by Monica Burns
He heaved a sigh. “Because I betrayed you by contacting the Museum.”
“Yes.”
“I only had your safety in mind, yâ maHabba. I only wanted their presence here as a protective measure. It was always my intent to use my position as liaison to ensure you were in charge of the excavation.”
“So that’s why you instructed Caldwell to get his orders from me.”
“Yes.” He lifted her chin to look directly into her eyes. “I love you, Alex. No matter what happens, I’ll always love you.”
Tears welled in her eyes, and he swallowed his deep misgivings about their chances for escaping the tomb Medjuel had condemned them to.
“We aren’t going to get out of here, are we?” When he ignored her question and busied himself with dressing her wound, she grimaced. “Okay, I guess that answers that question.”
“I haven’t given up yet, yâ maHabba.”
When he finished with her bandage, he got to his feet to run his hands against the walls of the small chamber. There often was a second passage into Pharonic tombs, and perhaps Nourbese’s crypt possessed one as well.
Bas-relief figures lined the walls of the tomb, creating scenes from Nourbese’s life. One showed a child with a Mazir tribesman, another of a young girl and a boy with a pharaoh’s crown hovering over his head. The scenes continued around the walls, creating a panorama of important periods in the queen’s life.
A familiar tension tugged at him, tightening his muscles like a taut bowstring. It was the way his body always reacted whenever she was near. Turning around, he frowned. She looked weak as a newborn babe. “Sit down, before you fall down, ana anide emîra.”
She ignored him and nodded at the wall. “Have you ever seen anything like this in a tomb before?
“No, and I can’t study them if I’m worried about whether or not you’re about to faint.”
A feverish light gleamed in her hazel eyes. Was it her injury or renewed excitement about Nourbese? It didn’t matter, she needed to stay still or she was going to soak her bandage a lot sooner than he’d like.
Grasping her shoulders, he forced her back toward the sarcophagus. As he made her sit down on the stone floor, his eyes caught a scene carved into the heavy stone coffin. He studied the oddly familiar view for a moment, before dismissing it and returning his attention to Alex. She was still pale, but excitement gave her skin a healthier glow than she’d shown just a few moments earlier.
“Altair, look, the relief on the wall over there.” She bobbed her head in the direction of a diorama depicting the wedding of Nourbese and Ramesses. “It’s on the sarcophagus. See?”
She raised her good arm and pointed at the head of the coffin. Following her gaze, he compared the two scenes. He sprang to his feet and examined one wall after another. Every image he studied was repeated on the sarcophagus.
The only scene not repeated on the walls was that of the Pharaoh and his queen walking together under the stars. Carved into the head of the stone coffin, the picture was virtually identical to the painting on the shrine’s ceiling. Kneeling in front of the carving, he ran his fingers over the sharp lines of the detailed picture.
The workmanship was exquisite. Ramesses again pointed to the sky, but this time Nourbese’s hand rested just beneath a round medallion at her throat. Something about the medallion struck him as odd. It looked almost like a plug of sorts. He pulled in a sharp breath of air. “Alex, I need you to get away from the sarcophagus.”
“What’s wrong?” The weary note in her voice troubled him. Not waiting on her to obey his command, he moved to where she sat and scooped her up off the floor. Gently he set her down against the far wall.
“I’m not sure what I’ve found, but I think the sarcophagus is a sham. I doubt it’s real.”
“I don’t understand.”
“Watch.”
Satisfied that she wasn’t going to get up and follow him, he returned to the relief carved into the head of Nourbese’s coffin. With his fingers, he tried to pry away at the medallion. When nothing happened, he pushed against the round decoration. Beneath his fingertips, the carving gave way slightly.
As he pushed against the relief with more force, the jewelry slowly sank into the throat of Nourbese’s figure. As the medallion disappeared deeper into the carving, a loud click, followed by the familiar sound of stone scraping stone, filled the chamber.
