Sankhkara lurched forward and threw himself between Sudi and the sphere. He held her against his hollow chest. The globe hit his back and disappeared inside him. His mouth opened in a grimace, and he collapsed.
Sudi fell to her knees beside Sankhkara. How many people had to suffer because she had screwed up?
“I think he’s dying,” Sudi cried out.
“He’s already dead,” Meri answered, kneeling next to Sudi.
“The demons will take his soul to chaos unless we can cast our spell quickly,” Dalila explained, joining them.
“Where’s the incantation to send him back to be with the blessed dead?” Sudi asked, turning to Dalila.
“I’ll get it,” Meri said and raced back to the pillar where they had left the papyrus.
“You can’t save him,” the priest said as the black vapors began pulsing around him again.
Sankhkara lifted his skeletal hand and touched Sudi’s cheek. “It was worth it to save you,” he said, and then he began to pray. “Creator, maker, giver of breath, Amon, the one supreme deity.”
“That won’t help,” the priest taunted.
“We’ll save him,” Sudi countered, and when she looked up, she noticed the priest’s amulets.
“The ankh,” Sudi whispered to Dalila. “It’s a symbol of life. Would it help?”
“It might keep Sankhkara’s spirit here long enough for us to recite the spell,” Dalila answered in a soft voice.
Without thinking, Sudi leaped up and lunged past Sankhkara. She threw herself forward and tackled the priest. His aura curled around her as she fell on top of him. They skidded together over the jagged pieces of broken granite.
Sharp fragments cut Sudi’s fingers, and warm blood trickled down her thumb as she clutched the priest’s ankh and yanked hard. The shadows surrounding him gathered hungrily around her face, slipping into her mouth and leaving a vile taste. She choked, feeling her breath being sucked away, but that didn’t stop her. She pulled again, and this time the chains broke.
Gold charms bounced and clanked across the floor, but the ankh remained in her palm. The priest tried to wrestle the talisman from her. A black line shot from his aura and encircled her arm, squeezing it until her fingers felt numb.
Then, unexpectedly, the shadow dropped its hold, and a groan gurgled from the priest’s lips. The black nimbus retreated inside him.
Sudi rubbed her wrist. “The ankh must have been keeping him alive,” she said. With renewed hope, she placed the ankh on Sankhkara’s chest as Meri joined them and unfurled the scroll.
“You have to remove the love spell you put on him,” Dalila said, “in case it interferes with the one to send his soul to rest.”
Meri handed Sudi the blackened papyrus, opened to the proper spell.
In the smoky light, Sudi read the hieroglyphs: “Goddess of magic, I entreat you, remove your love fire from around the one who beholds me. Extinguish the love in his heart, that he and I might be free from desire.”
She handed the papyrus back, and, as Meri and Dalila began reciting the other spell, she leaned over Sankhkara again and held his bony hand.
“You didn’t need magic to make me love you,” Sankhkara confessed. “Our souls have been one since the beginning of time, but fate has cruelly separated us.”
Then a thin vapor escaped his lips and spread into a golden mist above them before vanishing.
“Let’s get Scott,” Meri said. She hurried over to where Scott lay.
Sudi wiped her tears and stood slowly. The depth of her sadness surprised her. She walked behind the pillar and found her wand. On her way back, she picked up the golden tube that the priest had worn around his neck and stuck it in her pocket.
“Wake up,” Meri said, nudging Scott. “It’s time to go home.”
Scott sat up and looked around. The white linen that had covered him dropped to the floor.
“He’s naked,” Meri squealed, and stared brazenly.
Dalila turned her back. “Cover up,” she ordered.
Sudi wanted to look, but kept her gaze focused on Meri instead.
“The spa lost your clothes,” Meri said with a mischievous grin. “Can you believe that? So you’ll have to wear the sheet home.”
“Spa?” Scott looked befuddled. He pressed his fingers against his eyes. “What am I doing in a spa?”
