“Thoth's beak! You are impossibley stubborn.""Yeah, it's a gift.”

“Come on," I said. "I've got some questions for Thoth. And then I'm going to punch him in the beak.”

“He raised an eyebrow. "You claim not to know me? Of course I'm Thoth. Also called Djehuti. Also called--"I [Sadie] stifled a laugh. "Ja-hooty?"Thoth looked offended. "In Ancient Egyptian, it's a perfectly fine name. The Greeks called me Thoth. Then later they confused me with their god Hermes. Even had the nerve to rename my sacred city Hermopolis, though we're nothing alike. Believe me, if you've ever met Hermes--”

“How do I defeat Apophis?”“I’m so glad you asked!” Thoth beamed at me with his multicolored eyes. “Unfortunately, I can’t tell you.”I glanced at Walt. “Do you want to kill him, or should I?”

“Bloated!" he cried. The corresponding hieroglyph flew through the air, bursting against a demon's chest in a spray of light. Instantly, the demon swelled like a water balloon and rolled screaming down the pyramid."Flat!" Thoth blasted another demon, who collapsed and shriveled into a monster-shaped doormat."Intestinal problems!" Thoth yelled. The poor demon who got zapped with that one turned green and doubled over.”

“You wrote this right?” he said. “It tells how to defeat Set.”Thoth unfolded the papyrus pages. “Oh, dear. I hate reading my old work. Look at this sentence. I’d never write it that way now.” He patted his lab coat pockets. “Red pen—does anyone have one?”Isis chafed against my willpower, insisting that we blast some sense into Thoth. One fireball, she pleaded. Just one enormous magical fireball?I couldn’t say I was tempted, but I kept her under control.“Since when does drool make you powerful?”

“You got a stubborn streak. When it comes to girl problems you’re clueless.”