Page 71 of Sett and his King
“My apologies, Your Majesty. I don’t mean to be insolent. I simply can’t help you.”
“Maybe you just lack the incentive.”
Sett also stared at the fire when he spoke to her. He didn’t raise his tone. He didn’t frown. He simply glared at the flames as a sandstorm rose around us and came together to trap Mother Red Cap in her very own blizzard.
Mother Red Cap’s calm demeanor dropped momentarily as she looked around, no doubt searching for a way out, but there was none.
The sandstorm had raised her above the ground, it had thrown her hood back and set her dark red hair into a wild frenzy above her.
And then she clutched at her throat as if…as if he was sucking the air out of her.
I turned and stared at Sett. He appeared unfazed by it all. He wasn’t even looking at his victim. He was so powerful and yet so serene at the same time.
I’d never seen him like this. I’d never seen him in many ways, but it struck me in that moment how powerful he truly was.
He wasn’t a regular witch. He wasn’t a superior human. He was a god. The god of violence, although that title didn’t suit him. Not in the slightest. He was a master of sand and a god of freedom and he was hot as all sin.
The sandstorm ceased just as fast as it had started and Mother Red Cap fell to the floor, her hair a knotted mess around her.
“How about now? Did that jog your memory?”
She raised a lock of hair from her face and looked at Sett, but it wasn’t with anger. But neither was it fear.
“You…you think you’re the first god to attack me?”
I grimaced.
Just how many had she brought to life into this world? Was she the one who had awakened Horus?
“No. Not him,” she snapped at me. “I never summoned him. But you know some of the others.”
I stared at her for a few moments before I even allowed myself a breath.
“They can’t help me.” I deflated.
I was never going to be free of him, was I?
“Are you sure about that?” She raised an eyebrow at me and I wished for the hundredth time this hour that I could read her mind like she could read mine because I had no idea what she was talking about but I had a feeling that, in her own, twisted way, she had just given me a clue.
I just had to follow the breadcrumbs.
Drew
Icouldn't have run out of there faster if I tried.
It was clear by now that Mother Red Cap couldn't or wouldn't help us so there was no point wasting time with her. Not when someone else, a friend, could have the answers we were looking for all within their grasp.
I wanted to curse, to spit at me, to punch me for not thinking to ask my friends for help sooner. For not reaching out, but I couldn't. I wouldn't go down that rabbit hole. I thought I knew how many of my strings Horus was pulling at all times, but clearly he'd been pulling far more than I was ever aware of. Why else wouldn't I ask another god for help? Why wouldn't I tell them of my predicament? I may have been able to shield my mind from him but that didn't mean he hadn't messed with it in the first place. Had I even made any of my own decisions to begin with?
Yeah. Not going down that rabbit hole. No sir.
I came out of Mother Red Cap’s den to a moody but light morning sky and yet the streets were still empty, too early for anyone to be about, at least not in droves. I turned the corner and found the nearest door, letting us both home and back out into Soho, onto Bateman Street.
The flashing neon sign above the door that spelledBewitchinkwas switched off and the shutters in front of the tattoo parlor were down.
"Looks like it's closed," Sett said.
I ignored him and stepped to the side to press the doorbell.
