“Mafdet. She protected against the bite of snakes and scorpions.”
Not a bad goddess to be a priest of. He made a mental note to tell Alistair later.
“Some overlap developed between the gods as the millennia went on,” Doc continued, “but you get the gist. Hexworkers trained at the temples alongside other scribes, and most witches joined their familiar’s temple as priests after bonding. Magic—or heka, as it was called—was believed to exist in all things, but only those chosen by the gods could truly wield it.”
“And Akhenaten outlawed all the gods but Aten, then made himself and his family the only point of contact with Aten, right?” Sam asked, hoping he’d understood everything.
“Exactly,” Doc said, seeming pleased. “Now, we don’t actually know how that worked in terms of hexes. People could no longer go to their local temple to get one. Did only those closest to the pharaoh receive magic now? Was Akhenaten a witch, a familiar, or neither? What about Nefertiti? What happened to the familiars who used to be priests?” He spread his hands apart. “There are too many gaps in the record to be sure. Or there were, depending on what we uncover amongst Neferneferuaten’s grave goods.”
Discoveries he could never tell anyone about. “I see. Are you still looking at those?”
“As long as I’m allowed to.” Doc glanced at him. “Did you ask Sullivan about making a donation?”
He’d been so caught up in the situation between Sullivan, Fabiano, and The Pride, he’d forgotten all about Doc’s request. “Not yet—I’m sorry. I promise I will next time I see him.”
Doc didn’t look happy, but only turned back to the box. “Let’s just get to work.”
12
Wanda was as good as her word. When Alistair arrived at The Pride first thing Monday morning, workers were already there reinforcing the steel door and its frame.
Alistair didn’t even want to look at the ledger. “How much is this going to cost us?”
“More than I’d like,” she said unhappily.
Shit. “Maybe I can dip into our savings. It’s mostly Sam’s earnings, but…”
“No.” She gave him a quelling look. “No telling when you might need that.”
He didn’t bring up the fact Sam was already sending money to his worthless family back in Gatesville—that wasn’t Wanda’s business. “Fine.”
“I’ve arranged a meeting with the rumrunner, Brown,” she went on. “I’ll stay here and run things. The rest of you, including Reinhold, will meet Brown this evening.”
“Does Reinhold have a gun?”
“He will by tonight.”
Right. Alistair looked again at the new door, then went back into their office and sat down at his desk. Faint bangs and echoes sounded through the walls.
Fur and feathers, this was a mess. There had always been some risk in what they were doing, but he’d imagined anyone busting down the door would be police or prohees.
He’d seldom been so wrong in his life. The tension in the city was rising with every day that passed; Fabiano’s offer had just been the first sally.
Was this really the life he wanted for Sam and him?
No. No, it wasn’t, but what else could he do? Sam was enmeshed with Sullivan now, and even if they were able to get out of the business and move somewhere else, Wanda and the others would still be here.
From his first days in the Home for Orphaned Familiars, it had been the five of them against the world. They’d had no other family; even the other familiars gave them a wide berth, though he suspected that was because the adults—all non-familiars, of course—told them to.
Then he’d met Forrest, and briefly dreamed of another life. Forrest loved him for him, not because they’d been thrown together as children.
If the war hadn’t happened, if Forrest had gotten whatever help he needed, if Alistair had done things differently…
He might still be sitting here, but he doubted it. Forrest had always wanted to go to New York, try his hand on Broadway. He’d been born with the face, been working on the singing ability. Maybe he would have made it big, who could say?
Instead, the war came. Forrest first walked away from Alistair, then life itself. Alistair had nowhere else to go, no one else to go to, so he came home to his adoptive brother and sisters. They took him in without question, the only people who would always love him no matter what.
He couldn’t up and leave them. Certainly not in the middle of a gang war.
