Two is Company (House of Anubis)

Chapter 109: Gods, Monsters, & Other People

The parlor was eerily silent, but no one stopped to listen too hard, instead hurtling toward the hidden door by the organ with footsteps heavy enough to bring the house down. There wasn't even the option to turn around at this point, not with Kira and and now Fabian cutting off their escape route, and Eddie knew that he and his companions were running straight into the most completely unhinged, batshit, do-or-die situation he'd ever had the misfortune of being in— and that was saying something, because he was from New Jersey. All that in mind, it was no surprise that KT was the one who skittered to a halt just before Eddie flung the door open.

"Are we really just going to barge in there without any sort of game plan?" she wheezed, out of breath from all the cardio.

"I'm sorry, what exactly do you think we've been doing this whole time?" he puffed back. "We don't have time to sit here and talk strategy; this isn't dodgeball, KT!"

"Eddie, she's right," Harriet interjected. "Caroline is upstairs; more importantly, Ammut is upstairs, and she won't hesitate to do a lot worse than turn us into Sinners, given the chance. We have to get this right."

"Well, we keep getting it wrong," he snapped, "so clearly our planning track record is pretty dogshit. Denby might not even have the key on her."

"She will," said Harriet.

"Because she's an egomaniac," KT muttered darkly.

"I don't see why her liking The Eagles means she's going to have the key," Eddie grunted impatiently.

"Not an Eagle maniac, dingus," snapped KT while Harriet rolled her eyes to the heavens. "An egomaniac.

"Yes," added Harriet, "the Sun Key makes her feel important, so she's probably going to carry it with her."

"Whatever!" Eddie exclaimed, too overwhelmed to be embarrassed. "So what's the problem? If she has it, let's go up there and take it!"

"The problem is that was our plan last time," KT said bitterly, "and it didn't work. We need a new plan."

"Well, we should have thought of this earlier, because by now, Kira's definitely called for backup," Eddie said. "Every second we're standing here arguing, Ammut is probably robbing someone's parents and siblings of their soul, okay? So let's just... just go with the original plan! Okay? KT, pretend to be one of them."

"That won't fool Ammut," Harriet pointed out.

"If it fools Denby long enough to get close, we just have to be fast," Eddie decided, shoving past KT and throwing open the door. "There: a plan!"

"Eddie!" KT hissed, darting after him. "Eddie!" He slowed down so she could catch up. "At least let me go in front of you if we're doing this," she grumbled, elbowing past him. "Gonna kill us all..."

They reached the landing, and immediately Eddie's senses were screaming at him to get out of there. The raw, oppressive power that crackled throughout the tank room seemed to charge the atoms in the very air, and the hairs on the back of his arms stood up straight like before a lighting strike. Denby was there, just as Harriet predicted, on her knees with her neck craned upward toward the goddess; there, around her neck, hung the Sun Key. She hadn't noticed them yet, too focused on appealing to Ammut's cold nature.