Curse of Sekhmet by Rain Oxford

Author:Rain Oxford [Oxford, Rain]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2021-10-30T22:53:22+00:00

* * *

I sat with Painter for hours until he woke. There was a door, but I couldn’t simultaneously fend off the creatures, carry my brother, and open the door, especially since I didn’t know what was beyond it.

I had a strange urge to tell our mother what he did. While I didn’t seek our mother’s approval, I knew Painter did. Talot was the only decent mother he’d ever had. As far as I was concerned, he’d earned every medal there was.

It gave me a lot to think about, too. I knew Painter had killed my parents because he thought they would hurt me like the people who took him in did. They kept him from me. I’d never realized how serious Painter took his commitment to protect me. He would kill or die to protect me. He would overcome anything to protect me.

That didn’t mean I didn’t miss my parents or make it okay, but I understood it. No matter what happened, nothing would come between us. Yes, Keira’s life was in danger, because he was waiting for her to step one toe out of line. Even I wouldn’t be able to reason with him if she did.

He couldn’t go back to being Luca, but Painter and I were twins.

I remembered when I was seven and my best friend called me a freak. He told everyone at school what I had done, even though I didn’t realize I had done it at the time. A week later, he apologized, but I told him I hated him and never to talk to me again. His mother told my mother that I was bullying him.

My father sat me on the couch and explained something about friendship that stuck with me for the rest of my life. “When something gets broken, sometimes it can’t be put back together. It can’t be fixed. However, if it was important enough, and you put in the effort, it can become something better than it was before. If words can break it, it wasn’t that strong to begin with. Sometimes, something needs to break so that you can make it better.”

Unfortunately, when Painter interjected Luca into my childhood, he rearranged a lot of things in my memory. I had always thought it was because I was a child that didn’t remember everything.

“Did we make it?” Painter asked, rubbing his head.

“We’re not out yet, but we made it across the bridge alive.”

I helped him climb to his feet and then gave him a minute to steady himself. When Painter was finally ready, we pushed on the door. It opened.

Inside was a short hallway with two doors at the end of it. Between them was a message in Sacred Syndrial. “Only one can enter each door,” Painter translated. “It’s a good thing there are only two of us, I guess.”

“I can transport myself to you, so if you’re in too deep, transport yourself out,” I said.

“We’ve come too far.”

“I only mean if you’re about to die and there’s no other way out.

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