by Allie Burton
I think I still looked like me. I wished I had a mirror. “Do I look any different?” My breath stalled in my chest waiting for Xander’s response.
He angled his head and looked at me with an odd expression, probably wondering why I’d asked. “Since I met you yesterday? No.” He continued walking.
The spitting, the scratching, the burping all made sense now. Like there was a battle of the sexes going on inside me. I marched beside Xander, just like a boy. But I thought he was cute, like a girl. And I wondered whether the male or female inside would win.
Chapter Ten
With my knowledge of the transportation system and Xander’s knowledge of where the house was located, we took two buses to the closest stop to Sea Cliff Avenue. On the bus, Xander acted like a kid on a roller coaster. His lips turned up in a constant smile. His eyes shined with the thrill of trying something new. He wasn’t too snobby to take a bus. He’d never had the opportunity before.
I spent the time trying to reconcile the fact I had a boy inside of me. As I thought, I searched the people on the street we passed for anyone familiar. Anyone who might be looking for us.
We got off the bus and walked toward the Society of Aten’s mansion—because it had to be a mansion in this neighborhood. The huge houses kept their backs to the street with multiple garage doors and high fences to keep the riff raff out, like me. This wasn’t going to be a simple security system.
Going to the source of our problem had seemed like a good idea. But now that we were here facing the walled-off Society mansion, my mind blanked. A niggle of doubt wormed its way inside my brain. What if it was a trap? I really didn’t know Xander. Why was I trusting him?
“Are you sure about this?” The sound of the ocean rushing the shore offered no relief.
“What other choice do we have?” Xander scooted around the edges of the driveway. “Do you have any other ideas on how to figure out what’s happening to you?”
Dragging my feet, I followed. I’d agreed and I didn’t go back on my word.
I gasped at my first glimpse of the Society’s house. Blue sky and ocean provided the backdrop for the mega-mansion. The smell of the ocean mixed with the smell of imported palm trees lining the short driveway. Arched doorways and windows added a foreign flair to the two-story home. The walls surrounded three sides to keep nosy neighbors out. Places like this only existed on TV. Certainly not in my life. Every living space shouldn’t have the same generic name as house. This didn’t compare to where I lived.
“Nice place.” I tried to hide the envy in my tone.
“For a prison.” Xander’s harsh tone matched the expression on his face. Eyebrows bunched over narrowed eyes and a deep frown.
If I had to go to prison, and if I keep up my breaking-and-entering ways I might, I wouldn’t mind a prison like this. Much better than the State ones I’d been threatened with when my practice hadn’t gone exactly like Fitch wanted. No criminals walked through these double doors. Only the super-rich or the super-famous. And the delivery people who served them.
A grocery delivery van parked on the driveway leading to the side of the house.
“Perfect.” Xander straightened and walked around the van toward the garage.
“What’re you doing?”
“Our housekeeper is crushing on the delivery guy. The door is unlocked and they’ll be in the kitchen for awhile.” He peeked into the windows of the garage door. “And all the cars are gone, which means headquarters should be empty.”
“What about your maid and butler?” I was only half joking.
“The Society kept minimal and only loyal, housing staff.” He twisted the knob and the side door opened.
My shoulders hunched and I wanted to hang back. He didn’t need my skills to break in and I didn’t belong here. “I’ll wait outside.”
His questioning look skewered me. “Since we don’t know what we’re looking for we need two sets of eyes. It’ll be faster.”
My chin jerked to a haughty angle. My shoulders pulled back and my chest puffed out. This wasn’t me, but my new alter-ego taking charge.
“Oh, no you don’t.” I argued with Tut.
“I don’t what?” Xander’s terse words and confused expression showed he expected an argument. But one between the two of us, not between me and King Tut.
Not as grand as my place, but it will do.
“We are not going inside.” I stomped my foot trying to force my will on a king.
“We’re here now.” Xander opened the door with a quiet click.
