CHAPTER FIFTEEN

He had learned to accept a lot of strange things very quickly, but Jonathan could not accept that a recently deceased and buried corpse was standing in front of them as though nothing had ever happened. "How in the heck are you here?" He asked her.

     Lily smiled at him pleasantly. "It's not easy to kill the consort of Chaos. I don't follow rules," she replied.

     "You were buried."

     "Yes, that bothered me, actually. It was filthy in the ground. Still, I suppose it's better than mummification. It's actually much harder to resurrect someone who's been mummified than just buried in modern ways."

     "You traitorous bitch! Don't you ever die?" The voice was Neith's. Jonathan was hoping she might have an escape plan. Neith was powerful. If she could just destroy Tawaret or Lily or whatever she wanted to be called these days, maybe they could get free. Maybe he could go back home.

     Strange, he thought. I never would have expected to consider that place home... But it is. My home is with the Gods, at Ra's side... With Josie...

     "Hey, Lover Boy? Focus," Lily said. "And no, I can't read your thoughts. You just have a ridiculously goofy expression on your face that only thoughts of the person you love can cause."

     "We'll see you dead again, Tawaret," Neith declared.

     "Seriously, Neith, shut the hell up. You're the ones at a disadvantage here."

     "My soul already destroyed yours. Or did you forget? Lily's death wasn't enough. You betrayed Ra. You committed high treason and you will face the consequences."

     "Been there, done that. In fact, I even bought the t-shirt. You can't stop me this time, Neith. I'm stronger than you are. Your poor human vessel has shattered."

     "Alyxx has far from shattered."

     "She checked out of sanity about a month ago when she watched Djer drag Panya away and his men beat Jonathan half to death. Let's not tell lies, Dear."

     "Don't call me Dear, you bitch!"

     "Such language! I'm trying to be polite here."

     Jonathan grasped around for anything he could find. There had to be something he could use as a weapon. As long as Neith kept her talking, she'd be distracted.

     There's no honor in hitting a lady, he scolded himself. But she's no lady. He knew what he had to do.

     He found what he'd hoped for then. One of the gemstones was loose and it was sharp. He pried it out as subtly as he could. Neith looked at him. His eyes implored her to stall. She nodded slightly.

     He raised the stone and brought it down against her flesh. Lily laughed and clapped her hands. "Bravo, Soldier! I'm so impressed with your manliness! Hitting a lady with a sharpened ruby? Very nice."

     She had barely bled. "What the heck? I know that should have done more than that," he said.

     "Oh, it's simple, silly! I'm immortal now. My blood is as thick as venom. My heartbeat will never slow. My breath will never be lost again. He rewards my loyalty, you know."

     "You are a fool," someone said.

     Jonathan was stunned when he realized it was Panya who had spoken last. She inched closer to Lily. "He will betray you in the end, Tawaret, as he has betrayed everyone before you," she added.

     "He loves me," Lily argued.

     "He cannot love. He is pure evil, perhaps the only pure evil to ever exist. He seeks only power."

     "She's right," Neith said. "You'll be the first one he gets rid of after he's done with all of us."

     "You don't know pure evil, Ta-Bitjet. You have not seen it," Lily replied.

     "I have," Panya said. "I saw it when he killed Alison." Jonathan knew the words were hard for her to say. She didn't talk about how Alison died. Whenever her name was brought up, Panya sank into Dean's arms and tried to disappear. Jonathan hoped she had at least talked to him about the trauma of watching Chaos murder someone for no real purpose.

     "You will all make such lovely sacrifices for him," Lily taunted them.

     "We will not die tonight," Neith declared.

     "No, you won't. Soon, though. Samhain."

     "Halloween. Of course. You're going to raise him on the last day you can until March."

     "Exactly. I'm so glad you caught on. Now, let's get down to business."

     "Why are we here?" Jonathan demanded.

     "To suffer, of course." Lily cackled. She grabbed Panya and tugged the back of her shirt up.

     Jonathan saw the lashes and almost started to cry. He struggled to keep his composure. Panya and Alyxx needed him to be strong.

     Panya was trembling in Lily's grasp. "See? See what we can do? Chaos is so wonderful... I rather like that Djer fellow. Maybe my consort will spare him." Lily ran the long, blood-red nail of her index finger over one of the fresher lashes. Panya cried out in pain.

     Jonathan grabbed Lily around the neck. She flung him aside like he was nothing more than an insect. She was stronger than she should be.

     "I'm a hippo, Jonathan. We have a lot of power behind our hits," Lily explained. "Now, let's up the game a bit." She pulled a dagger out of thin air and cut Panya's neck slightly. It was the same scar she had from the day Djer had found them trying to escape. "I wonder how many times I can cut her before she loses her mind?"

     "No." The word was small and quiet. It took Jonathan a moment to realize it was also British. Neith was no longer in control, and Alyxx was no longer catatonic. "You aren't going to touch her."

     "Really?" Lily nicked Panya's shoulder.

     Alyxx glared at her. "You take pleasure in the pain of innocents. What will you do when you're the one in pain?"

     To Jonathan's utter shock, Alyxx made a fist and punched Lily square in the mouth. Lily screamed. It was muffled. Her jaw just might have broken.

     "That's for Nina and Greg," Alyxx said before kicking Lily off her feet. "And that one's just for my sake. I really needed to kick someone."

     Lily tried to scream again but to no avail. Alyxx checked Panya to make sure her wounds weren't overly serious before helping Jonathan get back up.

     "Hey, guys," Alyxx said cheerfully. "Good to see you again."

     Panya immediately hugged her. "I was so afraid you would never return," she whispered.

     "I'm sorry about that," Alyxx replied. "I had to let go for a while, just until the time was right... It was the only way I knew I'd stay safe enough to be able to get us out of here."

     "It matters not. You are with us now." Panya refused to let go of Alyxx, so Jonathan wormed his way into the hug so he could welcome her back as well.

     "Nice work there," he commented. "Better than me."

     Alyxx laughed. "Yeah, well, she wasn't expecting it from me. She knew you'd try to protect the two of us."

     "We need to leave now," Panya said. "Before she regains her wits."

     "Come on," Alyxx replied. "I have an idea."