“Sharp tongue?” she demanded.
Dad cleared his throat. “Children, there is another reason I made my choice, as you can probably guess.” He held out his hand, and a woman in a black dress appeared next to him. She had golden hair, intelligent blue eyes, and a face that looked familiar. She looked like Sadie.
“Mom,” I said.
She gazed back and forth from Sadie to me in amazement, as if we were the ghosts. “Julius told me how much you’d grown, but I couldn’t believe it. Carter, I bet you’re shaving-”
“Mom.”
“-and dating girls-”
“Mom!” Have you ever noticed how parents can go from the most wonderful people in the world to totally embarrassing in three seconds?
She smiled at me, and I had to fight with about twenty different feelings at once. I’d spent years dreaming of being back with my parents, together in our house in L.A. But not like this: not with the house just an afterimage, and my mom a spirit, and my dad…recycled. I felt like the world was shifting under my feet, turning into sand.
“We can’t go back, Carter,” Mom said, as if reading my mind. “But nothing is lost, even in death. Do you remember the law of conservation?”
It had been six years since we’d sat together in the living room-this living room, and she’d read me the laws of physics the way most parents read bedtime stories. But I still remembered. “Energy and matter can’t be created or destroyed.”
“Only changed,” my mother agreed. “And sometimes changed for the better.”
She took Dad’s hand, and I had to admit-blue and ghostly or not-they kind of looked happy.
“Mum.” Sadie swallowed. For once, her attention wasn’t on Anubis. “Did you really…was that-”
“Yes, my brave girl. My thoughts mixed with yours. I’m so proud of you. And thanks to Isis, I feel like I know you as well.” She leaned forward and smiled conspiratorially. “I like chocolate caramels, too, though your grandmum never approved of keeping sweets in the flat.”
Sadie broke into a relieved grin. “I know! She’s impossible!”
I got the feeling they were going to start chatting for hours, but just then the Hall of Judgment rumbled. Dad checked his watch, which made me wonder what time zone the Land of the Dead was in.
“We should wrap things up,” he said. “The others are expecting you.”
“Others?” I asked.
“A gift before you go.” Dad nodded to Mom.
She stepped forward and handed me a palm-size package of folded black linen. Sadie helped me unwrap it, and inside was a new amulet-one that looked like a column or a tree trunk or…
“Is that a spine?” Sadie demanded.
“It is called a djed,” Dad said. “My symbol-the spine of Osiris.”
“Yuck,” Sadie muttered.
Mom laughed. “It is a bit yuck, but honestly, it’s a powerful symbol. Stands for stability, strength-”
“Backbone?” I asked.
“Literally.” Mom gave me an approving look, and again I had that surreal shifting feeling. I couldn’t believe I was standing here, having a chat with my somewhat dead parents.
Mom closed the amulet into my hands. Her touch was warm, like a living person’s. “Djed also stands for the power of Osiris-renewed life from the ashes of death. This is exactly what you will need if you are to stir the blood of the pharaohs in others and rebuild the House of Life.”
“The House won’t like that,” Sadie put in.
“No,” Mom said cheerfully. “They certainly won’t.”
The Hall of Judgment rumbled again.
“It is time,” Dad said. “We’ll meet again, children. But until then, take care.”
“Be mindful of your enemies,” Mom added.
“And tell Amos…” Dad’s voice trailed off thoughtfully. “Remind my brother that Egyptians believe in the power of the sunrise. They believe each morning begins not just a new day, but a new world.”
Before I could figure out what that meant, the Hall of Judgment faded, and we stood with Anubis in a field of darkness.
“I’ll show you the way,” Anubis said. “It is my job.”
He ushered us to a space in the darkness that looked no different from any other. But when he pushed with his hand, a door swung open. The entrance blazed with daylight.
Anubis bowed formally to me. Then he looked at Sadie with a glint of mischief in his eyes. “It’s been… stimulating.”
Sadie flushed and pointed at him accusingly. “We’re not done, mister. I expect you to look after my parents. And next time I’m in the Land of the Dead, you and I will have words.”
A smile tugged at the corner of his mouth. “I’ll look forward to that.”
We stepped through the doorway and into the palace of the gods.
It looked just like Sadie had described from her visions: soaring stone columns, fiery braziers, a polished marble floor, and in the middle of the room, a gold-and-red throne. All around us, gods had gathered. Many were just flashes of light and fire. Some were shadowy images that shifted from animal to human. I recognized a few: Thoth flickered into view as a wild-haired guy in a lab coat before turning into a cloud of green gas; Hathor, the cow- headed goddess, gave me a puzzled look, as if she vaguely recognized me from the Magic Salsa incident. I looked for Bast, but my heart fell. She didn’t seem to be in the crowd. In fact, most of the gods I didn’t recognize.
“What have we started?” Sadie murmured.
I understood what she meant. The throne room was full of hundreds of gods, major and minor, all darting through the palace, forming new shapes, glowing with power. An entire supernatural army…and they all seemed to be staring at us.
Thankfully, two old friends stood next to the throne. Horus wore full battle armor and a khopesh sword at his side. His kohl-lined eyes-one gold, one silver-were as piercing as ever. At his side stood Isis in a shimmering white gown, with wings of light.
“Welcome,” Horus said.
“Um, hi,” I said.
“He has a way with words,” Isis muttered, which made Sadie snort.
Horus gestured to the throne. “I know your thoughts, Carter, so I think I know what you will say. But I have to ask you one more time. Will you join me? We could rule the earth and the heavens. Ma’at demands a leader.”
“Yeah, so I’ve heard.”
“I would be stronger with you as my host. You’ve only touched the surface of what combat magic can do. We could accomplish great things, and it is your destiny to lead the House of Life. You could be the king of two thrones.”
I glanced at Sadie, but she just shrugged. “Don’t look at me. I find the idea horrifying.”
Horus scowled at her, but the truth was, I agreed with Sadie. All those gods waiting for direction, all those magicians who hated us-the idea of trying to lead them made my knees turn to water.
“Maybe some day,” I said. “Much later.”
Horus sighed. “Five thousand years, and I still do not understand mortals. But-very well.”
He stepped up to the throne and looked around at the assembled gods.
“I, Horus, son of Osiris, claim the throne of the heavens as my birthright!” he shouted. “What was once mine shall be mine again. Is there any who would challenge me?”
The gods flickered and glowed. A few scowled. One muttered something that sounded like “Cheese,” although that could’ve been my imagination. I caught a glimpse of Sobek, or possibly another crocodile god, snarling in the shadows. But no one raised a challenge.
Horus took his seat on the throne. Isis brought him a crook and flail-the twin scepters of the pharaohs. He crossed them over his chest and all the gods bowed before him.
When they’d risen again, Isis stepped toward us. “Carter and Sadie Kane, you have done much to restore Ma’at. The gods must gather their strength, and you have bought us time, though we do not know how much.