“I didn’t mean you. You can go inside.” I crossed my arms and imagined my feet glued to the ground. “Tut and I are staying outside.” I didn’t belong in a place like this.
But Tut had other ideas. My feet tugged. My legs followed. I glided toward the door like a pharaoh entering his palace, or whatever they called it back in ancient Egypt.
Just like running through the park and almost getting hit by the bus or playing soccer in the park, I had no choice. I only hoped Tut wouldn’t waltz me in front of the enemy.
Murmurs came from behind the closed kitchen door in the narrow utility hallway. Xander held his finger to his mouth in a shushing motion.
Like I’d be dumb enough to shout out a hello. Had he forgotten my training?
Stale incense hung in the air when we reached the grand foyer, forcing a cough to my throat. I sucked the cough back. “Are you sure no one else is here?”
“I don’t think so. Most of the Society members hold outside jobs.” Xander waved for me to follow. “Or they’re all out looking for us.”
That made me feel better. Not.
Sliding along the shiny floor, I let out a slow, quiet whistle. My reflection glared back off the polished marble. Long hair that needed rebraiding, slim body with a flat chest, and legs that couldn’t stop moving. Still looked like me, even if I didn’t feel like me.
Back in control of my body, I tiptoed following Xander down a long hallway hung with ancient Egyptian artwork. The hall held more valuable pieces than the museum and were much prettier than the amulet.
Xander stopped in front of a set of double doors. He placed his hands together prayer-style and bowed his head. “Golden sun, we worship you.”
This time I knew I heard ancient Egyptian, and understood it. “How can you still pray to this god?”
“Just because the hosting has gone awry doesn’t mean the religion is false.” His simple expression matched his simple statement.
But there was nothing simple about this. If Xander still believed in this whacko religion then I was in danger from all followers—including him.
My heart picked up its pace and my feet prepared to run. I couldn’t let him lead me into a dead end. My dead end.
I couldn’t just run either. I wanted answers. “Do you still believe in this hocus-pocus?”
“You tell me.” He arched a single dark eyebrow. “Do you or do you not host the soul of King Tut?”
I didn’t respond. Hated that he was right. How could I not believe in at least some of this? But it was so different from everything I’d learned, grown up to believe or not believe. Life was harsh and praying wasn’t going to make it better. I was proof of that.
And yet I believed Tut was inside me. Knew I had powers, although the jury was still out on their usefulness.
Xander should’ve hosted Tut’s soul. They understood each other. Understood the same religion. Tut’s a guy. Xander’s a guy. The two of them wouldn’t have the drama that Tut and I did.
The mystic powers, the voice in my head, the fear of the burn out combined in my mind like tangled security wires crossing their signals. I didn’t know what to feel. So, I didn’t. Didn’t feel, didn’t think. Took one step at a time. Literally.
“What’s in here?” I pointed at the doors.
“Hopefully, inspiration. Or a clue.” Xander flung the doors open and stepped inside.
The brightness hit me first. I squinted. The entire ceiling and far w
all were made of glass. Like a greenhouse, the construction let in the full light of the sun.
Sliding glass doors led to an outside private courtyard where massive pylons divided the space. Poles mounted on the pylons flew long colorful streamers in the breeze.
I approached the altar in the center of the room, my shoes tapping on the white marble floor. An oversized sun disc with eighteen dangling rays was suspended from the ceiling. Each ray ended in a human hand. Just like the amulet.
A quiet reverence slowed the blood in my veins and calmed my racing heart. Stopping, I placed my hand on my chest feeling the heat from the piece. Feeling an insane peace.
“Wow.” Totally inadequate but it was all I had.
“This is the Holy of Holies where we pray.” Xander slid open the glass doors and stepped outside. “This is where we worship privately and become rejuvenated by the sun’s rays.”