Jubilant, he grinned with satisfaction. Ramesses’ reputation for being wily had not been off the mark. Standing up, he saw the lid of the sarcophagus sliding slowly to the right and then left until it came to rest horizontally across the vertical line of the coffin.
He peered inside. The darkness yawning up at him was not a surprise. The torch on the floor had almost spluttered out, and as fast as he could, he picked it up and dropped it down into the open coffin. It didn’t go far, and as the torch fell, he could see the steps leading to the passage beneath the chamber.
A soft sigh reached his ears, and he glanced over at Alex. She was watching him with such a look of trust and love he grimaced. He wasn’t worthy of her. “I need to go down and see where this leads. Will you be all right for a few minutes?”
“If you think I’m going to let you go exploring without me, you can forget it. I’m coming with you.”
“No, it might be dangerous, and you’re in no shape to go scurrying about ancient tunnels.”
“I refuse to argue with you.” Her eyes fired a look of irritation in his direction. Slowly getting to her feet, she carefully stalked over to where he stood. “If you think I’m going to sit here in the dark while you go off to God knows where, you’d better rethink that idea. Either I come with you, or I’ll follow you in the dark.”
Resigned to her tenacity, he shook his head. She was far too stubborn and bull-headed for her own good. “Just once, I’d like to hear you say, Yes, Altair, I’ll do as you ask.”
“And if I did, then I wouldn’t be the woman you fell in love with, would I?”
“No,” he said as she grinned up at him. “You wouldn’t.”
Unable to help himself, he lowered his head and kissed her. She tasted spicy and warm, exactly like the heat that rose up off the sand in the waning hours of a sunset. He suppressed the urge to clutch her close. The last thing he wanted to do was hurt her or make her arm bleed again.
Instead, he clasped her face in his hands and crushed her mouth beneath his in a demanding kiss. He breathed in her scent, and his groin stirred at the heady taste of her. God help him. It was insane to want her at a moment like this. With a groan of frustration, he set her back from him.
“You go to my head, ana gamâl, and now isn’t the time for me to indulge in the delights of your delectable body. I intend to find a way out of here, marry you as soon as possible, and then I’ll spend the rest of my days exploring every temptation you offer me.”
Love sparkled in her eyes, and she smiled. “Hmm, I don’t recall anyone asking me if I wanted to get married.”
For only a brief flicker of time did fear wrap itself around his heart, and a wry smile tugged at his mouth. “Do you wish for me to propose now or later, emîra? However, I must warn you the torch will only last for a while longer.”
“Then I suppose I’ll have to wait, but I intend to hold you to your word.”
With another hard kiss on her lips, he retrieved the torch from the metal ring buried into the sepulcher wall and climbed into the stone coffin. Descending a few steps, he offered his hand to her, and she followed him. Together they slowly walked down the stone staircase.
At the foot of the steps, they had a choice of going left or right. He frowned. Which way to go? The torch would only last so long, and then they’d be helpless. As if sensing his indecision, she touched his arm.
“We go left, I think.”
“Why?”
“Because Pharaoh always ke
eps Nourbese on his right to protect her.”
He had no idea if she was guessing or not. It didn’t matter. The decision made, he held her hand as they went to the left. As they walked, the tunnel slanted upward until he estimated they were a little higher than the tomb they’d just left. The passage leveled off, extending beyond the light of the torch. The sputtering hiss of the flame told him it wouldn’t last much longer.
“Can you move faster, ana gamâl? There’s not much time.”
She was breathless, but she gave him a weary nod. Satisfied that she would be able to keep up, he increased the pace. They’d gone about thirty yards, when the passage turned left at a sharp angle. As they rounded the turn, the torch flashed as if it had inhaled a sudden breath of air. The flame flared brightly and he drew in a quick breath. Air. Fresh air. His hand squeezing Alex’s, he pulled her along the corridor at a fast pace. The dank smell of the buried tomb slowly gave way to the heated aroma of the desert. Excitement sent a tremor of relief through him at the small stream of light he could see up ahead. They were only a few feet away from the crack through which the light invaded the darkness when the torch died a quick death. Behind him, Alex gasped in dismay. Her hand still in his, he squeezed her fingers in a reassuring manner.