“You got hurt playing rugby,” Sudi said as Meri wrapped the linen around his waist. “Your coach thought a massage and a soak in a whirlpool might help.”
“I don’t remember,” Scott said and looked around the room.
“Maybe you have a concussion, then,” Dalila said with convincing authority.
“Then why didn’t they take me to the hospital?” he asked as he hobbled forward. His bare foot kicked a piece of granite. “What is all this mess?”
“They’re remodeling,” Sudi answered.
Sudi and Meri pulled Scott into the next corridor. He walked sluggishly, his breathing labored. He kept wiping his eyes, as if his vision were blurred.
“Do you think he’s all right?” Sudi asked.
“He’s in a daze,” Meri whispered. “He’s probably wondering if he’s been doing drugs again.”
Finally they reached the massive gateway that led out to the desert sand. Scott leaned against the wall, shaking his head, still trying to awaken from a bad dream.
Meri stopped. “How do we get back?” she asked. “The door is gone.”
The sun rested on the horizon, its heat warming Sudi’s face. Even so, she stepped forward, certain the scenery was a sham. She closed her eyes so her vision couldn’t deceive her. Then, leading with her hands, she continued until her fingers touched something solid. She smoothed her palms across the cold metal and found a protruding doorknob. She turned it. A latch clicked, and she started to open the door.
Without warning, the still air became filled with violently rotating winds. Gusts shrieked around her and fought to close the door. Her hair whipped into her eyes. Her fingers loosened their hold, and the metal began slipping from her grasp.
She refused to fail her friends this time. Strength rose inside her.
“Hurry!” she yelled, and used her foot to brace the bottom edge of the door.
Meri and Dalila rushed through, pulling Scott with them. The windstorm caught the cloth wrapped around him. The tail end flapped out and snapped against Sudi’s cheek.
Sudi grappled with the door, trying to pull herself inside, but the gusts were stronger, and she was losing the struggle. Sand whirled about her, scraping her cheeks and clogging her nose. She couldn’t breathe or open her eyes. She hadn’t escaped her fate after all. She sensed intuitively that when the door blew shut, she would never be able to open it again.
A sudden, violent gust hit the door, and it started to close. Sudi tightened her grip. Her chest heaved, her lungs struggling to get air, but she only sucked more sand into her mouth and nose. She coughed and spit, then stopped. Something moved within the swirling sand. A dark shape was coming toward her. She squinted, protecting her eyes, and tried to see what was in the storm with her, but before she could make out the profile, warm fingers wrapped around her wrist. Other hands pushed against the door, opening it.
Meri and Dalila pulled her inside the stairwell.
Sudi tripped forward, gasping, and collided with her friends. The door slammed behind them, and then all four lost their balance and tumbled to the floor. Sudi rested her cheek on the cold concrete, and took in deep gulps of the dank air, the odor of mildew replacing the smell of dry desert sand.
“To us!” Meri shouted, jumping up. “We did it.”
Dalila clapped and pulled Sudi to her feet. “All of us got out.”
Sudi laughed and gave her friends a bear hug. “We survived.”
“All right,” a deep voice came from the steps overhead. Scott stared down at them. “Enough with the lovefest. Let’s get out of here.”
“We’re coming,” Dalila shouted excitedly, and ran up
the stairs.
Sudi brushed sand from her clothes and hair and used the tail of her T-shirt to wipe her eyes. When she finished, she studied the door. “Do you think that other place is still there?” she asked Meri.
“You don’t really want to see, do you?” Meri asked.
“Maybe,” Sudi answered. Her curiosity was becoming greater than her fear. She placed her hand on the doorknob.
“Don’t!” Dalila yelled, hanging over the railing.
Sudi opened the door anyway. She and Meri stared out at the Metro platform. The dim lights gave the vast room a gloomy feeling. A train sped by, and from its passage a current of warm air rushed over them.
“The desert vanished,” Meri whispered. “How did it just disappear?”
“I don’t know,” Sudi replied and let the door close. “Scott’s right. Let’s get out of here.”
