What Lies Beneath ▸ House of Anubis [1]

chapter sixty. house of forever

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            If we're right, the society should be meeting in the cellar of Anubis House. There's about a quarter left in the Chosen Hour, which means we still have time. And if I'm right, Joy wouldn't have been able to put the Cup of Ankh together if they had forced her. Not just because I have to be there.

            Because I don't think she's the true Chosen One.

            As we walk into the house to stop them, we're met with the sight of Joy standing in the entrance hall, safe and sound. She and Patricia embrace, and given we're all still standing, the Cup mustn't be put together. "Joy, what happened?" Patricia asks.

            "Nothing happened," Joy answers. "I'm not the Chosen One. There is no Cup."

            I look at her, eyebrows furrowed. "You're sure you're not the Chosen One?"

            "That's what they said," she replies. "My dad said I couldn't put it together because you weren't there, Ashley—they officially named you as the Bringer of Death—but Victor said that even if you weren't there, something would have happened, but nothing did. I'm not the Chosen One."

            "They told you," Nina starts and I'm awkwardly realizing this is the first time they've met in person, "that being the Chosen One was something to do with your birthday. Right?"

            "Yeah, seventh of July."

            Nina glances toward us. "Mine's the seventh of July, too."

            "What?" Fabian asks. "Joy, you were born at 7AM, right? The seventh hour of the seventh of the seventh."

            "No, 7PM," Joy corrects.

            "Nina?"

            "I don't know," Nina answers when he asks her time of birth. "Sometime early in the morning, though."

            "I bet it was 7AM," Fabian probably correctly guesses. He was right a couple weeks ago. He was right about everything, about Nina, about me. I should really listen to him more often. "The true seventh hour!"

            "And how much do you wanna bet," I add, "that Sarah was born at 1AM on the first day of January? Nina's the true Chosen One! And that means that Rufus was right about the Chosen One and the Bringer of Death. Nina, it's you and me."

            "It would be the American," Jerome comments, "wouldn't it?"

            Fabian checks his watch. "Guys, it's a quarter to one. We've got fifteen minutes of the Chosen Hour left. Where are the pieces?"

            "Still down there, I think," Joy answers.

            "Nina?"

            Nina looks around the entrance hall and closes her eyes. It's up to her. She's the Chosen One. After a few seconds, she opens her eyes and looks at me. I nod, letting her know I'm with her no matter her choice. She reaches over and grabs my hand. "Let's do this."