“It’s all right, emîra. Daylight is just beyond this stone. We simply need to find a way to get through it. I need both hands to work, but I’m right here.”
“I’m not going anywhere. But I do think I’ll sit down,” she said in her usual feisty manner.
The corners of his mouth tugged upward. He couldn’t see her face, but his senses told him she had lost her fear. Still the quiet edge to her voice confirmed her exhaustion. Not once had she complained about her arm, but it obviously pained her.
When he got his hands on Medjuel, he’d make the bastard pay for hurting her. Never would he have thought his cousin capable of such treachery. Of such betrayal. Betrayal. The word dried his mouth with bitterness. Who else in the Mazir tribe viewed him with such bitter hatred?
Wincing at the thought, he pressed his hands against the smoothness of the cool wall. Ramesses had been a cunning ruler. Outwitting his political enemies and avoiding assassination had sustained his long reign. A man of that caliber always planned for contingencies. There had to be a way out of here.
He continued his exploration of the wall, looking for a lever, a hole in the wall, something—anything that would release them from this darkness. Behind him, Alex scrambled to her feet with a strangled cry. He reached out for her and pulled her to him.
“What is it, yâ maHabba?”
“Something just ran over my foot.”
“Then that means there’s definitely a way out of this bloody prison.”
“Well, if we don’t find it soon, I’m not going to be responsible for what I intend to do to that maliciously arrogant cousin of yours.”
“I’ll deal with Medjuel.”
“You’re going to have to stand in line, darling. I’m going to make him rue the day he ever heard the Talbot name.”
The fire in her voice made him laugh for the first time since their troubles began. It was only a brief instant before she was laughing with him. With her warm body snuggled against him, it was easy to forget that he’d ever been alone in the world. Not for anything would he give up the precious gift of her love. He pressed a kiss against her forehead.
“Come, I need to find the mechanism that will open this tunnel. Ramesses would have designed it so he had a way to escape if someone tried to seal him up in Nourbese’s tomb.”
“But it wasn’t her tomb.”
“We know that now, but it’s doubtful his political enemies knew that.”
“Then, let’s get to work. I can check the wall on the right. And don’t you dare suggest I sit down. I’m in no mood to find out what went across my foot.”
There was just a thread of terror in her voice, and he knew better than to argue. She needed to do something to take her mind off their troubles. If helping him kept her mind from imagining the worst, she’d be far better off.
“I wouldn’t dream of interfering with Alexandra Talbot’s quest to defeat the mighty Ramesses.”
“Beast.”
He laughed. The lighthearted note in her voice neutralized the insult. They resumed work and after more than an hour, neither of them had experienced success. For the first time, he succumbed to the possibility they wouldn’t find an exit. He didn’t voice his negative thoughts. Let her keep her optimism a little longer.
The sudden sound of her sharply indrawn breath made him reach for her in the darkness. His hand on her shoulder, he followed her outstretched arm to where her fingers had wrapped around a solid iron lever.
“Shall I pull or do you want to?”
The breathless quality of her voice confirmed a hope he didn’t want to crush. “You found it, you have the honor.”
With a spurt of energy, she tugged on the lever. He could tell from her grunt of irritation that the lever was being difficult. Gently, he searched for her hand in the dark and wrapped his fingers around hers. Together, they yanked the lever toward them. For the third time that day, the ominous sound of heavy stone moving against stone echoed in his ears. Only this time the noise was a welcome one. As the wall slowly slid back, sunlight poured into the once fathomless darkness of the passageway.
Pulling Alex into the light, he relished the heat of the late afternoon sun. She stepped into his side and buried her face into his shoulder. With a shudder, she burst into tears. In silence, he held her, allowing her to cry for both of them. Several long moments passed before her crying evolved into soft hiccups.
