“Sadie got up and kissed Amos on the forehead. “Leave it to us, Uncle. I’ve got a plan.”“That,” I said, “sounds like very bad news.”

“If I've got the powers of a god, then why am I so...""Lame?" Sadie suggested."Shut up," I said.”

“Then, finally, we were ready to charge in and save Sadie, and she rides up in a limousine driven by an ugly dwarf in a swimsuit, and she accuses us of being late.So when she told us the dwarf was driving us to Russia, I was like, "Whatever." And I got into the car.”

“Brother dear,” I said, “did your soul leave your body while Amos was talking, or did you actually hear him? Egyptian gods real. Red Lord bad. Red Lord’s birthday: very soon, very bad. House of Life: fussy magicians who hate our family because dad was a bit of a rebel, whom you could take a lesson from. Which leaves us—just us—with Dad missing, an evil god about to destroy the world, and an uncle who just jumped off the building—and I can’t actually blame him.” I took a breath. [Yes, Carter, I do have to breathe occasionally.]”

“I’d been to the British museum before. In fact I’ve been in more museums than I like to admit—it makes me sound like a total geek.[That’s Sadie in the background, yelling I am a total geek. Thanks, Sis.]”

“Right.” Sadie looked dazed. “You’ve got a monkey butler. Why not?”

“And this is the east shore?" Sadie asked. "You said something about that in London--my grandparents living on the east shore." Amos smiled. "Yes. Very good, Sadie. In ancient times, the east bank of the Nile was always the side of the living, the side where the sun rises. The dead were buried west of the river. It was considered bad luck, even dangerous, to live there. The tradition is still strong among... our people."Our people?" I asked, but Sadie muscled in with another question.So you can't live in Manhattan?" she asked.Amos's brow furrowed as he looked across at the Empire State Building. "Manhattan has other problems. Other gods. It's best we stay separate.”