Crescent Moon (21 page)

Turning to glance over her shoulder, she looked at the group assembled at
the water’s edge. Twelve men in all. “Now you will see
me. Don’t let me out of your sights until we are there.”

Then she turned, took a deep breath, and dived beneath the water’s
surface. In her mind, she prayed,

“Great ones,
hear me.

Aid me now in returning one who has
escaped Osiris’s realm.

Amun, do not forsake me, not just
yet. Guide my way.

Horus, friend to my husband, lend me your battle prowess.

I am only a woman, frail of body,
but fierce of heart.

I, who was born in humble field,
but raised a God’s Wife, entreat you.

Open a doorway,
let us find the nameless one.

I will join a righteous battle, in
your service.

Should we prevail, we will tell
your stories,

We will not forget. Open the door—I
am Khepri, Amun’s wife, I entreat you…”

She swam downward, deeper than the bottom of the waterway, light pouring
from her body, air leaving her lungs in green bubbles. Before long, her chest
burned, but she stretched, reaching deeper and deeper with her strokes, and for
a moment she doubted she could swim any farther. Had Amun truly expected her to
do this without some small intervention? She closed her eyes.
Husband, please!

In the next instant, she was standing inside the cave, her body dry and
no longer glowing, silvered instead by the tiny, starlike lights swirling on
the ceiling. Her throat tightened in a moment’s remembered panic. But she
wasn’t smothering, wasn’t wrapped in linens. Behind her, footsteps sounded,
crushing the soft sand.

She glanced back to find the team spreading out around her. Relief that
they had made it, that each one of them hadn’t given up, lifted her spirits.

“Where to?” Justin called softly, coming up
beside her.

She glanced around the chamber, at the rock slab where she’d been laid by
the vizier, at the wind-scoured walls, and then upward. This time, the ladder
was once again present, leaning against the edge of the hole at the top of the
ceiling. “There,” she pointed, toward the stars gleaming above them in a
midnight-blue sky through the small, round opening.

Justin stepped past her and began climbing. Michael followed. She glanced
at the man who had tried to give her the listening device, the team’s commander
by the way the rest of the men looked to follow his lead. “Follow me, protect
me and my friends, but do not interfere when I find Dr. Felton.”

He gave her a nod, and she climbed the ladder, encumbered by her long
skirt. When she neared the top, a hand reached down to help her over the edge.
Once outside, a hot wind tossed her hair and whipped at her skirts. Instantly,
she missed the sultry air of Justin’s home.

Justin steadied her as she stood. “Where the hell are we?”

“My past, I think. Where I was entombed.”

“I’m sorry for that,” he said, his voice deepening.

Khepri shrugged. “It’s a lonely place, but I wasn’t aware of it for very
long.” Which was a small half-truth. The memory of the
moments when she’d awakened, her body trapped by layers of fine linen, wrapped
so tightly she could scarcely breathe, was never very far from her thoughts.

Something of what she felt, the melancholy that chilled her soul, must have shown on her face.

Justin pulled her close and bent his head. His mouth touched hers briefly
before he set her back. “For luck,” he said gruffly.

She touched his chest, right above his heart. “There are so many things I
would say to you.”

“Save it. For later.”

The white flash of his smile pulled her own
mouth into an answering grin. “Later, then,” she said, the words nearly choking
her, because in her heart, she doubted there would be another moment like this
one.

Juste smiled down at Khepri even though the effort made his teeth ache
because his jaw was clenched so hard He still fought his own disbelief over the
fact they’d been swimming into swampy water and then suddenly arrived inside
Khepri’s cave, completely dry and standing on solid ground.

The air was dry; grit sifted into his clothing and between his clenched
teeth. The place where they stood was at the base of a ridgeline of rocky outcrops
riddled with dark openings. More caves. The night sounds he was accustomed to
hearing, insects and frogs, were absent here, save for the faint howl of the
wind stirring through the caves. The place was desolate. His chest ached at the
thought of what Khepri must have felt as her life had slipped away from her in
this lonely place.