I walked outside and the sun warmed my skin. Colorful flowers, both in the ground and in pots, decorated the small green space. “But this is San Francisco, near the coast. A lot of days are foggy.”
“We had a solution.” He pointed to the lights hidden in the palm trees. “Growing lights.”
Four-foot columns surrounded the courtyard like a sentinel guard. A deep groove was carved out of the top of each.
“What are the columns for?”
“Offering stands.” Xander knelt beside one and again bowed his head. “Forgive me Mighty Aten but I have nothing to offer today.”
“That was in Egyptian, right?” I just wanted to be sure.
“Yes.” He stood. “Daily offerings are placed on these columns as a gift to the sun god.”
I crossed the courtyard to an alabaster statue at the end of the garden. I ran my fingers over the ornate bust of a girl with kohl lined eyes and jewels sparkling in her hair. She seemed familiar. “This is beautiful.”
“Queen Ankhesenamen, King Tut’s beloved wife.”
A breath rasped out of my throat. The girl from my dream. “Weren’t they a little young to be married?”
“Not unusual for royalty to secure the throne.” Xander’s eyes went liquid and a little dreamy.
My insides went soft thinking about having a guy look at me like that. Having Xander look at me like that.
“What was unusual is she was his only wife. He truly loved her.”
Soulmates torn apart.
“Soulmates,” the words slipped out on a sigh.
Peer closely and behold.
I studied the artwork. The likeness to the girl in my dream was amazing. The artist had crafted an exquisite piece. The queen wore a replica of the amulet. The lines had worn with time and a red, marquis-shaped jewel, that wasn’t on the real amulet had been added in the center of the amulet’s disc.
The jewel didn’t sparkle like all baubles should, so I rubbed the gem, wanting it to shine like the ones in her hair. The jewel jiggled.
My finger froze. “Oh, no. I broke it.”
“What?”
“This jewel is loose.”
Xander edged in beside me. “It’s not a jewel.” He tugged at the square edges. A small container slid out. “It’s disguised like a jewel.”
The lid of a gold jar had been painted to look like the jewel for the statue, but it topped a small round container, so tiny it fit in his hand. Kind of like the free sample jars of moisturizer I’d gotten from that exclusive department store, only this one was made of gold.
A secret compartment just like in the movies. “What is it?”
“A holy vessel. It’s used to hold one of the seven essential oils.”
“Essential for what?”
“The Afterlife.” He unscrewed the lid. “Ancient Egyptians believed they could take everything with them, which is why they built great monuments like the pyramids to hold their most precious possessions.”
“Oil was one of them?” I understood why gasoline was important in today’s world. People fought wars over it. But this wasn’t crude oil. “Really?”
“Lotus oil.” He bent his head over the container and sniffed. Letting out his breath, he stared at me. “Lotus recalls the sweetness of a woman.”
His deep, sensuous voice set my heart fluttering. My stomach tightened.
I licked my dry lips. “Is-is that why it was hidden in Queen Ankhesenamen’s statue?” My heart calmed and saddened for Tut and his soulmate. They’d loved so much and died so young. No wonder Tut wanted to be reunited with her. Weird, but I sort of understood.
Xander put the stopper back in the vessel. “This could be one of the oils needed for the anointing ceremony.”
“The ceremony to stop the burn out?” If I sniffed or drank the oil would Tut go away?
“Yes.” Xander bit his lip. “We should take the oil with us.”
“They’ll notice the vessel missing.” I tugged a red petal off a flower from the garden and shoved it in the hole where the container had been. “All fixed.”
“For awhile.”
I tilted my face toward the sky searching for answers from the sun. Maybe Aten would help. “Where should we start looking for information?” I agreed Society headquarters was the best place, but we didn’t know what we were looking for. “We need to get out of here quickly so we don’t get caught.”
“The Society planned for everything. They always had a set of instructions or an ancient scroll.” Xander moved toward the door leading back into the hallway. “We need to find an instruction manual or planning document on how to use your powers.”
