by Faith Gibson
The Cairo Zoo was located in Giza. It was a fairly quick trip by car, but it was still enough time to give Sophia a chance to slip away. Nik’s shifter was clawing to be released. It knew their mate was in danger, so Nik did his best to calm down on the short ride. When the taxi pulled up to the entrance, Nik had the appropriate pounds ready to give the man. He bought a ticket and stepped out of the way of other guests. The zoo was situated on eighty acres. That was eighty too many to guess where Sophia would be, so he inhaled deeply. Amid the numerous animal, plant, and people scents, there was a faint trace of something sweet.
Nikolas literally followed his nose along the walkway leading to the large animals. As he passed each cage, the animal residing there made it clear his presence was offensive, and most retreated to the back of their enclosure. When he walked through the area in front of the leopard, the scent of his mate was much more prominent. Nik stopped and looked around, hoping to get a glimpse of his beautiful woman. He continued on through the park, but his nose and his feet brought him back to the leopard. Something had happened there. The man on the phone said a worker had given her a note. If only he could figure out who the worker was. Nikolas looked around, noting the security cameras. He needed to get a look at the feed. He could barge in there now, or come back later when the park was closed. Godsdamnit!
Nik made one more pass through the large park before heading back toward Cairo. Instead of going to his hotel, he stopped at the bed and breakfast. He was going to ask for Beatrice in hopes that Sophia was there. When he walked into the small inn, the familiar scent was barely detectable. She probably wasn’t there, but he was going to ask anyway. When he reached the desk, there was an older woman standing behind it. He smiled and said, “Hello. I’m here to see Beatrice, but she isn’t answering her phone.”
“You must be her son-in-law,” a voice said from his right. Two couples, one older and one younger, were walking toward him. The younger woman smiled and held out her hand.
Oh shit. If he was wrong about the woman, these people would probably call the cops on him. “Yes, I am. We were supposed to meet for breakfast this morning, but she didn’t show.” Nik hoped it was a plausible lie.
The older man spoke up, “I saw her leave early this morning around four.”
“What were you doing up at four, and why were you watching Beatrice?” the older woman crossed her arms over her chest and huffed at him. If they were married, Nik felt sorry for the man.
“You were snoring, and I couldn’t sleep. Besides, I wasn’t watching Beatrice. I was down in the common area reading a book, and I just happened to see her leave.”
“I don’t snore!” The woman began a one-sided argument with the man who simply stood and took the bashing from his wife.
The younger couple appeared mortified, but Nik grinned. “I will return to my hotel and wait on her. She has a mind of her own, that Beatrice.”
The young woman said, “She’s a spitfire, that’s for sure. I’m Millicent, and this is my husband Garrett. Those are his parents Yvonne and Fred.” Nik shook hands with Garrett.
“It’s a pleasure to meet you both. If you see Beatrice before I do, please tell her I was looking for her.” Since he had no idea if Sophia was truly portraying the older Beatrice, Nik didn’t give them his name. If she was, she would know he was in town. If she wasn’t, at least the older woman wouldn’t have a name to give the police when she informed them she had a stalker.
He exited the inn to the sound of Yvonne still going on about Fred’s early morning activities. If she were his wife, he’d lock her in the Basement with the Unholy for a few days. What Nik wouldn’t give to be home in New Atlanta, flying at night, fighting Unholy, and going home afterwards to Sophia. Since she knew all about Gargoyles, he wouldn’t have to hide the blood from her. As a matter of fact, she could help him shower it off. Fuck, now his dick was getting hard just thinking about her. Nik ducked onto a side street with no traffic so he could adjust the hard-on in his jeans.
Chapter Nine
Sophia was being followed. This time there was no doubt as to who it was. The two men from the ferry had been waiting outside the zoo when she made her way to a taxi. Now, they were in the cab behind her. They knew she was staying at the Nile Grand, but they didn’t know about the bed and breakfast. Hopefully.