“Here.” Haddara’s team leader pointed toward the ground. Tracks, not
theirs because they hadn’t yet moved that far from the cave mouth, led in a
straight line along the escarpment. Two sets.

“Head out,” Juste said to the team lead. “Put one of your guys on point.
Mikey, you’re with me.” Left unsaid was the fact he’d be sticking like glue to
Khepri every step of the way.

Juste pulled his weapon, waiting until the first members of the team
passed and the others spread out on either side of the three who would be in
the middle as they trekked forward.

A glance at Khepri said she didn’t mind being stuck in the center with
him. She flashed a smile.

“You’re barefoot,” he said, frowning.

“I am not delicate,” she said, wrinkling her nose in an answering scowl.

The way was rocky, but she didn’t complain, keeping pace with her
protectors. The formation neared a series of caves, black openings that gaped
like mouths. A scrape sounded from one, a moment before a blur of motion,
darting from one of the caves, plucked a man off his feet and retreated. The
rapid tattoo of gunfire sounded from the inside of the cave, then
abruptly stopped.

Juste pushed Khepri to the ground and lowered himself over her. Mikey
crouched beside them, his weapon trained on the cave’s mouth.

The team lead signaled to his men, and they fanned out to either side of
the entrance, donning night vision goggles. Khepri pushed up to rest on her
elbows, blowing to move a lock of hair from her face. “You can get off me.”

“Stay put.”

“This is my battle.”

“You brought us along for something. Or did you just want to feed Ammit
until she was too fat to move?”

She jerked under him, trying to angle her head to glance back at him. “I
would never—”

 “I know that,” he grumbled. “Let
them do their job.”

“Fine, but I should be ready to move. I cannot do it if my legs and
bottom are tingling from lack of blood.”

“Fine,” he grunted and moved to beside her. She came to a crouch behind
Mikey.

“What do you hear on your ear things?” she asked, not looking away from
the cave’s entrance.

Any other time, he’d find her concentration cute. Her eyes were narrowed,
her brows lowered. Her lips were pinched into a thin line he’d like to kiss.
“Not a chirp. They’re using hand signals.”

The first two team members crept around the sides of the cave and
disappeared inside. A moment later, two more entered.

What followed were long, tense moments of silence. No sound of gunfire or
shouts. No one moved. Juste barely breathed, and from the lack of sound beside
him, neither did his two companions.

Just when he’d decided to ask the team lead to check inside the cavern,
something flew from the cave’s mouth, spraying as it sailed before thudding
against the ground. Juste didn’t have to be close to know
it was part of a team member’s body. The sound of the wet, dull thud and the
scent of blood filled the air.

Two more men scrambled out of the entrance, retreating to stand at the
mouth, weapons raised and firing into the cave.

The ground beneath him shook with the heavy tread of the beast that flew
out of the cave. Seemingly impervious to the weapons the men fired, it twisted
its body, knocking one man off his feet with a sideways swing of its long
snout, then opened its mouth and clamped its jaw around the other man, making a
sickening crunching sound before shaking its head and letting fly the two
separated halves of the man’s body.

The beast paused, lifted its head, and made a deafening sound that was a
cross between a hiss and roar.

“How do we fight it?” Juste bit out, one hand supporting the other
holding the weapon, but unable to choose a shot.

Her glance glued on the creature stomping farther out of the cave, Khepri
said, “You cannot defeat her. Only another god can kill her. But you can maim
her to remove her from the battle.” She glanced sideways, frowning. “Her eyes. They will be the most vulnerable part of her
body.”

“Go for her eyes. Shoot her eyes,” Juste shouted, straightening and
training his own weapon on the beast’s crocodilian head.

Golden eyes blinked. Ammit’s head swung their way then tilted, so that
one wide-spaced orb glared directly at him.

