Simon stood unmoving in the tiny bathroom of Thoth's cottage, his hands propped up on the washing basin in front of him. His stomach growled, but he barely registered it. Voices were coming through the small glassless window on his left. Nefertari and Thoth were talking outside on the riverbed, and Horus was regenerating in the room with the low table.

  Barely five minutes ago, before Nefertari had woken after a day spent sleeping in the warm sand outside (Thoth didn't have any beds, for he normally slept outside too, and anyway, gods didn't need as much sleep as humans), Simon had been sitting on the bathroom table with his left sleeve rolled up to his armpit, while Thoth examined his arm. The god of wisdom had confirmed what Set had already told him, and the gist of it was that the rash was a curse indeed, and Simon was going to keel sooner or later; it wasn't curable by any spell, salve, or potion either, and if he was honest with himself, he hadn't expected it to be; in short, his death sentence was absolute.

  He brushed his fingers over the cold form of the Infinity Key on his chest; under his fingertips he could feel it ticking away slowly, steadily, mimicking his pulse … He found that he wasn't as shocked by the news of his impending demise as he thought one ought to be when learning of their forthcoming doom, which was surprising...

  He didn't want to dwell on the issue, though. There was nothing to be done after all, except the one thing he had been interrupted doing earlier that day, the important thing, which would be completed soon enough. And then, if he was very lucky, he would finally be able to go back home.

  He washed his face quickly – he'd told Thoth he only needed to use the bathroom – and followed the god back outside. More than twelve hours had already passed since their escape from Set, it was early evening, and strips of auburn, pink and orange were visible on the horizon. Now that it was light out, he could see that the greenbelt had been cleared in front of the pyramid that was Thoth's home, allowing the view and access onto the glimmering river. Somewhere nearby, he could hear splashing noises, and, remembering an earlier incident, approached the site gingerly and with a hand over his eyes.

  “Are you decent?” Simon asked warily. “Please tell me you're not naked.”

  “I'm not naked,” said Nefertari.

  Simon lowered his hand slowly – she wasn't naked; in fact, she was pretty much fully clothed, except for her sandals, which lay abandoned a short distance away on the riverbed. Thoth was sitting on a rock in front of her, watching the scene with an apathetic expression.

  “What are you doing?” Simon asked.

  Nefertari shrugged.

  “Trying to plan where we go from here.”

  “So what is the plan?” asked Simon, trying to find an opportunity to announce his plan.

  “Set has offered us a proposal,” said Thoth slowly. “He did not take very kindly to your escape, indeed, it seems as though he is most upset by it.”

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  “What proposal is that?” said Simon apprehensively.

  “A surrender,” said Nefertari lightly. “He says if we give you up, return you to him, he could talk to Apep on our behalf … You know, return me to my rightful position and what not … He is quite desperate.”

  “You can't be serious,” began Simon, taken aback. Surely they wouldn't (again) sacrifice him when they had just rescued him... especially not after what it had cost...

  “Well, I don't know,” Nefertari said, looking at him in an appraising sort of way.

  “Are you – you can't even think about it!”

  The corners of her lips twitched.

  “'Course we wouldn't,” she said easily, waving a hand at him. “It's a lot of gibberish if you ask me, anyway. Apep would never agree to something like that.”

  Simon's pulse, which had surged when she had talked about giving him up, calmed again, before he remembered what he was about to do … Once more it surged, with excitement and anxiety, heart thundering loudly in his ears, and his palms became rather sweaty, so he wiped them on his shorts. He was only waiting for the right moment now... though quite frankly that would have been weeks ago... but he couldn't turn back time, not yet at least, and he owed them his life too... A moment later, Nefertari obliged to his unspoken plea for an opening to make his offer.

  “I wish it was that simple, really,” she sighed, “but we're no closer to finding the key and taking on Apep than you are from going home, and without it, we have no way of beating –“

  “Actually, that is not true,” Simon talked over her, enjoying for a moment the look of surprise on the girl's face. Then reality caught up with satisfaction.

  “What do you mean – not true?”

  Simon puffed out his chest, ignoring the wetness of his palms, and gathered his courage. Before he could rethink it and back out once again, he snatched the chain of the Infinity Key and quickly reeled it in until the hourglass was inches from his fist, then held it out to her over the waves, where it swung idly with a soft clicking noise.

  Nefertari stared, quite evidently struck dumb, at the pendant, and the lingering silence unnerved Simon even more than if she had shouted.

  “Listen, I know I should have done this sooner – way sooner – but –“

  “You're telling me,” Nefertari interrupted him, her face inscrutable, “you've had this all along?”

  Simon swallowed thickly … was she going to pounce on him? Perhaps he did deserve it. Nefertari continued to contemplate him with that unreadable expression, somewhat dangerous, the calm before a storm … but he had already come so far, the least he could do – must do – now was try, and then hope...

  “Well, yes,” he said apprehensively. “I know I never told you, but it's how I got here in the first place. I used it on – on a portal inside the Great – inside Giza …”

  Nefertari's brows furrowed slightly, as though she couldn't believe what she was hearing, and still she hadn't made a move toward the key or toward him...

  Though Simon felt more like turning and running away (as he thought one should when confronted with an angry lion), he jabbed the pendant at her, almost desperate now for her to take it. He felt drained again, not only his body, but it seemed as though all of his emotions had suddenly left him. The hunger he had felt mere minutes ago had evaporated, replaced with a dull ache that he knew he couldn't fill with food. After all they had said about starting anew, he could see that he had managed to shatter all their hopes for a fresh slate by hiding his secret so long. And then there was still something else on his mind: Morgan. He had to see his cousin one more time, had to know the reasons behind Morgan's betrayal...

  “All I ask,” said Simon, feeling hopeless, “is that you get me home first … I know how, I just need to get back to Giza.”