Force of Nature ▸ House of Anubis [3]

chapter seventy-six. house of the staff

            "I have no idea."

            "Really? Because I would hate for them to leave the building empty-handed like you. Upstairs. Let's go find them, shall we?"

            "No, but Miss, they're not up there. Believe me."

            "Let's go."

            We watch as Denby follows a reluctant KT upstairs. I grab Eddie's arm as they slowly disappear, and then we're safe enough to leave. I go out first, turning to Eddie as we exit the house. "What did you see? And why didn't I hear anything of it?"

            "Well, there wasn't much to hear, so maybe that's why," Eddie tells me as we powerwalk together. "But I saw you putting this staff in the middle of the tank room with the sarcophagi. It's how we stop this."

            "Does it have to be me, though? Eddie, I'm getting a horrible feeling from this."

            "Uh, seeing as how it keeps burning everyone but you... it has to be you, Ashley. It's up to you."

—

            It's up to you.

            Okay, I really have hated carrying all this responsibility the past few years, but this is the worst of it. How can it be up to me and me only to save the world when the Evil Ones, for some reason, need me to help destroy it? No, this can't be just me. It has to be Eddie and me together. It's the Osirian and the Bringer of Death. A force of nature when put together. So much so that the Chosen One can't be around us for long, or the consequences on her life will be dire.

            As Eddie and I run through the woods, he suddenly trips and falls over something, face-planting in the dirt. I skid to a stop as someone—Willow, it seems—stands up. "If you want the staff," Eddie says quickly as he struggles to stand, "you're gonna have to fight me for—"

            "Eddie, it's just Willow!" I interrupt, just as he narrowly misses swinging his arm at her.

            "Willow?" Eddie asks. "Oh. Wait, Willow?"

            Willow looks at me, her eyes lighting up at the staff in my hand. She gasps, "What's this?" She reaches out for it but I hold it back, giving her a sheepish smile before it burns her hand.

            "Don't worry about that," Eddie says, standing between me and her. "Sorry for shouting, by the way."

            "Do you know anything about the best way to release hedgehogs in the wild?" she asks.

            I look at her strangely, eyebrows furrowed. "What?"

            Eddie's answer differs. "Yeah, cover them with leaves and tell them to stay hidden. Okay, this could get a little messy. Is it getting dark?"

            "Still early," Willow remarks.

            "Exactly," Eddie mumbles. "Ash, come on."

            Willow shouts something after us, but it's not my concern. Probably just about her hedgehogs. I receive a text on my phone when it pings and I slow to look at it, wondering if it's KT. No, just Jerome, but his message is enough for me to call out for Eddie. "Hey, Jerome's asking what's wrong with Alfie. He's at the house now."

            "Okay, tell Jerome to keep him there as long as he can and to text if he sees Fabian or Patricia, or Victor or my dad," Eddie tells me. I nod, typing out the message. "How much does he know?"