“Get Khepri back,” Juste said, pitching his voice over his shoulder to
Michael while he planted his feet firmly in the sandy, graveled dirt and aimed
down his barrel at Ammit’s blinking eye.

In his earpiece, the team lead shouted incomprehensible orders to his
team, and two men ran toward the monster, leaping on opposite shoulders and
grabbing her mane to hoist themselves up.

Rather than risk striking either of the men, Juste lowered his weapon and
aimed at her belly.

The shots dug furrows in her hide, and she screamed, but she had bigger
worries than him because one of the men had worked his way forward, his partner
grabbing his utility belt to hold him steady while he wielded a wicked, long
blade and stabbed at her head. The blade deflected from the rigid snout and
skull, sounding as though it struck wood.

Ammit growled and grunted, her feet stomping hard, causing the earth to
quake. She shook her head violently, tossing the men side to side but failing
to dislodge them. At last, one downward slice impaled a golden eye.

The creature’s back arched, its head rising, pointing upward as it shook
and bucked, but to no avail. The man twisted the blade and sank it deeper.

Shrieking in agony, Ammit shuddered, falling to the ground.

The men scrambled off her back. Her body shivered, her outline shimmering
as she changed, once more in woman form, naked and holding her head in her
hands as she sobbed.

The men who’d defeated her circled her warily but eventually reached out
and grabbed her arms, securing them behind her. Once they had her feet tied as
well, they sat on her back and buttocks. Only then did they look up to the team
lead to give him sharp nods. They could move on to the next target.

“They will keep her secured while we search for the nameless one,” the
team lead said, his grin tight.

Another team member approached at a run. “We have found another cave with
footprints.”

Khepri pushed past Juste. “Lead me to him.”

Juste clamped a hand around her upper arm to stop her. “Dr. Felton, this
nameless king—he’s just a man, isn’t he? You should let us take him.”

Khepri frowned. “He’s a man, but empowered by magic. Like me.” Her chin
jutted. “I’m the one who must approach him. This is my quest.”

“But there’s no need. Not when you have us.”

She shook her head, lifting a hand to slide along his cheek. “These
things are predestined, however you might disagree. Amun did not raise me to
cower behind you. There is a purpose I must serve, just as you have served
yours, getting me to this moment.”

Juste bit back another argument and released his hold on her arm. He’d
let her take the lead, but he’d be one step behind her. He waved her on to
follow the team member as he retraced the path Dr. Felton had taken.

This cave had a wide mouth. Light shone against a sandstone wall as the
entrance narrowed and turned. An invitation. They
wouldn’t have the element of surprise.

Khepri strode forward, passing the team members fanning even now around
the entrance.

Juste followed, Mikey right behind him.

Inside the cave, the air changed, smelling faintly of sulfur. A breeze
wafted, then grew more brisk the closer they drew to
where the tunnel curved. The space was narrower, and Juste had to duck down to
keep from scraping his head on the ceiling.

Khepri marched on, her back straight, her hands
swinging at her sides, not a trace of fear or apprehension in her stride or
posture.

At last they entered a large cavern. Above them, the ceiling was black
and glistening. The floor was covered in deep, white sand. There was a fire pit
in the center, and Dr. Felton sat on a rock, a notebook on his knee.

Juste frowned at the sight of him, looking so engrossed, so normal. Until
he raised his head and smiled at Khepri. His eyes glinted, dark humor in their shining depths. His
mouth was a thin, eerie circle that slowly stretched into a smile that raised
the hairs on the back of Juste’s neck.

Juste reached out to clap a hand on Khepri’s shoulder to halt her. A
shiver of dread worked its way down his back. He didn’t like this. It didn’t
feel right.

Khepri aimed a glare at him and shook off his hand, turning then to study
her foe. “Dr. Felton,” she said, her voice soft but
firm. “Do you remember me?”

“Of course I do. You were in the conference room when your boyfriend
interrogated my team.”

Her head tilted. “You know why I’ve come?”

