Reawakened (The Reawakened Series) (39 page)

Moving stealthily closer was a horde of snapping crocodiles. What’s more, it looked like half of them were missing pieces. Some even had wrappings. “Seriously? Croc mummies?” I called out.

“I don’t believe all of them are mummies,” Dr. Hassan said as he waved the silver ax back and forth in the face of one, getting ready to give him the croc version of a pedicure.

He was right. Some of the beasts looked alive, while others were obviously undead. “There’s too many of them!” I exclaimed. “How do we get out of here?”

When one of Asten’s arrows glanced off the scaly head of a giant crocodile, Asten cried, “Hassan! Jump on my back.” Scrabbling onto Asten as best he could, Dr. Hassan wrapped his arm around Asten’s neck and held out the ax with the other. “Now, Lily! Take my hand. Ahmose, grab her other hand.”

I was flanked by the brothers, who closed their eyes and rose into the air. An aggressive croc lurched upward in an attempt to snag a limb, but Ahmose saw I was in danger and yanked me higher.

His actions pulled me away from Asten, and with Ahmose carrying the combined weight of me and Amon, I dangled and fell, landing on the back of a croc mummy that did not like the fact that its remaining back leg broke off upon impact. It spun quickly and snapped at me, grabbing my shirt in its teeth. Violently, it tugged, wrenching me over the side of its back.

Unfortunately, another crocodile mummy was waiting for me on the other side. The second croc scrambled closer and swung its heavy head into me, pinning me and clacking its toothless jaws, while a third latched on to my backpack. Claws ripped easily through my jeans. Desperate, I tried to scrabble away from the creatures, but the first croc had clamped too tightly on to my shirt for me to escape.

“Lily! Grab on to me!”

Ahmose had sunk down to jaw-snapping level and wrapped his arm around my waist. I held him tightly, one arm wrapped around his muscular back and the other grabbing on to Amon. Ahmose rose in the air, lifting the stubborn mummy croc with us.

Asten drifted closer and raised his arm. With a quick jerk, he thrust an arrow into the eye of the croc and its whole body shook and then exploded into a shower of sparkling dust particles.

Without the extra weight, Ahmose seemed to recover somewhat, though I could tell carrying two people strained him. We floated over the river of crocodiles and out into the dawn sky.

Ahmose and Asten headed for a small cluster of trees on the other side of a dune, and once again I was thankful that cameras could not detect them. After setting Dr. Hassan, Amon, and me down, both men panted. We weren’t too far from the road, so I said, “Why don’t I take it from here? I’ll be right back.”

Like any self-respecting New York City girl, I was well versed in putting on my best face in even the most challenging disasters, and this qualified as a doozy. After tying my ripped shirt at my waist and rolling my torn jeans, I twisted my mud-caked hair into what I hoped would pass for dreadlocks and headed down the street to a main intersection, channeling the idea that I was simply a backpacking bohemian teen who’d fallen on a bit of hard luck.

Within fifteen minutes I’d located a cab large enough to hold all five of us and managed to convince the driver to wait by promising him a very generous tip.

Though the driver raised his eyebrows at Asten’s and Ahmose’s lack of clothing, what really concerned him was Amon. Dr. Hassan had tied a handkerchief around Amon’s head to cover his empty eye sockets, but the blood was not as easy to conceal.

When the driver protested, I said, “It’s okay, the blood is fake. It was a college assignment, to do a reenactment of a temple sacrifice for film class. He was up all night.” I wasn’t sure if there was a college in Kom Ombo, and even if there was, I was pretty certain that they wouldn’t allow filming or reenactments of any type in historic temple sites.

The driver gave us a dubious look and kept glancing at us in the rearview mirror all the way to the hotel. As I prepared to exit, he asked about the giant tip I had promised.

“Just a minute,” I said, and stuck my head out of the car to speak with Asten.

“Can you hypnotize him?”

“What? What is ‘hypnotize’?”

“You know, convince him he’s been compensated.”

The driver, who knew enough English to get the drift of what we were saying, began to make a scene about us taking advantage of him, but Asten quickly raised his hand and put the man in a trance. After a few murmured words, the driver happily left us to our own devices.

After a little more hypnosis, we found ourselves in a lovely balcony room. “Okay, let’s heal Amon,” I said, and knelt next to him on the floor where Ahmose had set him down. I was extremely worried because I couldn’t feel a wisp of a connection between us. When I touched him there was no warmth. I couldn’t taste his emotions, and mine had been relatively stable of late.

