. It wouldn’t make anything better.

  Not the answer.…

  I had to give up.…

  My quest had to end.…

  No sooner had the thought passed through my mind than the rain let up. Water pooled into sewers and drained away. Overhead, the sun peeked through the clouds. The black mist, which had delved into every nook and cranny of the city, lifted. The horrific sulfur smell vanished.

  “Great Master, the curse…,” Colonel Cody said, sniffing the air.

  “It’s gone.” I tried to sound happy about it, but along with the curse, my quest was gone, too. I was never going to get my vengeance. I was never supposed to.

  “That’s good,” Colonel Cody said. “We shall travel back to the town house and celebrate. Perhaps break out the vintage root beer you’ve been saving, though I’m still not sure we should share it with the heathen lord.”

  I tried to laugh because I knew Colonel Cody was attempting to make me feel better. “That sounds like a good idea.”

  Colonel Cody clasped his hands together. “Very nice. Should we be going then?”

  “Yeah, we should,” I said.

  But the gods had other plans for me.

  “You have serious trouble, Tut.”

  I whipped around and came face-to-face with Tia.

  “What are you talking about?” I said.

  “Horemheb.”

  “I don’t care anymore. I’m not going to kill him. I’m going to live my life and let him live his. And as long as he stays out of my way, I never plan to see him again.”

  Tia bit her lower lip. “I wish it were that easy.”

  I’d been clenching the hilt of the knife, but I tucked it under my shirt. I couldn’t kill Horemheb. I had to release him. “Didn’t you hear what I said? I give up. It’s over.”

  “It’s not over,” Tia said. “Horemheb will never let it be over.”

  My stomach turned into a ball of lead, making the pain in my side feel like nothing but a splinter. Something horrible was about to happen. I felt it in my bones. “What do you mean? Why are you here?”

  Tia pointed to the Washington Monument. In the clearing sky, I saw the energy sizzling off it, pure and strong. And the lights … they were supposed to be red, but instead they were golden. Lightning cracked all around the top of the monument, channeling down the sides until it hit the ground.

  “What’s going on, Tia?” I gritted my teeth. I had to prepare for the worst.

  “Horemheb’s up there.”

  “So what? I’m not going to fight him. He can stay up there forever, as far as I’m concerned.”

  Tia grabbed my arm. “No, Tut. He’s not alone.”

  I faced the god-awful feeling that slammed into my stomach.

  “Who’s he with?” I hated to ask, but I had to.

  She grimaced as she told me. “Henry.”

  23

  WHERE I CLIMB THE FIVE HUNDRED STEPS OF DOOM

  Horemheb couldn’t have Henry. That couldn’t be happening. My brain wanted to refuse Tia’s words. But then I remembered Henry’s cryptic text. ok b there soon. I’d never told him to be anywhere. It had to be Horemheb, pretending to be me.

  “Please tell me you’re kidding,” I said.

  But Tia’s eyes spoke the truth. Horemheb was threatening death on those around me once again.

  Where in the realm of Anubis was Horus when I needed him? I had to get up there now. I couldn’t even call Gil to ask for help because I’d ditched my phone.

  My brain fogged over with a hatred so dark, I was having trouble thinking. Horemheb had Henry up in the top of the Washington Monument. Horemheb—who’d killed my father. And my mother. And my brother. He had no reason not to kill Henry.…

  Except that he wanted the knife. And he wanted me dead. Those were my only bargaining chips.

  I grabbed Colonel Cody and took off, running for the monument. I’d get in through the basement. When I got to the Smithsonian subway stop, I tore down the escalator, even though it was closed due to flooding, and hopped the gate. The tracks w
ere filled with water, but I waded my way through until I found the door I was looking for: the one I used when I snuck into the Washington Monument after hours. I ripped the door from its hinges and sprinted inside.

  It took only minutes to reach the monument, but each second that passed felt like a millennium. Why had I let myself get so close to Henry anyway? It was stupid and careless, and now he’d pay for my mistake with his life.

  Once I was inside the monument, I dashed for the stairs, taking them three at a time until I reached the top.

  “Perhaps we can sneak up on the betrayer, Great Master,” Colonel Cody whispered in my ear.

  “Good plan,” I whispered back. I crept forward, trying to stay in the shadows.

  But Horemheb had been expecting me.

  “Our boy king joins us.”

  The ball in the pit of my stomach hardened at the sound.

  “We’ve waited so patiently for you,” Horemheb said.

  “Tut!” I heard Henry say. “Go away!”

  There was something that sounded a lot like a bone snapping, and then there was a yell. I jumped from my hiding place onto the main floor.

  Henry lay against the wall holding his arm. He glared at my uncle and tried to stand.

  “We thought you’d never show up, little Pharaoh,” Horemheb said.

  I let every bit of hatred I felt for Horemheb show on my face. I had to do something to help Henry.

  “Are you okay?” I asked Henry. Which was a worthless question. Henry was in the clutches of a murderer.

  “He’s going to kill you,” Henry said.

  “The boy king knows that,” Horemheb said. “He’s known that for three thousand years. He’s been waiting for this moment as long as I have. But before I kill you, Tutankhamun, I’m going to kill your friend.”

  I may have been powerless when my family died in the past, but I wasn’t powerless anymore. I had the knife, and thus the upper hand.

  “Shut up,” I said. “You’re not killing anyone.”

  “Of course I am. After I kill your friend, I’ll kill you,” Horemheb said. “You never deserved to be pharaoh. And your father, Akhenaton. Don’t get me started on him. He cheated me out of my throne. I should have been pharaoh. Then we would have never had any of that religious mess. He ruined everything.”