She wasn’t as nervous leaving as she had been entering. They had given her another clue. If they intended to abduct her, they could have done so before now. The people following her had to know she would need to get ready to travel to the intended destination, once she figured out where it was. When she arrived at her hotel, she was alone. The two men continued on past instead of getting out with her. Sophia breathed a sigh of relief and made her way to her room. When she reached her door, she felt light-headed. She stuck the keycard in the slot and didn’t try to be quiet. When the door was closed, she leaned her hand against the wall for support. There’s no fricking way…
Sophia closed her eyes and inhaled deeply. If she didn’t know better, she’d think Nik had been in her room. There was no other explanation for the scent or the way she was feeling. Her senses weren’t as keen as a full-blood’s, but she would never forget the way her mate smelled, and her room smelled exactly the same. She shook the fogginess out of her head. If someone had been in her room, she needed to make sure all her stuff was still there and intact. If it had been Nikolas, hopefully he would have left her a note. Her laptop was where she left it on the desk. She opened the closet. The clothes were pushed apart haphazardly instead of neatly as she’d left them.
She punched in the code to the safe, and the contents had been untouched. Her toiletries were still arranged as they had been; however, her case had been moved. She inspected the contents noting everything was still there. Lastly, she checked the clothes in her drawers. Those also appeared untouched.
Maybe she was scenting someone from housekeeping. Other than the clothes in the closet being moved around, her things were as they should be, so she let the odd feeling slide. Sophia opened her laptop and booted it up. While she waited, she pulled the note from her pocket and re-read it.
Travel to the Place of Beauty and find the Last Pharaoh’s Tomb
Sophia hadn’t studied a lot of ancient history that didn’t pertain to the Gargoyles. She seemed to recall Cleopatra being the last Pharaoh, but she would double check to be sure. The Gargoyles in Nik’s family were of Italian descent on his father’s side. Jonas’ origins were Italian and French. Sophia had only paid attention to the history of those Gargoyles of interest to her and her family. If a computer search didn’t help her, she would call Xenia. Her aunt was a history professor after all.
Her search for the Place of Beauty resulted in several hits, but Ta-Set-Neferu came up most often. It was the Valley of the Queens where the wives of the Pharaohs were buried. Both it and the Valley of the Kings, where the Pharaohs were buried, were located in Luxor. When she looked up the last Pharaoh, she had been correct that it was Cleopatra. According to everything she was reading Xenia had been correct that nobody knew where the Queen was buried. Then why did her clue have her going to Ta-Set-Neferu? Unless someone had recently made an archaeological discovery that wasn’t in the search engines, the clue was somehow incorrect. Anything that was newsworthy was on the internet within minutes of it happening, so the clue had to be wrong. Her search showed a glyph for the tomb, and she wanted to know if it was also pictured on the Cleopatra Disk. If it was, she would look there, even if it didn’t make sense. If it wasn’t, she would know she was being given the runaround.
Just in case, Sophia dialed Xenia’s number. When her aunt didn’t answer, Sophia left a message, “Hello, Xenia. I needed to ask you a question about the Valley of the Queens. Please call me when you get this.” She leaned back in the desk chair and decided to order room service. When she reached for the receiver, she noticed the blinking red light on the phone. Someone had left her a message. Right as she picked up the receiver, her cell phone ra
ng. Xenia.
“Hello, Xenia.”
“Hello, little dove. Sorry I missed your call. You said you had a question about Ta-Set-Neferu.”
Sophia turned back to her computer and the hieroglyphs. “Yes, I received another clue as to where my parents are. It said go to the place of beauty and find the last Pharaoh’s tomb. When I looked up both, it didn’t make sense. Not unless Cleopatra’s crypt has been found in the last five minutes. I wanted you to look at the disk and see if the hieroglyphs for the Valley of the Queens happen to be on there somewhere. I know it’s a long shot, but if somehow she happened to be buried there…”
“Describe the glyphs to me,” Xenia instructed. Sophia could hear her aunt unlocking a safe. She still had the disk in her possession.
“From left to right there’s a bird, a funky building, a box, then three of the same symbol that look like fish with crosses coming out of their heads. Hang on, I’ll take a snapshot of it and send it to you.” Sophia snapped a picture of the glyph and texted it to her aunt.
