Bloodline of Osiris

Chapter 20

Adam tackled me to the ground, covering my body with his. After a few seconds the tremors subsided, and Adam rolled off me.

"You need to lay off the junk food," I gasped. "You're heavy."

He smiled, then stood up and dusted himself off. Holding out a hand for me, he helped me up. I saw the damage that had occurred during the earthquake, or whatever it was.

"My books!" I screeched, dashing to cradle my fallen paper-bound worlds. One by one, I started putting them back, caressing each one lovingly and murmuring words of encouragement to each. They had fallen off the shelves, and lay on heaps on the floor, some open and some mangled with bent pages.

After a few seconds I heard the soft click of the door being opened. I caught a glance of Adam leaving through the doorway; after a quick moment used to lift the books back onto the shelves using magic, I followed him out.

I didn't think he noticed me, since he kept going. I quietly pursued him through the halls. Each time I traversed these corridors I noticed that they were different then before; this time, there were twists and turns where there used to be straight pathways.

He disappeared behind another corner, and I waited a moment before following. As soon as I turned, however, I came face-to-face with Adam.

"You're really bad at following people," he mused. Instantly I was reminded of my dreams, where Adam frequently occupied my mind. In front of me, his face fell.

"I'm sorry about those," he murmured. "They were to acclimate you to me, and my mind."

"It's fine, now we have to figure out what blew up!" I exclaimed, letting the subject float by.

"I think know what happened." Adam grimaced, running a hand through his hair. "Follow me." He turned and continued down the hallway, before finally stepping into a grand entrance hall.

It was gorgeous. There was a large crystal chandelier swinging gently from a domed ceiling, sparkling and twinkling in its own light. Tile stretched across the floor to a pair of immense double doors (oak double doors, what else?), carved with intricate pictures and images of the gods. I couldn't name them all, certainly not, but it was a sight to behold. A grand spiral staircase wound up to a second floor balcony overlooking the hall, with bookcases and plump chairs, couches, and quaint lamps on vintage oak side tables.

He bypassed that room, then stepped into a small corridor and came to a stop at a small doorway, the only barrier being a sheet hung up on the frame. The white curtain fluttered weakly as Adam pushed it aside, and held it up for me to pass through.

When I entered the room, I expected it to be messy and disheveled, due to the sheet hanging on the door frame. It was, however, completely different than I had expected. It was a lab, with white counters strewn with test tubes and complex, seemingly strange machinery in the corners. There was a large group of scientist-like people wandering around, doing very official-looking work. Thoth was in the middle of the melee, completely covered from head to toe in soot and coughing. He was in the middle of a conversation when we walked up to him.

"...serum 743 entirely unstable, the chemical reaction was phenomenal. I do believe we can continue with serum 812, they have a similar chemical makeup." Thoth noticed us standing beside him, and dismissed the dark-skinned scientist in front of him by saying, "Start the process, alright? I'll be with you in a moment."

Adam immediately jumped to the point. "Was that you? The explosion, I mean."

"It made all of my books fall off my bookshelf and it was all like, BOOM!" I added absentmindedly, trying to be helpful while still observing the room. "Adam threw himself on top of me to protect me from falling books."

Thoth looked confused, turning back to Adam after I said my bit. Adam was staring at me like I'd lost my mind, but his attention snapped back to Thoth as soon as he started talking. "You mean it wasn't you guys? I thought Sam was practicing magic." Seeing my wide-eyed look, Thoth quickly spoke to Adam in a low voice that I had to strain to hear. "You have told her that you're going to train her, right?"

"Not yet," Adam replied, casting a sidelong glace at me. "It was supposed to be a surprise."

"Oh. Hm. Sorry about that." Thoth adjusted his glasses, looking uncomfortable. "Well, I suppose-"

At that moment, another explosion rocked the room, throwing me to the floor for the second time today. The only difference was, instead of books falling on me, it was dozens of vials and science equipment toppling over counters to crush me. I threw up my arms in an attempt to shield myself against the science-slide of stuff.

Only, nothing fell on me. I opened my eyes (not realizing I closed them) and saw the things suspended in midair above me. There were glass objects, metal thing-a-ma-jigs, and other contraptions that floated there. Only once the initial shock of nearly being crushed wore off did I feel the telltale warm tingle in my veins.

I lifted the things and placed them back onto the counter, letting go of my magic after everything was safe. Turning back to Adam and Thoth, I realized that they had been watching me with rapt attention and astonishment the entire time.

"What?" I asked, kinda freaked out by the stares.

Thoth laughed, looking adorkable under the ash that still covered him. "That was incredible!" He then turned toward Adam, who was still standing with his mouth wide open. "It looks like your girlfriend has better instincts than you do."

The boy in question snapped back at Thoth angrily. "It was one time! And she's not-"

"Yeah, and it destroyed half the house," Thoth chuckled.

"Whatever, we still need to figure out what that was." Adam grumbled, sulking out the door. Thoth grinned as I followed him out, gesturing weird things to me, including something about falling and Tinker Bell?

These gods really were something.