Ahmose was leaning over his brother, hands pressed against Amon’s chest. “Not yet, Lily. I have healed him enough to ensure his survival, but to transfer your energy will be a delicate process. If I make a mistake, it will likely kill you, so I need you to be as strong as possible before we make the exchange.”

I blew out a breath. “Okay. So what do you want me to do?”

“Eat,” he said frankly. “Rest. Bathe. Whatever you must do to relax your mind, nourish your body, and prepare your soul.”

“You make it sound like this is going to be my last meal.”

“I will do my best to ensure it is not.”

Biting my lip, I reached out to stroke Amon’s hair. “You’re sure he’ll be okay while I reenergize?”

“You may leave him in our hands,” Asten said. “We have watched out for each other all our lives and we will continue to do so.”

“Okay.” As I pressed a kiss on Amon’s forehead, I caught a whiff of myself, and said, “I’ll be in the shower. Dr. Hassan, can you order a room service feast?”

“Of course.”

We had two connecting rooms, so I left the men in one bedroom, crossed the connecting section, and headed into the second. It took the better part of a half hour before the water cascading over my scalp and down my body ran clean. By the time I was done, I was so tired that I felt like a zombie myself. Still, I efficiently wiped the steam from the mirror, applied lotion liberally to every exposed bit of skin, examined my various new scratches and scars, and brushed my hair.

With no clean clothes to change into, I wrapped myself in a robe and sought out the men to tell them the shower was open. When I entered the room, I found only Ahmose and Amon. Ahmose was sitting on the floor next to his brother’s body, elbows resting on his knees, hands covering his head.

“Catching a quick nap?” I asked.

“No, I—”

Ahmose lifted his head and sucked in an almost indiscernible breath. There was the tiniest flash of something in his gray eyes, but he closed them quickly and turned his head. “Asten and the doctor are seeking some clothing for you.”

“Oh. That’s nice. I just wanted to let you know the shower is free.”

“I will bathe after Asten returns.”

Ahmose still wouldn’t look at me. “I’m making you uncomfortable, aren’t I?” I said. “You probably aren’t used to seeing a woman in just a robe.”

“I am respecting the boundary that exists between us.”

“Boundary? What do you mean?”

“It is not right to look upon my brother’s woman when he cannot. Especially if that woman is as beautiful as you are.”

I smiled. “And I thought Asten was the flatterer.” Putting my hands on my hips, I said, “I’m not sure Amon feels as strongly about me as you believe, but regardless, I’ll leave you in peace.”

“Lily,” Ahmose called out just as I was about to close the door. “If Amon does not feel that way, then he is a fool.”

The sincerity in Ahmose’s voice sent a slight shiver down my spine. “Thank you, Ahmose,” I answered over my shoulder as I left.

Unable to sleep while Amon was uncomfortable, I sat in a chair with my robe wrapped around me and allowed the quietness to sedate me. Not running for my life, or being distracted by a dark priest, allowed me time to really focus on how I felt. And it was worse than I’d ever felt in my life. Ahmose had called me beautiful, but when I looked in the mirror all I saw was haggard ugliness.

My usually soft skin was dry and bruised, the purple, green, and yellow spots still sore when I pressed my fingertips to them. Though I’d washed and conditioned my hair several times, clumps of it had fallen out in the shower, and my brush, which I’d meticulously cleaned, had so much hair caught in the bristles I could have used it to stuff a pillow.

No amount of lip balm could heal my cracked lips. I’d definitely lost several pounds, enough that my ribs stuck out. Overall, I looked like I needed to be hospitalized. Attempting to rehydrate myself, I gulped down glass after glass of water, even though it tasted like it had come directly from the Nile.

Finally, there was a soft knock on the door. Dr. Hassan stood on the other side, bag in hand, which he thrust into my arms. “We did the best we could. I hope you can find something there you’ll feel comfortable in.”

“Thank you,” I said, clutching the bag to my chest.

“The food will be here momentarily. I believe I will take this opportunity to avail myself of a shower as well.”

“Do you want to use this one?” I asked.

He shook his head. “I’ll share the second room with the others.”

