Page 23 of The Tanglewood Witches (The Three Sisters 1)
Isis’s eyes landed on their coupled hands. “The god of chaos started this, but I am the goddess of life and magic. Do not underestimate me. I will show you the way.”
* * *
Orpheus ledAlena through the golden doors and into the room where they had begun their quest. A contingent of soldiers waited for them. He hugged the golden book to his chest with one arm and held Alena in the other. He didn’t plan to let her out of his sight.
When the guards reached for the grimoire, he pulled away. “I can only give the book to Cleopatra herself. No one else!”
The soldiers seized him by the elbow and dragged them to the throne room. Cleopatra’s kohl-lined eyes widened when she saw them. Orpheus watched her fingers bend like claws and all the tiny muscles around her mouth tighten. Beside him, Alena trembled, whether from weakness or fear, he did not know.
“So you’ve survived after all, despite the predictions of my advisors.” She flashed the men by her side a murderous look before her gaze settled on Orpheus and then Alena. “Is that the grimoire?”
“Yes.” Orpheus held out the book to her.
A soldier approached him, intending, no doubt, to carry the book to his pharaoh, but Cleopatra stopped him with a hiss.
“Only I shall touch it,” she snapped. Haughtily, she descended from the dais and approached Orpheus, grasping greedily for the grimoire. Once it was in her hands, her breath quickened and she caressed it like the face of a lover.
Orpheus was relieved to be rid of the weighty tome. Gods, he was exhausted. His mouth was as dry as a stone. “Please, the quest was difficult. Allow us to leave and seek respite.”
Beside him, he heard Alena’s breath rush from her lungs in a shaky exhale.
But Cleopatra did not even look in his direction. She returned to her throne, rested the grimoire in her lap, and reached for the corner of the golden cover, her expression that of a child tearing into a gift. But when she opened the book, the pages were blank.
Orpheus and Alena crept backward.
“Seize them!” she yelled.
The guards grabbed them both again and forced them to their knees. Orpheus allowed his head to roll forward on his shoulders. When Isis had presented them with the decoy book, he’d been skeptical it would work. Now they were paying the price for the folly of the gods.
“What have you done?” Cleopatra seethed. She set the book aside and rushed Orpheus, grabbing his face and squeezing until her nails bit into his flesh.
“He’s done nothing!” Alena blurted. “Let us go. You asked for the grimoire, and we brought it to you. Thatiswhat was on the other side of the door.”
“It is blank. You have tampered with it.” Cleopatra forced the words through her teeth.
“This is what was given to us by the goddess Isis herself,” Alena yelled.
“Perhaps you must use magic to read it?” Orpheus said. His voice cracked from thirst.
“Yes. Orpheus is right. The pages are likely enchanted,” Alena added. “Now please. We’ve accomplished your quest. Let us go! We’ve had nothing to eat or drink in days.”
Cleopatra released Orpheus’s face and returned to the book. She lifted it again and stared at the blank page inside, closing and opening the cover. She held it out to a priest who stood beside her throne. He removed the falcon’s head from his scepter, lit the internal wick, sucked the flame into his mouth, and blew smoke across the page. Symbols appeared on the blank papyrus, almost as if they were alive beneath the surface.
“It’s working,” she said. “Again!”
“Please, my queen!” Orpheus begged.
“Go then. I tire of your presence.” She dismissed them with a wave of her hand.
The guards released them, and Orpheus pivoted, placing a hand on Alena’s back to guide her past the guards and toward the front of the palace. They’d taken a few long strides when screams broke out behind them. Orpheus risked a glance back to see snakes swarming from the book. One coiled and struck Cleopatra above the breast. Her eyes locked on him.
“Stop them!” Cleopatra ordered. “Kill them. Kill them now!”
Orpheus broke into a weak run as the guards closed in. They were doomed.
Alena tugged his hand. “Sing, Orpheus. Sing!”
