“Rowww!” Bast wailed. The wrecking ball rolled straight over her, but she didn’t appear hurt. She leaped off and pounced aain. Her knives sliced through the metal like wet clay. Within seconds, the wrecking ball was reduced to a mound of scraps.Bast sheathed her blades. “Safe now.”“You saved us from a metal ball,” Sadie said.“You never know,” Bast said. “It could’ve been hostile.”

“She was so warm, her drenched clothes had almost dried. Her eyes were rolled back in her head. She started muttering, and I could’ve sworn she said, “Dung balls. Time to roll the dung balls.”It might’ve been funny—except for the fact that she was dying.“That’s Khepri talking,” Setne explained. “He’s the divine dung beetle, rolling the sun across the sky.”I didn’t want to process that—the idea that the girl I liked had been possessed by a dung beetle and was now having dreams about pushing a giant sphere of flaming poo across the sky.”

“I stared at the river far below. "Why did you park us on the mountain? Why not closer?"Bast shrugged, as if this hadn't occurred to her. "Cats like to get as high up as possible. In case we have to pounce on something.""Great," I said. "So if we have to pounce, we're all set.”

“The metal blade hit her shoulder and passed cleanthrough her body as if she were made of water. HISSS!”

“Baboons are very wise animals,” Bast said.“Agh!” Khufu picked his nose, then turned his Technicolor bum our direction. He threw his friends the ball. They began to fight over it, showing one another their fangs and slapping their heads.“Wise?” I asked.”

“Zia," I said, "that's a goddess. She defeated Bast. What chance do you have?"Zia held up her staff and the carved lion's head burst into flames - a small red fireball so bright, it lit the entire room. "I am a scribe in the House of Life, Sadie Kane. I am trained to fight gods.”

“Now, now," Bast said. "It's not so bad.""Right," I said. "We're stuck in Washington, D.C. We have two days to make it to Arizona and stop a god we don't know how to stop. And if we can't, we'll never see our dad or Amos again, and the world might end.""That's the spirit!" Bast said brightly. "Now, let's have a picnic.”