With a brief smile and a nod, he closed the door behind him. He’d done a good job shopping with Asten and I realized it was likely that Asten had way more experience with women’s clothing than Amon did. The idea made me smile, but the smile soon disappeared when I thought of Amon.

I dressed in a drawstring pair of khakis. They were a little too big, but cinching them at the waist did the trick. Then I pulled a loose tunic over my head and found a pair of sandals that fit perfectly. After tying back my newly thin hair with a scarf, I headed out of the room to see what the others were doing.

Asten was picking through the food that had recently arrived. When he saw me, he said, “Now, this”—he held up a plate full of roasted meat—“is what I call a feast.” He took the plate into the room where Ahmose waited with Amon and then returned, frowning. “Why are you still standing there? Fill your belly, Lily. You do not need to wait for permission.”

By habit, I put a few bits of green salad on a plate and spooned on a few roasted vegetables. Asten watched with an incredulous expression as I took a seat at the table. “Is that all you are going to eat? You need more. Meat will fortify you. Here.” He shoved a giant piece of fragrant lamb onto my plate and brought over several more items.

Sighing, I looked at my overflowing plate and wondered if all Egyptian men fed their women like this, or if it was just the former princes. As Asten ate, sitting across from me, he watched every bite I took. Pushing the food around on the plate, I finally looked up at his scowling face. “It doesn’t feel right to eat without Amon,” I said. “He was the one who taught me all about feasting.”

Asten’s severe expression eased. “I understand, but consider the fact that you must sustain your body so that you can sustain Amon.”

“Are you trying to say I’m eating for two?” I teased.

“I do not comprehend your meaning.”

“Never mind. I promise I will try to eat more.”

A freshly showered Dr. Hassan entered the room. He’d managed to find cargo pants and a vest and even a new fedora, but brown instead of white.

“Good,” Asten said. “Now I am going to bathe, and when I return, I expect at least half of this food to be gone.”

I ate until I couldn’t take another bite and then went to relieve Ahmose so he could shower. With a soapy hot towel, I bathed Amon’s face and carefully cleaned the wounds on his chest and arms. The water quickly became red with his blood. I’d been through six bowlfuls of it by the time Ahmose came back.

At first I didn’t recognize Ahmose and Asten. They looked completely different in modern clothing, and, like Amon, they had grown out their hair. Ahmose had a short cap of dark hair, while Asten’s was a bit longer than Amon’s and was slicked back. Both of them looked like they belonged on a fashion runway.

“Not that you both don’t look good,” I began, “but doesn’t growing your hair use up some of your power?”

“The power necessary was tiny compared with what we need,” Ahmose said.

“Besides,” Asten countered, “we are hoping we can save up the energy and travel as mortals to the site of the ceremony.”

“The pyramids, you mean.” When they looked surprised, I waved my hand and explained, “Amon told me.”

“Ah,” they said. Both men shifted back and forth uneasily until Dr. Hassan entered the room. “Are you ready, Lily?” Amhose asked.

“Yes.”

“I wish you had rested more,” he admonished as he knelt down beside me. When I shrugged unhappily, Asten approached and gave me a small smile. “Do not worry overmuch. Ahmose is a very skilled healer. If anyone can guide Amon on the path to return to us, it is he.” I nodded, placing my hand in Ahmose’s large one.

“Channel as much energy as you dare, Brother,” Ahmose instructed Asten. Then he closed his eyes and placed his hand on Amon’s forehead. He began chanting in Egyptian, and I gasped as silver pulses of light appeared beneath my skin. The light coalesced, traveling down my arm into my hand, and then jumped from me to Ahmose.

The silver energy lit Ahmose’s hand and then briefly pooled on Amon’s forehead before sinking into his skin. Amon’s chest rose as he breathed deeply. My arms trembled and I suddenly realized I couldn’t swallow. I slumped against Ahmose’s arm, utterly exhausted. Asten stood on the other side of Amon. His eyes were closed and his arms stretched forward, palms up in a meditative manner.

A white fog trickled from Asten’s fingertips and a stream of it shot toward me while another stream hit Ahmose directly in the chest. I breathed in, becoming increasingly attuned to Amon’s brothers. I tasted a sort of icy salt and realized it was a flavor belonging solely to Asten. It was the tang of the stars. When I exhaled, I could see my breath and my lips felt frosty. The white fog I’d exhaled drifted down and became a third stream between me and Ahmose.