The Red Pyramid

Sadie arrives where the end of Chapter 38 leaves off. With Isis’s help, Sadie summons a portal to Washington, D.C., taking the entire battle with her. The Washington Monument gives Carter and Sadie power, and removing the pyramid from the desert weakens Set. Sadie summons the spell to defeat Set and the feather of truth. As she reads, the pyramid breaks apart, and Set falters. Before she can finish the spell, the form of Apophis appears in the sky. The serpent has brought all this destruction with only a whisp of its essence and warns them to “imagine what I shall do when fully formed” (482). Apophis disperses. Rather than destroy Set, Sadie realizes the gods will need his help to defeat the serpent. She banishes him to the Duat with the condition that he will not return until called.

Sirens blare in the distance, getting closer. Amos wakes but is still in bad shape, so Sadie puts him back to sleep. Zia’s wounds look even worse. Carter cradles her head, begging her to stay with him. Zia tells him she isn’t really there and turns to clay, revealing her shabti nature. Desjardins arrives, enraged that Sadie and Carter bargained with Set.