“I’d rather focus on getting rid of the burn out.” As a teen I knew my feelings changed by the minute like the latest trends, but since stepping into this room I’d felt so many different things. Fear. Sadness. Even love and hope. I was slipping emotions on and off like a runway model changed clothes.
Normally, I go with the flow. Put my feelings aside to get a job done for Fitch. Now, all I could think about was what I was feeling. You’d think with a guy’s soul inside me I’d be less emotional, how guys are less emotional. Or at least they act that way.
Xander slapped his thigh and dust flew in the air from the dirt on the homeless man’s pants. He scrunched up his nose and waved the dust away. “Jeb’s study. All the texts and scrolls are stored there.” Holding the vessel, Xander scurried down the hall.
I hurried to catch up to him. “How much time do we have?” The clock ticked. Society members could come home soon.
“I don’t know.” He skidded to a halt in front of a room lined with bookshelves and a fantastic view of the Pacific Ocean. The house hung over a cliff and the waves crashed below on the rocks. Seagulls soared overhead.
I forced my gaze past the view to the hundreds of books. The daunting task weighed on my shoulders. “Where do we start?”
He took a short step inside and stopped as if an invisible force field held him in place. His face paled. “The study was strictly off-limits to me.”
Fitch’s bedroom was restricted to all the kids in our house. If we even dared breathe in the room’s direction, he’d whip our butt.
“We’re already trespassing.” I refused to let fear paralyze me. We were in the house and had a job to do. An important job. A life-or-death type of job. My life-or-death type of job. I moved around Xander and stopped mid-room. “What’re we looking for?”
“A plan. Instructions. Maybe a recipe on what to do with the essential oils.” His legs jerked walking into the room. “I’ll look on the shelves and you search the desk.”
I wheeled a chair back from the desk and sat down. I yanked on a drawer. Of course it was locked, so I took out my pick set and in seconds had all the drawers open.
My fingers shook even though I kept telling myself I was a professional, but I really wasn’t. I’d completed one job—the amulet—and not very well.
I rummaged through the file drawer. None of the tabs jumped out at me, so I moved to the next. Stapler, scissors, tape. Nothing unusual. If I didn’t know better, I’d think this w
as a regular business person’s desk.
“Find anything?” Xander pulled out another section of books and flipped through them one at a time. He moved at a fast pace.
“Nope.”
“They’re not going to keep anything in plain sight.” He shoved a book back on the shelf. “With your, um, experience, can you get into his computer?”
“Of course.” I slid out the tray holding the keyboard and turned the computer on.
The monitor blinked and the password box came up. I typed in a code and waited. A clock popped up and whirred around. Just like my stomach. The code opened a backdoor in most systems. If it backfired, then I’d be locked out and the owner would know the computer had been tampered with.
The clock disappeared and a second box popped up. I typed another code. All part of Fitch’s training when we were dealing with complicated security on a heist. This I was comfortable doing.
The desktop opened. “I’m in.” I tapped my fingers on the keyboard. “Any idea what I should search for?”
“Power instructions?”
P-O-W-E-R, I typed before realizing Xander had sounded sarcastic.
“Yeah, right.” It couldn’t be that easy.
The computer dinged with a series of possible folder hits.
“Gas and power bills.”
“Powerful Ancient Egyptians.”
“Tut’s Powers.” I clicked on the folder.
The title of the first document jumped off the screen. “Ways to use Tut’s power to rule the world—”
Chapter Eleven
My fingers slipped off the keyboard. My mind swirled with the possible meaning. A shiver of horror crept up my spine envisioning the future. The picture of men wearing white sheets, forcing everyone to wear white sheets, ruling the armies and running the banks and governing people everywhere made my skin itch.
“The Society plans to take over the world.”
A book slammed to the ground and I jumped, afraid the first takeover move had been made or the first bomb dropped. Or just someone from the Society finding us.
