Two is Company (House of Anubis)

Chapter 107: Act as if You Do When You Don't

Eddie's jaw flapped uselessly, watching as the unthinkable happened. Fabian's fingers digging into his bicep were the only things keeping him from launching himself out into the open when Victor herded his sister and KT backwards into disaster; when Denby opened the cursed jar— and wasn't that just great that Team Evil had Ammut on speed dial to curse any old object with the sarcophagi's power?— and the smoke swirled viciously around the horrified girls, it was like he was reliving his vision from way back in the crypt: he couldn't move. Once again, the worst case scenario was happening in front of his eyes, and Eddie had to wonder if it was a sign in and of itself.

He knew how this was going to play out: the key supposedly would protect Kira from Ammut's sway, but KT was toast— Eddie swallowed the lump in his throat at the realization and tried to think practically; he wasn't very good at that, but damnit he had to try— so KT was lost, and that meant she would just take the Moon Key from Kira, blow their cover, then they'd all be screwed.

He wrenched his arm out of Fabian's death grip, and poised to run out there and rescue his twin. She was incredibly vulnerable already; she'd be no match for three Sinners who wanted that damnable key.

But something was odd, and things weren't quite going down the way he'd imagined they would. KT wasn't saying anything at all about the key or that Kira wasn't actually a Sinner, while Kira had an expression on her face that he'd never seen before... like she'd just peeked into Pandora's box and loved what she found.

Eddie's gut twisted anxiously. No...

Denby stood up, the discarded blanket pooling around her feet. "Robert thought you might try something like that," she explained, sneering down her nose at them. "Welcome to the team... officially."

Kira rolled her eyes hard enough that they looked like two brown marbles getting knocked around inside her skull, and KT pulled a face that made her look slightly constipated. KT may have been something of an actress, but Kira was the furthest thing from it, especially not under pressure. Had the Moon Key failed? Had he actually just lost everyone in his life that he cared about to the curse?

"Eddie..." Harriet and Fabian hissed warningly at the same time, and he realized his breathing had turned rapid.

"How did you two get in here in the first place? I had the front and cellar doors guarded," barked Victor, appearing a bit put out at being deceived so easily.

"Ah, but you didn't block the passageways, did you?" Kira pointed out, and gods almighty what was she doing? Eddie felt as though his blood had turned to sand in his veins, when she caught his eye through the crack in the door and bared her teeth. "They're hiding in there." The other three's heads swung sharply to look at the organ, and the gig was up.

"We have to go," Fabian rasped.

"No!" Eddie exclaimed, throwing the door open and shoving up his sleeves. He'd wondered earlier how much more they were going to take, and now he had his answer. "No, change them back! Change them back!"

"Oh, for the love of— someone get them!" sighed Denby.

While the girls smirked vindictively, Victor shoved her aside roughly, striding toward the three survivors with fire in his eyes. "I shall do just that," he growled.

"Not now, Eddie!" Harriet snapped, grabbing him by the collar of his shirt and yanking him backwards with surprising strength for such a frail woman. "Come on!" She slammed the door shut in Victor's face, and all but shoved Fabian and Eddie back out through the passageway.

"Kira—" Eddie began breathlessly, already half-turned to go back in and kill that horrible woman for what she'd done. Caroline couldn't keep getting away with it, she just couldn't.