“Vhy don't you two go shower and get dressed,” Kirill suggested. “Zis can vait.”
“No; it can't wait!” Re stood suddenly and slammed his fist onto the table. “Someone has stolen the glasses, Vervain!”
“The glasses?” I asked in confusion.
“The goggles!” Re shouted. “Tlaloc's goggles!”
“What?” I roared. “You said they'd be safe with you!”
“They should have been!”
“Why weren't they?!”
“Could you two stop shouting?” Azrael asked drolly. “I've had enough screaming for one day.”
“Sorry, honey,” I lowered my voice. Then I turned back to Re. “Who could have taken them?”
“Only someone with access to Aaru,” Re growled. “And I can't think of anyone who can enter Aaru, who would not only know that I had the goggles, but would know where I stashed them.”
“Have you used this hiding place before?” Odin asked reasonably.
Re blinked, frowned, and then shouted, “Damn her to all the hells!”
“Who?” Trevor asked.
“Sekhmet.” Re narrowed his glowing eyes. “She knows where my treasure room is.”
“And she also happens to be living beside Dvārakā,” Odin noted. “Krishna said that only a god who could see the truth could enter the Control Room. Those goggles can do exactly that.”
“Damn her betraying ways!” Re shouted.
“Why would Sekhmet report the magical activity at Dvārakā to us?” I wasn't convinced. “Why draw attention to it if she's the one trying to raise it? And who would help her? Someone has to; she has no magic of her own.”
“Sekhmet reported it to drive suspicion away from herself in case we discovered it on our own,” Re said it as if it were fact. “And to get me out of Aaru.”
“Let's talk about this—” I started to say.
“No!” Re slashed his hand through the air. “I admire and appreciate your merciful tendencies toward my daughter, Vervain, but I'm done going easy on her.”
Re started out of the hall.
“Re, could we just take some time to make sure it was her?” I asked.
“I know it was her,” Re said. “It can't possibly be anyone else.”
“Are you certain?” Odin asked calmly. “Is there no one else who knows of this hiding spot?”
“Only Ma'at and Anubis,” Re huffed. “Anubis was the one to recommend it to me. But neither of them know about the glasses or that I hid them there.”
“And Sekhmet does? Az asked.
“Bast does,” Re said. “And if Bast knows, then Sekhmet knows; they tell each other everything.”
I looked around at the other men and then sighed.
“At least let us shower off Jigoku first,” I said.
“I don't need you to go with me, La-la,” Re said gently. “I can handle my daughter alone.”
“I know, but we need to be there for you,” I insisted. “Just give us fifteen minutes.”
“Fine,” Re said. Then he looked me over again. “Would you like some help?”
“Re,” I groaned as I headed toward the elevator.
“What?” Re attempted to look innocent.
“Even in the middle of a rant, you still find the time to be a lecher.” Odin shook his head at Re before following after me.
“Says the man chasing after my girlfriend,” Re noted.
“She's my wife,” Odin called back. “It's not lecherous if I want to bathe with my wife.”
“It's not?” I whispered to Odin.
“Maybe a little.” Odin grinned. “But don't tell Re that.”
Chapter Fifty
When we arrived in Sekhmet's home, her twin sister—Bast—was with her. The women stood to greet their father, but he barely acknowledged their reception; simply nodding before he launched into his tirade. I cringed as he verbally attacked Sekhmet.
“Where are they, Sekhmet?” Re snarled.
“Who?” Sekhmet looked from her father to the rest of us in confusion.
My husbands and Toby had come along with us, but the rest of the Horsemen had stayed behind. This was a family matter.
“Not who; what,” Re corrected with a narrowed-eyed glare. “And you know exactly what I'm talking about. I know you stole the goggles.”
“The far-seeing goggles?” Sekhmet's eyes rounded. “Why would I take them?”
“To help your cohorts raise Dvārakā!” Re shouted. “With those glasses you could find the Control Room and access it.”
“Why would I want to raise Dvārakā?” Sekhmet looked baffled. “How would I raise it? I have no magic.”
“Father, that's enough!” Bast shouted. “Sekhmet is not behind this Dvārakā thing, and she certainly didn't steal the goggles.”
“Very few people know where I stash my treasures, and you two are among them,” Re said.
“You showed us your treasure room years ago, in case of your unlikely death,” Sekhmet huffed. “I haven't even been near it since then.”
“If not you, then who?” Re growled. “Ma'at? Anubis? They never come into Aaru; they're too busy judging souls to go past the gate, and neither of them know about the goggles.”
“And how would I get to Aaru?” Sekhmet asked sharply. “Isn't it more likely that one of them would betray you than one of us? We're your daughters while they are only grandchildren.”
“I don't know why you showed them the treasure room in the first place,” Bast added.
“Because Anubis and Ma'at have the weight of Duat upon their shoulders,” Re said as if he had explained it numerous times before. “They could make good use of several items in that room, while the rest of our family would not.”
“Just because Ma'at and Anubis are busy with souls, it doesn't mean they don't have any free time,” Sekhmet said. “They could have easily gone into Aaru. Maybe someone told them that you had the goggles.”
“But neither of them happen to live within a hundred feet of Dvārakā,” Re went calm—deadly calm. “Nor would they have known the exact times when I would not be in Aaru. The evidence points to you, Sekhmet, and now that
