I called Thruor and we gathered at the Starbucks, basically taking it over. It wasn’t exactly the biggest coffee house on the planet.

“So, that thing…”

“That thing was a servant of Apep. Thankfully – you’d have been a snack for the deity himself. Which means we have a priest of Apep around.” Zaid shuddered.

“I take it Apep’s all sorts of bad news?” I asked.

Kanesha rolled her eyes. “Apep is the Egyptian god of darkness and chaos.”

“I thought that was Set.”

She shook her head. “Set’s like Loki. Sometimes good, sometimes bad, sometimes indifferent. Apep is pure evil, and anyone who chooses to worship him.” She shudders. “Don’t they have spells to keep him away?”

Zaid nodded. “That’s what I was reciting…the spells to banish Apep from the Book of the Dead.”

“Well, it seemed to work.”

“You helped.” He turned to me. “You’re…” He tilted his head. “I thought you might be some servant of Ra, but you’re not.”

“Wrong pantheon altogether,” Kanesha said, cheerfully.

He continued to study me. “No, don’t tell me. I want the practice.”

I laughed a bit. “So, how do we find this evil Apep worshipper?”

“Traditionally, it would be a woman, or at least not a man.”

I was still wondering if Zaid was a man or something else.
Then he aha’d. “Norse,” he said, looking at me. “I’d almost say fire giant, but not quite.”

“I have some fire giant in me,” I admitted. Which was true. Maybe the fire had come from that. I’d wanted light so badly.

“Interesting. I’d rather have you on my side than against me.”

Then Mike and Thruor showed up and Zaid’s attention was distracted from me. “She’s easier. That…is a valkyrie. Right here.”

Thruor grinned and sat down. “Thruor Thorsdottir.”

“Right here…” He tailed off. “What’s going to show up next?”

“Hopefully not Apep. Let’s get focused and get him found?”

Zaid nodded. “And I’ll work out who you are yet.” He grinned at me.

I found that quite an interesting grin and had to reach for Kanesha’s hand under the table.