“You wish to interfere with my work.” He bent his head and resumed
scratching the paper with a pencil. “I must catalog every detail. Display every
artifact I find, the position of the bodies, the bones…”

“There are no artifacts here. No bodies, no bones.”

“Of course there are. Or will be.” He raised his head again. “This moment
must be recorded. The names preserved. There is power in names. Power in the written word. You know that, Amun’s wife. Do
you not want that power when you stand before Anubis to be judged?”

“Dr. Felton, which name do you record for yourself?”

“Why, the one I was given before the stars shone in the heavens.” His
smile widened, his teeth gleaming yellow in the firelight. “I am Selk. Say my
name.”

Khepri shook her head. “You are the nameless one. A
common murderer. You committed infanticide, burned your children and
your wives. You will go to the Hall of Two Truths to be judged for your sins.”

“My name is Selk; say it,” he said, his voice lowering into a thin,
rasping whisper.

Khepri pulled back her shoulders. “You have no name; you will not know
your face in the afterlife. No death mask will mark your bones for you to
find.”

He put down the notebook and stood. Firelight gleamed around the edges of
his body, limning him in light.

As Juste stared, his outline blurred, moved, and suddenly small creatures
detached themselves, crawling from him, to scatter across the floor, their tiny
legs causing the sand to shiver and their tails wagging high above their
bodies.

Juste sucked in a breath. Scorpions!

Knowing that a dozen bites might not kill them, but so many would be
deadly, he held still, watching as Khepri glanced back, a small smile curving
her mouth, telling him silently to trust. He remembered the way she’d handled
the single scorpion they’d brought from the dead security guard’s trailer, how
it had traveled up and down her skin without striking. The thought didn’t give
him comfort. There were so many of them. Hundreds.

Khepri showed not a moment’s apprehension. She hummed, lifting her arms
at her sides. The scorpions swarmed toward her, but she didn’t move; they
climbed her legs, her torso, but she never flinched. They covered her head.

He glanced at Mikey, whose face was screwed up in a horrible frown, but
who looked to him to take his cue. Although he wanted to leap forward, to sweep
the creatures from her skin, he knew that was precisely what the bastard
standing in front of them grinning gleefully expected.

When Khepri’s knees seemed to buckle from the weight of the mass
surrounding her, she stepped forward. A bright flame burst outward from her
body, encompassing her entire frame.

The scorpions fell, their crispy bodies rattling on the ground around
her. She was untouched, not a single singed hair, although her clothing was
ashes. Only the necklace with the golden ankh remained on her.

Selk’s smile fell. “A nice trick, but you were not born a god. You are
not impervious.”

Khepri stepped closer.

Juste moved too, meeting a barrier. He spread his hands and pushed, but
it didn’t move. “Dammit, Khepri, take it down.”

She glanced back, a small, sad smile curving her mouth. “You should leave
now. You cannot watch.”

He shook his head, fisting his hand to pound on the invisible wall she’d
erected. “Don’t do this, Khepri. There’s always a way. We’ll find it. We can
take him. He’s just a man!”

“I love you, Justin Henry Boucher.” Her golden-brown eyes glistened, and
she gave him a sweet smile. And then she turned to the monster in front of her,
who raised a weapon he had pulled from the back of his waistband.

Inside, Juste froze. Like the night Bobby Guidry had died, he was
powerless to stop this. “Not her,” he whispered. “God, please, not her too.”
But God wasn’t listening.

Dr. Felton fired a single shot, which exited Khepri’s slender back, spray
spattering the invisible wall, the bullet thudding dully then bouncing away.

“No!” Juste bent and pushed with all his might against the wall, but it
didn’t move. He watched, horror roiling through him.

Her figure swayed, but she remained erect, walking slowly toward Selk,
who shook his head and fired again. Her body jerked, but she took another step
and opened her arms. She wrapped them tightly around Selk, who fought her,
struggling to free himself.