“I got it. I will have to get a magnifying glass out and study the disk. I doubt this particular sequence will be stamped on there, but I’ll give it a look. I’ll let you know when I find something.”
“Thank you. Have you talked to Keene yet?” Sophia hoped Xenia and her mate worked things out.
“He’s coming over later. I’m going to tell him the truth. Let’s hope he doesn’t run screaming.”
“Call me if you need back-up. He would probably take it easier if he knew there were more of us.”
“I appreciate the offer, and if he doesn’t believe me, I’ll take you up on it. Now, let me study this disk. I’ll call or text you soon.”
“Thank you and good luck.” Sophia thumbed her phone off. A loud thump against the wall made her jump. It happened again, and she jumped again. When it happened a third time, Sophia figured out whoever was in the room next door was bouncing a ball off the wall. She drew her fist back to bang on the wall when she heard a loud voice say, “I told you, she’s in her room. I followed her from the zoo.”
“Oh, gods,” Sophia whispered to herself. She knew they were keeping close tabs on her, but not that close. Shit! What if they had bugged her room and were listening to her conversations? If they were, they would know not only had she found the disk, but she’d passed it along to someone else. And she’d said Xenia’s name out loud. “Oh, this isn’t good, you stupid girl.” Sophia forgot about ordering room service and began scouring her room for bugs. After an hour and a thorough search, she felt good about not finding anything. She still hadn’t heard back from Xenia, so she decided to head over to the inn. She could enjoy a meal and possibly poke the bear known as Yvonne at the same time.
The door next door had opened and closed several times. Sophia gathered her Beatrice disguise as well as her laptop. She placed everything in a large bag and listened for movement and voices next door. When she felt the coast was clear, Sophia left her room, taking great pains to close the door silently. She padded down the hallway to the stairwell and exited out the side door. When she reached the side street, she hailed a taxi. Once inside, she looked behind her. Sophia didn’t see anyone following, but she still had the driver take her farther than she needed to go.
She made her way into the lobby of another large hotel and found the guest restroom on the bottom floor. She went into the handicapped stall and donned her Beatrice disguise. Luckily, no one came in while she was changing. She didn’t want to have to hang out in the ladies’ room any longer than she had to. Once the coast was clear, Sophia left the restroom and strolled through the lobby. The delicious scent that reminded her so much of Nikolas wafted over the air. When she got back home and got her hands on him, he was in big trouble.
Sophia arrived at the inn and took her bag to her room. She knew it was too early for supper, but she was hungry. She entered the dining room right as the Waterfords were coming in the front door.
“Beatrice. Did your son-in-law find you?” Millicent asked.
“My son-in-law?” What the holy hell was she talking about?
“Yeah, he stopped by earlier. Said you were supposed to meet him for breakfast but he couldn’t get you to answer your phone.”
“Was he tall with light brown hair and beautiful blue eyes?”
“That was him,” Millicent said, fanning herself.
Yvonne huffed. “Garrett is standing right there, Millicent.”
Garrett laughed and put his arm around his wife. “Yes I am, but even I can admit how handsome he was.” He winked at Beatrice. Everyone laughed except for Yvonne.
“Yes, he’s quite a looker. My daughter sure caught a good one. And yes, thank you. I did meet up with him later.”
“And what, might I ask, were you doing out alone at four in the morning?” Yvonne asked, her eyes squinted accusingly.
“Mom, that’s enough. Beatrice, please excuse us. It’s been a rather trying day. We’ll let you get to wherever you were going.” Garrett pulled his mother along by the wrist.
Sophia just couldn’t let it go. “Yvonne, for your information, I met a man, and I realized I left my bra at his place. I went back to get it.” Yvonne’s mouth gaped open then snapped shut.
As Fred walked past, he patted her on the shoulder and whispered, “Good for you, dear.”
Sophia went into the dining room, sat down at the table, and placed her head in her hands. There was no way Nikolas could be in Egypt, could there? She had been catching his addicting scent, but she chalked it up to coincidence. Now…
“Are you okay?” One of the caretakers asked her. The woman had been nothing but professional and accommodating.
