CHAPTER 174

"Give up," Beth declared. "There's nowhere to run, and nowhere to hide."

Neferisfet drew a second knife and sneered at both of them as she backed down the hall. "I haven't survived this long to just--"

The attic door opened hard, the ladder swinging down and catching Neferisfet in the back of the head. The priestess stumbled forward, and Kisa rammed her in the gut with the floor lamp, sending her over what was left of the railing. Beth swung to one side to get out of the way and then watched Neferisfet as she fell to the floor below with a scream.

"C'mon, get up here." Kisa grabbed onto Beth's wrist and pulled. Jenny and Reggie came down the ladder. "I've been hiding from her ever since she attacked everyone. Was just waiting for the perfect moment."

"Where's Opal?" Beth asked once she was safely on the floor.

Kisa pulled the cracked vial out of her pocket and handed it to Beth. "Still in here. When that bitch attacked us, she sucked what was left of herself back inside and I brought her with me."

"Thanks." Beth pocketed Opal's vial and looked over the railing. Down below, Neferisfet was getting to her feet. The priestess looked over at the Grimoire, then stumbled toward it.

Beth pulled off Tick Tock and threw the mimic down. Tick Tock sprouted mechanical legs and landed in a crouch on top of the Grimoire, pausing long enough to gobble it up.

Neferisfet let out a shriek and blasted the mimic with more of her green fire, which sent him out of view. Beth and Kisa were already running down the stairs, but came to a stop when Neferisfet looked up at them.

Her leathery features were oozing pus from the wounds that Kisa had inflicted. Neferisfet hissed at them like a cornered animal and ran toward the front door.

"Oh, no, you don't."

Kisa vaulted the railing and ran after her. Neferisfet opened the front door and the house was filled with the sound of Murray's eerie cry. Kisa tipped over and crashed into the closet as Neferisfet limped out the front door.

"Kisa!" Beth stumbled toward the door and kicked it shut, closing out the angel's call.

"Damn, I didn't expect that." Kisa winced and put her hands on her ears. "Feel sick already."

"We cannot let her escape," Reggie called from above. "She will make it back to Earth and possess someone there."

Beth groaned and looked down at Kisa. "Close the door behind me."

Kisa nodded, then put her hands over her ears. Beth yanked open the door, jammed her fingers into her ears and ran outside.

The swirling mists were bubbling along the edges of the property. Murray was hovering in place, shrieking in that dissonant tone. Above him, the angel's wings were spinning, as if it were a giant engine powering the process.

What concerned Beth was the fact that Neferisfet was moving toward Murray, holding that weird bag aloft. She was shouting something in an ancient language, causing the bag and her entire arm to pulsate with magical energy.

"She tried to kill me," Beth shouted at the angel. "Do something!"

Mehkhkahrel's many eyes focused on Neferisfet, and Beth saw that the whites of those eyes were starting to flash. The lights were sporadic at first, but were starting to synchronize.

"Hey!" She stumbled forward, trying her best to keep her balance. "This is the bad guy, aren't you gonna do something?"

"YE HAVE BEEN JUDGED." The voice came from Mehkhkahrel itself, a sound so powerful that Beth's hair blew backwards and she fell to her knees. Every eye on the angel flashed simultaneously, and then a massive eye opened in the middle of its body. The spinning wings looked very much like a turbine, glittering with silver light.

Neferisfet straightened her back just moment before a blinding light fired out of the center of Mehkhkahrel and into the priestess. Beth blinked away the spots in her vision as dry ash blew across her face. Neferisfet was gone, and in her spot there was a small pile of dusty remains.

"Thank God," she muttered, then leaned forward and put her hands on the ground. It was over.

Murray closed his mouth and descended until his feet were on the ground. He walked over toward the pile of ash and squatted down to examine it. Above him, Mehkhkahrel's powerful wings had stopped spinning in place.

"There you are." Murray pulled the pouch out of the ashes and grinned. "Wasn't sure it would survive."

"Do you know what that thing is?" Beth asked. She was surprised it hadn't been destroyed by the angel. What the hell kind of magic had that been?

"Of course I do." Murray winked at her. It was such a simple expression, but one that had been beyond him since being possessed. She couldn't help but notice that Murray had left glowing footprints behind him.

In horror, Beth watched Murray hold up the bag. Streamers of light bled off of the angel and into the fleshy sack, causing it to expand. It elongated first, revealing fleshy veins and a thick head that bloomed from beneath the foreskin. It radiated with power, filling the air with a low hum. "I haven't held onto the phallus of Osiris for thousands of years without knowing what it is."

Golden light sparkled along its length as he pointed the stiff member at the angel, and a blue aura surrounded Murray's entire body. Up above, Mehkhkahrel's wings started spinning in reverse as the angel's eyes blinked out of existence, then returned. The mostly human pupils were gone, now transformed into the narrow slits of a snake.

"But how? How?" Beth backed away from the angel, her eyes wide.

"The soul in this body agreed to merge with me, and I am not so weak as to be dominated by the angel's will." Murray spun around with a grin, clutching the dick of a dead god in his hands. "As the mouthpiece of Mehkhkahrel, the angel is sworn to protect me from harm. And I've decided that means you!"