THE POXIES TRIED TO STOP US. THEY FORMED A SNARLING mob, armed with branches, rocks, even shopping carts, and tried to encircle the chariot. But it was like trying to corral a hurricane. The lamassus smashed through them, sending them tumbling like rag dolls.

“Good kitties,” said Belet.

The strength of the lamassus and the power of the chariot passed through the reins into me, making us an unstoppable juggernaut.

The cats were just fast enough to dodge Idiptu’s darting tongue and just nimble enough to stay out of reach of his sweeping arms. As we raced up Fifteenth, in the direction of Manhattan General, he bounded after us in huge, ground-cracking jumps, leaving craters in his wake.

“Faster!” cried Daoud.

I glanced back. Idiptu and the poxies were falling farther and farther behind. I pulled the reins hard left, and we swept onto Broadway. Then I saw what lay ahead: a gruesome parade of pestilence.

“More poxies,” said Belet. “Looks like the entire city has turned out for us. Lovely.”

I glanced at the plastic tub in Daoud’s hand. Suddenly it didn’t seem so big, certainly not large enough to cure a hospital full of people. We needed a tanker of it.

“Did you try any?” I asked Daoud. “You know, just as an experiment?”

He bit his cracked lip. “I was tempted, I admit,” he said. “But I didn’t want to waste a drop.”

“It isn’t too late, you know,” I said. “I could sprinkle some on you now, and we could see if it—”

Sargon roared. The other lamassus joined him, rising onto their hind legs to slice the air with their forepaws. The poxies in front of us, rabid with bloodlust, paused. There were thousands of them, but no one wanted to be the first to take us on.

Daoud gazed at the huge crowd and tightened his hand on the frying pan. “I guess we get to be heroes, after all, eh, cuz?”

“About time!” I flicked the reins, and the lamassus pounced forward. They flapped their wings as they ran straight at the horde of frenzied poxies that surged at us as one. Their wings beat harder and harder.

There were a hundred yards between us, then fifty. The chariot wheels bounced over the uneven asphalt, each time hanging in the air a little longer.

Twenty yards. I could see the raging madness in the poxies’ bloodred eyes.

Ten.

The four lamassus roared simultaneously, and Sargon, taking the lead, leaped. I mean leaped. My guts dropped to my ankles as the chariot shot skyward. The lamassus, freed from the ground, lowered their heads to direct all their power to flight. With each beat of their wings, we climbed higher between the canyon of skyscrapers.

I shouted over the howling wind. I don’t remember what I said exactly—I was too caught up in the moment—but if you can’t have fun flying over Manhattan in a magical chariot drawn by four massive winged cats, then when can you?

Belet, her jaw fixed, nodded even as she clutched the side of the chariot all the tighter. Kasusu was cheering, shouting about some great chariot battle in Kadesh. The sword was loving this, while I struggled to keep down my rice dinner as the chariot rocked and spun in the hurricane. Daoud was praying really hard.

We never saw Idiptu coming. He must have been waiting down one of the side streets. He catapulted himself straight onto the back of the chariot, propelling us right into—and through—the glazed windows of a building.

Belet tried her best to cover me as glass shards sliced through the air.

The chariot hit the floor of an open-plan office and limped around, the left front wheel trembling unevenly. Two of the lamassus, Shere Khan and Simba, had been torn free of the harness and were lying on the floor, mewling pitifully as they shrank back into their cat forms.

Idiptu, who had jumped off one second before impact, swung himself through the shattered windows. “There’s no escape for you now,” he said, saliva dripping from his immense mouth.

Belet grimaced as she plucked a thin triangle of glass from her arm. “We need to end this, Sik.”

She was right. I tugged the reins, struggling to keep the chariot upright as I turned it to face Idiptu. We’d been so close to reaching the hospital.…“Do you think you and Kasusu could…? Hey, where’s Daoud?”

We both scanned the room.

He lay to the right of the demon, his face bleeding from a dozen cuts. The tub had slipped from his hands and was rolling toward the broken window.

Idiptu smacked his lips as he zeroed in on Daoud. He flicked out his tongue and wrapped it around our friend like a boa constrictor. The demon opened his mouth wide.…

The tub began picking up speed.

“Mine!” yelled Belet. She leaped off the chariot platform and dashed toward the plastic container.

I slapped the reins hard over the two remaining lamassus, Sargon and Bagheera. They didn’t need any encouraging—they had a reviled demon in their sights. Their claws shot out, long and sharp.

Idiptu’s eyes widened as the chariot sped toward him. He dropped Daoud, but not fast enough.

When we slammed into the giant toad, it was like crashing into a brick wall. The impact jarred me all the way through to my toes and punched the air from my lungs. Sargon and the black panther tore at Idiptu, ripping great, ragged chunks of slimy flesh off his bones. The demon’s scream is a sound I’ll remember till the end of my days. I had no doubt it was the first time in a looong time he’d ever felt terror. Sargon buried his fangs into the disgusting creature’s shoulder, and a fountain of green blood sprayed the ceiling.

Belet slid across the floor and clasped the tub as it tottered on the ledge.

As the lamassus jumped out of the way of Idiptu’s slime, I left a pair of deep chariot grooves across the toad’s head. Maggots spewed from the wounds across his body as he took a few rasping breaths. I pulled the chariot to a halt to make sure they were his last.

“Shukran,” said Daoud as we helped him to his feet. Despite having been torn up by glass and nearly squeezed to death, he was smiling…until he saw the chariot. “Your chariot looks almost as bad as I do.”

“We left half the team back there.” I jerked my head toward the cats.

“Be careful with this,” said Belet, handing me the tub before going to check on Shere Khan and Simba. “They’re only dazed, but their god surge is spent,” she reported, stroking them. “You were both so brave.”

I wasn’t sure how to say the next part, but I had to. “Without four lamassus pulling it,” I started, “I don’t know if the chariot can carry—”

Daoud interrupted. “Do what you need to do.”

“Are you sure?”

“Daoud’s right,” said Belet, wrapping her bleeding arm with her sash. “Sargon and Bagheera will get the job done.”

I started to lift the lid of the precious container of serum. “First, Daoud, let’s fix you up with a little—”

“Don’t waste any more time,” said Daoud, waving me off. “Go save your folks already!”

He was amazing me more with every passing minute.

“There might be more demons out there,” Belet warned me. “And we don’t know where Nergal has gone off to. Be careful.”

“‘Be careful’?” I said, looking shocked. “I hope you’re not going all mushy on me, Belet.”

She made a sour face and a gesture that was probably rude back in ancient Mesopotamia.

“I won’t be long.” I sealed the tub of Mo’s Promise and put it securely between my feet on the chariot platform. “I’d tell you to stay up here, out of trouble, but, hey, who am I kidding?”

I tugged the lamassus into a sharp right. Then I ducked behind the front panel as they leaped out the shattered window. More glass rained down, but then we were out in the raw gusts howling down Broadway.

I looked back to see Belet standing at the opening. She raised Kasusu and shouted, but the wind stole her words.

It was time to pay Mama and Baba a visit.

I flicked the reins and drove into the heart of the storm.