wasn’t sure if that was a good thing or a bad thing, and my mind began to make a list of the possible stories he could have told her. “Come,” she said. “Let me look at you.”
Immediately she stretched out her hands and I allowed her to take mine. Up close, her eyes were even more interesting. From afar, I’d noticed how they sparkled and the colors within shifted. But now that I stood within arm’s length, I could see the pinks, purples, and blues swirling like a storm cloud with an ominous, potentially deadly, menace hidden just behind the surface waiting to be unleashed. I’d hate to be the object of her wrath. Those unique eyes were fixed upon my face so intently that I wondered what she was looking for and what it was she was able to see.
“Hmm,” she said. “It is as Anubis thought. Amon did use my spell to connect the two of you. I must admit that I had my doubts. Between you and me, Anubis occasionally has a tendency toward exaggeration. But now I can see that he was correct and there is indeed no other recourse than to allow you to attempt the Rite of Wasret.”
“So that’s what will turn me into a sphinx?”
“If you are successful, then yes,” Isis answered.
“Will you be the one to give us the spell?”
“You’ve been able to pass through the test of the riddles, so you have earned the right to it.”
“And what will the spell…do to me exactly?”
The goddess brushed a lock of hair over my shoulder in a very motherly manner. “It will change you utterly, I imagine—that is, if you survive the transformation.”
Isis patted my cheek, turned, and headed back to the golden throne. She must have sensed that I found her answer unsatisfactory because she waved her hand and then added, “You will still be you…mostly. And if you wish it, you can reside among mortals without any of them being the wiser, if that is what concerns you. But make no mistake, this is the one and only way for you to save the one you love.”
I frowned, rehearsing the words attempt and mostly and survive in my mind. It wasn’t my vanity that prompted my question. The idea that I would become a beast, a monster, something…inhuman was frightening. But the minute she’d mentioned that it was the only way to save Amon, I knew I would go through with it regardless of the possible outcome.
Thinking of Amon meant that my awe and natural caution when engaging in conversation with someone who could bat me away like an irritating pest was replaced by uncertainty and frustration. This whole process was taking too long. Now that I’d decided I was going to do it, every moment we delayed made it more likely that the Devourer would find Amon and consume his heart.
I approached the throne. “If you had to give us the spell anyway, then why did you and Anubis make us come here? We wasted hours driving to Luxor and even more trying to figure out your cryptic riddles when you could have just given us the stupid spell in the first place.” I folded my arms across my chest. “It seems like all of you don’t really care that much about the possible end of the world, and you certainly don’t seem to be concerned about Amon or his suffering.”
“Lily!” Dr. Hassan stepped forward and put a hand on my shoulder, his face showing the panic he felt. “Don’t forget to whom you are speaking.”
The goddess, settled once again, had listened to my accusations without a visible reaction of any kind. When I was finished, she raised an eyebrow and said, “Of course the possibility of the end of mankind concerns us. We have watched over the world for millennia and will continue to do so. It is our duty. It is our right. Though we have abilities that may seem omnipotent to a mortal such as you, there are restrictions placed upon each one of us. We have a procedure of, how do you say it”—she waved her hand, as if searching for the proper term—“checks and balances. Even we must follow the rules.” She said the last with a frown.
“Astounding,” Hassan murmured beside me.
“Yes,” she went on. “Before such rules were instated, the gods had the freedom to do as they wished. At times, due to poor judgment, this lack of structure caused great human suffering and