Eye of Hecate

Ozzy

My head is spinning. 

I'd never even seen a photo of my siblings before, and then, boom, there they are, right in front of me. Carter is taller than me, with chocolatey skin and a thin frame. Sadie is pale white, with blue eyes and caramel colored hair with red streaks. They're nothing like I imagined them, but they looked so familiar at the same time. 

I can't believe how stupid I'd acted. I didn't say hello, or wave, or smile, or anything. I'd been too shocked. 

Also, I feel guilty. I told me dad I was willing to fight him to stop him from trying to bring back his dead wife. Sure, what he's planning is super dangerous and stupid, but I'm probably not the person to bring along to try and stop him. No matter what I say, it'll always seem like I have my own intentions; like I'm trying to stop him out of jealousy or spite. 

Amos and I walk through the museum completely unseen. He's cast a glamour over us to keep us invisible, though I'm not sure it'll work against my dad, or the magicians following him. Desjardins is incredibly powerful, and Zia isn't stupid. She might know too. 

We turn the corner to the Egyptian wing, and see a glowing blue light coming from down the hall. 

"Oh, no," I mutter. 

"We're too late." Amos says. 

We run down the hall to see what's going on, to find Sadie and Carter standing in the doorway to the Egyptian gallery. My dad is in front of the Rosetta Stone, drawing hieroglyphs I can't see. 

"No!" Sadie shouts. "Dad, no!"

My dad turns in surprise. He starts to say, "Children-" but it's too late. The ground rumbles. The blue light turns to searing white, and the Rosetta Stone explodes. 

When I regain consciousness, the first thing I hear is laughter—horrible, gleeful laughter mixed with the blare of the museum's security alarms.

I feel like I've just been run over by a tractor. I sit up, dazed, and spit a piece of Rosetta Stone out of my mouth. The gallery is in ruins. Waves of fire ripple in pools along the floor. Giant statues have toppled. Sarcophagi have been knocked off their pedestals. Pieces of the Rosetta Stone have exploded outward with such force that they've embedded themselves in the columns, the walls, the other exhibits.

Sadie and Carter slowly get up, much to my relief.

In front of them, where the Rosetta Stone was, stands a smoking, sheared-off pedestal. The floor is blackened in a starburst pattern, except for the glowing blue circle around dad.

He's facing our direction, but he doesn't seem to be looking at us, or at Sadie and Carter. A bloody cut runs across his scalp. He grips the boomerang tightly.

I don't understand what he's looking at. Then the horrible laughter echoes around the room again, and a cold feeling tingles down my spine. 

Something stands between my dad and my siblings. At first, I can just sense it—just a flicker of heat. But as I concentrate, it takes on a vague form—the fiery outline of a man.

He's taller than Dad, and his laugh cuts through me like a chainsaw.

"Well done," he says to my father. "Very well done, Julius."

"You were not summoned!" My father's voice trembles. He holds up his wand, but the fiery man flicks one finger, and it flies from Dad's hand, shattering against the wall.

"I am never summoned, Julius," the man purrs. "But when you open a door, you must be prepared for guests to walk through."

"Back to the Duat!" my father roars. "I have the power of the Great King!"

"Oh, scary," the fiery man says with amusement. "And even if you knew how to use that power, which you do not, he was never my match. I am the strongest. Now you will share his fate."

Realization begins to dawn on me, and the cold feeling down my spine returns with renewed force. This man cannot be who I think it is. He just can't. I look over at Amos, and his expression confirms my fear.