Meri and Sudi ran up the stairs and hurried after Dalila and Scott. Together, they walked through the spa. No one tried to stop them. An attendant glanced up but didn’t even ask if they were lost.
At the front door, Sudi caught a glimpse of herself in a mirror and paused as the others rushed outside. She was encrusted with sand, her hair a tangle. She had lost one shoe and had no recollection of when that had happened.
As she started to leave, an odd sensation made her turn. The high priest stood behind her. The kohl liner no longer circled his eyes, but he was definitely the same man, and somehow alive again. He wore an Armani suit, with a gold ankh hanging over his black sweater. He leaned against a sign posted in the entrance that announced the opening of a new teen club called The Jackal.
“I hope you’ll return soon,” he said. “I’ll leave VIP passes for you and your friends at the front door of my club. I think you’ll like the atmosphere.”
Sudi pointed the tip of her wand at him and smiled back. “You bet,” she said, and twirled the rod dangerously close to his face. “I’ve got a feeling we’ll be seeing a lot of each other.”
She turned and ran outside without listening to his reply.
Meri and Dalila were waiting for her in a black sedan that was parked near the entrance. Scott sat between them in the backseat.
“Get in,” Meri said. “We’ll take you home.”
“No,” Sudi said. “I want to walk.”
“Like that?” Meri asked.
Sudi nodded.
“Be careful,” Dalila whispered.
“I have to go to one of those functions with Mom,” Meri said, “but I’ll call you as soon as I get home.” Then she spoke to her driver and the sedan pulled away.
The sun had set by the time Sudi reached her house, and she was shivering from the cold. She had left her jacket and sweater in that other dimension, somewhere in ancient Egypt. She stepped inside and called out a hello, grateful to be home. When no one answered, she assumed that her parents had already left for the Kennedy Center. Her sisters were spending the night with their best friend, Elena.
In the kitchen, she drank two glasses of water and then opened the cylindrical charm that the priest had worn. She pulled out the tiny piece of papyrus rolled inside and read an oath from Seth that cursed anyone who harmed the priest.
Sudi stuck both back in her pocket, then picked up her wand and started up the stairs. She was too exhausted to worry about curses tonight. She was going to shower, do her nails, and then find a party; she was never too tired for fun.
As she stepped into her room, a cold draft blew over her. Her window was open, the drapes askew, one panel torn from the rod. Her muscles tensed and, as she started to turn, someone grabbed her around the waist.
Sudi dropped her wand and wrestled against the arms restraining her. She bit her attacker’s hand.
“Ouch!” her assailant screamed as he let go.
She turned, ready to kick.
Scott stood behind her, head bent, studying the tooth marks on the fleshy mound of his thumb.
“You’re lethal,” he said, looking down at her.
“Scott?” Sudi asked. “Were you trying to scare me to death?” Before he could answer, a more important question came to her. “Why did you break into my room?”
“Something crazy happened today,” he said, stepping closer. He ran his finger over her cheek and then held up the tip of his finger to show her the sand. “I don’t know what it was exactly, but I called my coach and he never sent me for a massage, and if that place was a spa it was a really weird one. I have this odd feeling you rescued me.”
She glanced back at her torn drapes. “Next time you have a question, do you think you could just call me?”
“Did you save me from something, Sudi?” he asked, his fingers brushing through her hair. Sand spilled onto her shoulders.
She tried to find the words to explain what had happened but only nodded instead. Maybe memories were coming back to him, and if so, what was she going to say?
“You still owe me a kiss,” he said and leaned down, his lips hovering inches from hers. “I’ve waited a long time,” he murmured and waited for her permission.
“Me, too,” she agreed. He touched her. She had never felt a kiss as good as his, and when he pulled back, a sigh escaped her lips. Her hands slipped under his T-shirt, her fingers spreading up over his chest. Touching him stirred a longing in her; she wanted more than his kiss. She became suddenly aware that her parents and sisters weren’t home, and that her bed was only a few inches away.
He smiled down at her, obviously understanding her thoughts, and gently pulled her toward her bed.
