Page 62 of Queen Takes Checkmate
All wonderful gifts, but also dangerous creatures. Monsters.
I’d seen a cat head and a cobra on the jars. I couldn’t remember what carvings the other two jars had, but one of them had to have something to do with wings. My instincts insisted that whatever was on that fourth jar—whatever gift I had yet to receive—was terrifying. Something inside me lurked for the right time to come crawling out of me to fight a god.
But if it helped me save us, then so be it.
A mosaic Isis held a tiny golden bowl in her hands, lifting it up like an offering. Only the blood of Isis could open the box, and I was the last.
It was a sobering thought. If I died, these gifts that were incredibly ancient and powerful would simply fade away.
I pressed my thumb into the tiny golden bowl on the box’s top. A small hidden pin punctured the pad of my thumb, drawing my blood. And even though I was still on my period, my Blood smelled that tiny drop and went on full alert. I held my thumb out to Nevarre and let him lick the small smear of blood away.
Fine cracks appeared around the box, showing me the lid. I lifted the wooden top and set it aside. I took my time, letting my eyes settle on the familiar first. The closest jar’s lid was a black hooded cobra with a red diamond on her hood. I picked the jar up carefully, surprised that it wasn’t heavy at all. The lid came off easily, and I verified there was nothing inside.
The next jar’s lid was a gorgeous tawny sphinxlike cat head wearing a blue lapis lazuli collar. I didn’t open it to check its contents. I knew I’d already received the gift of my jaguar. The third jar was topped with large black wings that arched up and crossed at the tips. That explained why both my cobra and the jaguar could fly.
I took a deep breath and focused on the fourth and final jar. Its top was cone-shaped and colored a murky green. I picked it up and had to shift my grip, because it was extremely heavy. Whatever was inside pulled my hands down hard, as if giant magnets were trying to suck it down into the ground.
I set it on the bar in front of me so I could study it without straining to hold it. It had scales on the lid and the top ended in what might be a blunt nose with a hint of teeth where the jaws would open. A crocodile? Goddess help me. I had dreamed about having crocodile teeth before.
But the bottom of the jar didn’t seem to go with the top at all. If the jar was a crocodile, the bottom was more like a hippopotamus. With a weirdly long tail.
“Does anyone know what this is?” I asked softly.
“Ammit,” Gina whispered hoarsely. “The Devourer. Eater of Hearts.”
Oh shit. I shivered, and Rik immediately enfolded me in a hug, pulling me back against his chest.
“To understand Ammit, you need to understand ancient Egyptian religion,” she continued. “I hope you can find more answers in your mother’s book, because my knowledge is limited.”
“Do you mean like theBook of the Dead?” Guillaume asked.
“Exactly. When an Egyptian died, the body had to be prepared correctly, so that the person could stand before Anubis for judgement.”
For once, Daire wasn’t purring. “Is this the heart and feather thing?”
Gina nodded. “Yes. The heart is weighed against Ma’at’s feather. If your heart was too heavy, or in other words, carried too many sins, it was given to Ammit.”
My stomach clenched so hard that it hurt to breathe. “Ammit ate the sinners?”
“So they say, which is why she was feared. She’s represented as part crocodile, lion, and hippo, the three most deadly creatures of the Nile.”
I closed my eyes, fighting down the bile that burned my throat. I seriously regretted eating now. Even though the mushrooms browned in butter had been delicious. “Let me get this straight. I have to fuckingeatRa’sheart?”
24
Shara
I’d done and seen some weird and fantastic shit since I discovered my heritage, buteatinghearts wasn’t something I’d ever thought I’d face. Drinking blood, sure. Pulling a still beating heart out of Itztli’s chest…
Burying my face in my hands, I groaned miserably.
Ezra let out a disgusted growl. “If she’s going to kill Ra by eating his fucking heart, why the fuck does she need the red serpent?”
“Ra’s immortal, asshole,” Mehen retorted. “Have you ever tried to eat a god’s heart? It’s not like she can just walk up to him and say, ‘Pardon me, Lord of Sun. Could I please have a bite of your heart?’”
I laughed. I couldn’t help it.
Which was exactly why they did it.
