The Serpent's Shadow

Right before it’s time to leave for the dance, Walt tells Sadie he isn’t going because he needs to save his strength to visit Thoth later. Sadie is disappointed because she wanted to dance and have fun with him. She wonders, “[W]hat’s the point of being a magician if you can’t wave your wand and make the people you care about feel better?” (79). Anubis is at the dance, which he’s able to visit because it’s the site of the 1776 Battle of Brooklyn Heights. As he and Sadie dance, spirits of soldiers and women twirl around them, unseen by any but the two of them.

Anubis knows of the plan to destroy Apophis by execrating his soul. He explains that a magician with access to the right magic and a god’s sheut could do a complete reset on the god, effectively destroying them. Anubis also tries to tell Sadie something about Walt, but before he can, his great-grandfather, Shu (god of wind), arrives to blast them apart. Anubis has broken the rules by having contact with Sadie and is banned from doing so again. 

Before the gods disappear, Shu tells Sadie he’s sent help. As the spirits vanish back into the Duat, a boy Sadie recognizes from a past mission in Russia arrives, claiming they need to talk.