Large leathery bat wings burst from my back. They rip through my tunic, before I spread them wide.
Shadows ebb and flow at their edges, as if they’re trailing the night with them.
I flap my wings, threateningly.
Nebet laughs. “Oh, you’re precious, little fang. Put those away, before you hurt yourself.”
I growl, rushing her with uncanny speed.
My shadows whip out, catching Nebet by surprise. She hisses in pain, stumbling back a pace.
Nebet raises her hand to her cheek, probing at her cut lip in shock. She stares at the crimson that is blossoming on the pads of her fingers like it has been decades since she has seen her own blood, rather than someone else’s there.
I bet it has.
I grin, viciously.
Nebet’s eyes flash with rage, before her ribbons whip out, lightning fast. I attempt to wrap my bat wings around myself as a shield but I can’t stop the ribbons from tying themselves around me so tightly that I struggle to breathe.
I can’t move.
I can’t…breathe.
My arms are trussed to my sides, and my shadows are forced back inside me.
I howl in pain, as my wings are crushed against my chest.
More and more ribbons wind out, binding me more securely, all the way to my head. They pull me off my feet, until I am dangling in the air.
Damn her to hell.
I feel helpless, more than I ever have in my life.
My moths circle above my head in agitation, lighting me up, as if I am a captured moon god.
The ribbons pull me closer to the Head Priestess, acting as chains. They wrap around my neck in a collar.
“D-D-Don’t…” I panic at the sensation of the ribbons cutting off my breath.
My lungs burn.
I struggle to concentrate.
I could call to the scarab beetles to rescue me.
The snakes…
The wild dogs…
But then, the ribbons wrap around my mouth, invasive and stinking of sweet honey and spices.
I gag, biting my fangs down hard into the silk and enjoying the way that Nebet flinches.
“Stop it,” Lazarus screams. “Let him go.”
Nebet ignores my brother, pulling me until I am pressed against her body like our souls have been bound.
Tremors wrack me.