“Yes, just thinking. If you don’t mind, I’d like to go ahead and order. Please have it sent to my room when it’s ready.”
“Of course. Anything you need.”
Beatrice headed to her room so she could pace the floor in private. Someone who matched Nik’s description was looking for her. It could be one of the men who had been following her, but how would he have known about Beatrice? Unless they went over the security feed from the zoo and tracked her that way, they shouldn’t know. Even Nikolas shouldn’t be able to figure out who Beatrice was. While she was waiting on her food, she remembered the message light blinking on her hotel phone. She called the Nile Grand and asked to retrieve her message. After giving her credit card number to verify her identity, the operator patched her through.
“Hello, Clara. I would love to talk to you. If you can, meet me in the hotel bar at three pm. I’ll be waiting.”
Sophia listened to the message three more times. How was it possible Nik was there? Oh, gods, what if they had kidnapped him and it was a trick? Shit! She listened again. He didn’t sound stressed. He sounded great. His voice was magical. Besides, he was a Gargoyle. He would be hard to abduct and harder to hold onto. No, Nik was there and wanted to see her! He had figured out she was Clara. She knew he was smart, but that was impressive. She would have to ask him how he knew so she could be more careful next time.
Gah! She couldn’t believe he’d followed her to Egypt. He had been in her room. Holy shit! He said he would meet her at three. It was twenty minutes until four now. “Oh, gods. No!” Not bothering to wait on her food or change out of her disguise, Sophia took off for the hotel.
Chapter Ten
Nik looked at his watch for the twentieth time. Either Sophia didn’t get his message or something had happened. He wouldn’t consider that she didn’t want to see him, not after the note she left for him at the library. He ordered one more drink and looked around. While he was waiting on the bartender to pour his fourth vodka tonic, he recognized the man who had almost ran him down on the tenth floor. He was talking excitedly on his cell phone. Nik threw some money down on the bar and took off after him.
Nik used his shifter hearing to listen in on the conversation. The man was talking about Sophia and a note. He turned down a side street, so Nik followed. As soon as he turned the corn
er, he felt uneasy. Normally Nikolas associated the queasiness with being around his mate. If he turned back to look for her, he would lose the man. If he continued following, he might lose a chance at catching up with Sophia, if it was even her. His gut told him it was, but the man on the phone knew where her parents were. Nik would find his bunny later. When he did, he prayed he’d have good news for her.
Nik continued after the stranger. Instead of the unease lessening, it increased. When the man stopped at the corner, waiting for the traffic light to turn green so he could cross the street, Nik lingered back so he wouldn’t be seen. The scent of honeysuckle assaulted Nik’s senses. He bent over putting his hands on his knees to calm himself. “Nikolas?” an older woman’s voice asked.
Nik unfolded himself. Before he could confirm his identity, the woman flung herself at him and kissed him. His first thought was he was being molested by an old woman. His second thought, the one that made no sense at all, was that he was enjoying the hell out of it. She licked at the seam of his lips, her tongue begging for entrance. Before he allowed some strange grandma to French him, he pulled her of off him. “Hold up. Do I know you?”
“Of course you know me, Nikolas Stone. I’m your frickin’ mate.” When she scrunched up her nose, he knew without a doubt she was Sophia.
Grinning, he said, “But you’re… old,” as if she didn’t know what she looked like.
“Just call me Beatrice, sonny. Now kiss me,” she husked as she pushed him against the side of the building.
“Well, allrighty then.” Nik closed his eyes and pictured his bunny. He opened for her, their tongues mating the way their bodies were aching to. Sophia’s hands grabbed his hair, pulling him in closer, if that were possible. He wished they were somewhere other than the sidewalk. She rotated her hips, the friction jumpstarting his dick. When she moaned in his mouth, his half-erect cock inflated all the way. Godsdamn, what he wouldn’t give to strip her bare right there. They finally came up for air, and he remembered the man he’d been following. “Shit.”
