Simon shouted, “Kate, go! Destroy the body!”
Kate rushed forward, heedless of the linen writhing on the floor. She swiped with a vial toward the swirling morass before it could close back around the corpse. The liquid stream burst into Greek fire as it coated the figure. Nephthys’s body erupted into molten lava. Oily flames spread over top of the tangled cloth too, engulfing it in blue fire. Blackening skin peeled off Nephthys as the linen tried to tighten back around its host. It wasn’t able to secure itself about the flaming corpse, leaving gaps between the encircling cloth. A cerulean fire burned from within as if the mummy had a heart of flame.
The glowing mummy lurched toward Kate, leaving a wake of burning cinders. The stench of boiling flesh overpowered all. Kate raised the deadly sword, knowing that it would likely do little against the enraged creature. The mummy raised an arm to strike her down, and she stabbed into the flaming heart of a god. Her sword glowed hot but lost its magic aura.
“Hogarth,” Simon shouted.
The big manservant suddenly appeared overhead as he flung himself from the gallery, latching onto a great chandelier suspended over the Skin of Ra. The heavy fixture shuddered at the extra weight and the chain snapped. Hogarth managed to leap aside, bouncing roughly off flowing linen and slamming to the ground. The stumbling mummy was battered to one side under the bulk of the crashing chandelier. Linen sloughed off the crumbling body beneath. Still, the mummy struck out around it, panicked and desperate.
Kate swung the sword, striking away strands of cloth that reached for her. She ducked and kicked through the churning chaos. She reached down to grab Hogarth’s arm. The manservant fought to regain his feet, trying to protect Kate even as she pulled him up.
Simon dove toward them, bowling them both aside just as the center of the roof fell on the mummy, driving the god to the stone floor under an avalanche of stone. The creature stirred, shoving the wreckage aside. It barely maintained a human shape, glowing with a furious blue fire from inside.
Simon glanced back at the floundering Ra and seized Kate’s arm. “Look!”
The linen shuddered as the flaming corpse of Nephthys suddenly imploded in a shower of sooty ash and rolling black smoke, finally consumed in its entirety by the Greek fire. The Skin of Ra fell to the floor in a tangle of twisting linen.
“About bloody time!” Kate shouted, victory creasing her face with a sharp grin.
Penny and Charlotte let out joyful whoops on the far side of the church. Malcolm appeared over the edge of a barricade of wood and stone, reloading his pistols.
“Is it over?” Kate leaned against a capsized pew.
Her answer was the sound of rocks clattering to the side. Long thin tendrils of linen lifted into the smoky air. First one, then another, then many more. The ends of the cloth pressed against the floor like spindly legs and the linen lashed out to lift its now-shapeless form from the ground like a spidery tangle. It swayed, still smoldering blue in spots, sending feelers out in various directions. The cloth still smoldered blue in spots but Kate’s Greek fire was guttering out, leaving the Skin of Ra scorched but alive.
“Damn.” Simon retreated, pulling Kate and Hogarth with him. “There must be a way to incapacitate it. The priests of Ra couldn’t have used this thing as a weapon if they couldn’t control it.”
“The box.” Kate wiped her soot-covered face. “It must be a containment vessel. There must be a spell on it.”
“It’s our only hope,” Simon said, then shouted, “Where’s the ebony box? Where’s Mansfield?”
Malcolm scoured the area. The spot where he had left the insensible ambassador in the main aisle was empty, except for wreckage.
Charlotte yelled out, “I saw that man run out with the box a few minutes ago.”
“I’ll find him.” Malcolm sprinted for the main door, which was now ajar.
“I’ll help you,” Charlotte shouted as she raced to the hunter’s side. When he paused, she stared up defiantly at Malcolm, expecting a rebuke. He just gave a curt nod and left. She followed in his wake.
“The Skin will look for a new host,” Simon warned. “But it wants someone with magic. And none of us do … now.” As it was, only one remained in the church that suited its purpose.
The linen made a sudden lunge toward Ash. She backpedaled awkwardly from its spiraling grasp and shouted in surprise.