His fingers nudged her chin upward so he could look into her glistening gaze. “You’re safe now, my love. I won’t let anything else hurt you.”
“The only promise I care about is your promise to love me for the rest of our lives and into the afterlife.”
He kissed her gently. Lifting his head, he smiled. “That’s a vow I can easily keep. I can also guarantee you happy days and wicked nights of pleasure.”
“I can think of no one else I’d want to be sinful with other than you, my love.”
“Say that again.”
“What?”
“That endearment. Say it again,” he demanded.
The sultry smile curving her lips stirred his desire until his body was taut with hunger. She knew her power over him, but she didn’t covet that power. She only wanted him. It was plainly evident in her loving gaze.
“Yâ maHabba. My love,” she whispered.
He lowered his head again, determined to reiterate over and over the depth of his love. She didn’t protest. Instead, she clung to him in a display of passion that gladdened his heart and enflamed his desire. She was his, and he would never let her go.
Epilogue
Per-Ramesses Archeological Complex, 1888
“Gameela Alexandra Montgomery! You get down from there this instant.” Hands braced on her hips, Alex glared at her seven-year-old daughter standing on a scaffold against one of the walls of Hathor’s temple. It was their latest find in the Per-Ramesses complex.
“But, Mama, I think I’ve found something.”
“I’m warning you, young lady. If you don’t get down here right now, there’ll be the devil to pay.”
“Oh, all right.”
“Where’s your brother?” Alex stood ready to catch the slender child at the first misstep during her descent.
“Cam’s racing camels with Uncle Kahlil.”
“Good.” Helping Gameela down off the last rung of the scaffold, Alex jerked upright. “What do you mean he’s racing camels with your uncle?”
“Uncle Kahlil is teaching him how to race.” Shrugging, the child looked up at her with a mischievous twinkle in her dark eyes.
“God in heaven! A five-year-old doesn’t need to b
e racing camels.” Alex grasped her daughter’s brown arm and started to pull her toward the temple entrance.
“It’s all right, yâ maHabba. Cameron is with my mother.”
“Altair!”
“Papa!”
Gameela broke free of Alex’s grasp and raced toward the tall figure filling the temple doorway. With a laugh, Altair swung his daughter up into his arms and kissed her cheek.
“Oh, Papa, we missed you. Mama especially. She’s been very grouchy for the last few weeks.”
“Has she now?” Altair smiled as he quirked an eyebrow at Alex and stepped forward to give her a quick kiss. Her heart skipped a beat before it accelerated to twice its usual pace. Altair sat down on a nearby workbench and perched Gameela on his knee.
“Yes, please don’t go away again, Papa. I don’t like it when Mama is so unhappy.”
Arms firmly locked around her father’s neck, Gameela pressed her cheek against his face. The sight made Alex’s heart ache. The children had missed Altair as much as she had, and she’d failed to realize it. She smiled at her daughter.
“Why don’t you tell Papa what you found in the temple last week.”
Gameela’s face lit up with excitement as she nodded at her mother. Turning her head, she proceeded to share the tale of how she’d found three small statues buried in the rubble outside Hathor’s temple. For the next quarter of an hour, Gameela kept her father laughing as she regaled him with tales of her escapades during his absence.
As Alex watched her husband and daughter get reacquainted, she experienced an overwhelming sense of joy. She had everything she could ever want. A wonderful man who loved her, two beautiful children and her work. There wasn’t anything else she needed for her happiness. Although it saddened her that her father and uncle had never lived to see Per-Ramesses, she believed with all her heart that they had been watching over her all these years.
“Mama said we’d go to Cairo to see the Pyramids when you came home. Didn’t you, Mama?” Gameela’s voice pulled Alex’s attention back to the conversation at hand.
“Cairo?” Alex sent her only daughter an ironic smile. “Yes, I seem to recall you wheedling that promise out of me.”