“I like you, Scott,” she whispered. “But I’m not ready.”
“Ready for what?” he teased and sat on the edge of her bed. He pulled her down until she was sitting on his knee.
“I need a shower and—”
He pressed a finger over her mouth to silence her. “You look beautiful to me.”
Doubt shimmered through her as he held her tightly, his lips trailing up the side of her neck. His kisses were muddling her thinking, and his behavior didn’t seem like Scott’s. Why had he broken into her house? And she didn’t like the way he was pressuring her now.
A sudden, frightening thought came to her. She and her friends had rescued Scott, but they hadn’t bothered to find out whether a demon had already taken possession of Scott’s body. Adrenaline raced through her. Scott should have been stunned to find himself inside an Egyptian temple, but he hadn’t been. He had barely asked any questions. With rising panic, she realized that a demon from chaos wouldn’t have been surprised.
She pushed herself off his knee and picked up her wand. The hieroglyphs moved from top to bottom, warning her that a demon was approaching. She pointed the snake head at Scott, but he only chuckled, low in his throat. She didn’t know how to use the magic, but she had another sport in mind. Her hands trembled as she gripped the wand like a baseball bat, ready to strike a home run. But if she killed the demon with her swing, wouldn’t she kill Scott as well? And what if Scott wasn’t possessed at all, and breaking through her window was his idea of romance?
“What are you doing?” Scott asked, a puzzled look on his face.
Sudi hesitated too long.
Scott seized the wand and tossed it across the room. It hit the wall with a loud clank.
“How did you figure it out?” he asked, clenching her in a tight hold. The gentleness was gone from his touch; the pressure from his fingers caused her shoulder to throb.
An eerie sound at the open window made Scott turn. Patty Pie arched his back and hissed, his front paw clawing at the air.
Scott chuckled and eased his grip as Pie leaped onto an overhanging branch and ran away.
The interruption was all Sudi needed. She pulled free and ran across the room, with Scott close behind her. She opened the door and spun to the other side, then pushed hard, hitting Scott with the door’s edge. He yelled and held his face, staggering. Blood trickled from his nose.
She raced down the stairs, two at a time, and ran out into the
night. The porches of the row houses extended out onto the sidewalk like an obstacle course. She dodged one iron railing, only to find herself rushing into the next barrier of stairs. Even so, she tried to stay close to the buildings and under the trees, hoping their shadows would conceal her.
Lights came on in the surrounding houses, and behind her, a door opened. But she did not turn back. The safety within the homes was an illusion, and she knew that if she went inside, instead of finding sanctuary, she would only bring death to the families who lived there. And then, what would happen to Scott if the demon decided to leave him after it had massacred a dozen people? He’d end up in jail for life at best.
Sudi quickened her pace, knowing she had to fight the demon on her own.
By the time she reached the canal, her side ached and her legs burned. She couldn’t run any farther, even though she could hear Scott’s feet pounding on the hard dirt. She crouched under a bush where no one could see her transform.
Then she raised her hand to the night. “Amun-Re, eldest of the gods in the eastern sky, mysterious power of wind, make a path for me to change my earthly khat into that of beloved Bennu.”
Immediately, her skin prickled. Feathers grew from her fingers as her arms contracted and her bones popped. Then, with her monocular vision, she saw Scott. He had found her after all. She scurried from beneath the branches and took long strides, flapping her wings before her transformation was even complete. Wind rushed around her, holding her wings, and she lifted off the ground.
Scott screamed and jumped. He grabbed her bird-claw. Pain shot through her, and she spiraled down. She hit the ground, transforming back into a girl, and skidded across moldy leaves. Her back ached, and she thought for sure her leg was broken.
“Now,” Scott snickered. Fire burned in his eyes.
Sudi fought against the dizziness and tried to remember a spell that could help her. Her mind jumped from one hieroglyphic script to the next, but each time, she came up with useless incantations. Casting a spell for glossy hair was not going to stop the demon who stood over her.