by Allie Burton
“Believe me, I know.” Xander sounded bored, like he was hearing a teacher drone on about things for the millionth time.
Every word poked a hole in my future. I couldn’t let them take my prize.
Jeb began mumbling in a strange language using words, or what I thought were words with lots of vowels and a few strange clicks. The chanting went on forever. I didn’t have time to listen for eighteen minutes. Fitch waited by the loading dock and I was already behind schedule.
“Use the key to open the case.”
The English sentence froze my mind for a second. Then a billion thoughts and fears burst in my brain. They were definitely going to take my amulet, not just pray over the piece.
And they had a key. A key that would’ve made my job so much simpler.
I’d worked too hard to let them filch the amulet in front of my face like shoes at a clearance sale. I needed that necklace. Needed it like I needed air to breathe or the sun to shine. Needed it to survive.
Again, I peeked over the edge of the coffin. I glimpsed the amulet in its case about five feet away and the two people who stood between me and my goal.
The old guy, Jeb I assumed, wore a dark suit. His long gray hair flowed onto the shoulders of his jacket like a religious figure. He held a large scroll and waved his other hand around like a symphony conductor I’d seen on TV. He stood on one side of the case with his back to me.
The sixteen-year-old, Xander, stood on the far side. He wore a white tunic like he was attending a toga party. A gold crown sat on the top of his jet black hair.
I swallowed the half laugh-half choke trying to escape my mouth. Had I fallen into a black hole of history?
Obviously, these two were complete amateurs. Between their easily describable attire and the glaring white sheet they’d get away with nothing. Better for me to take the amulet first.
Xander studied the display case with his head bowed. He seemed just as enthralled by my amulet. The amulet I’d been trained to steal and Fitch’s customer paid a cool million to acquire. The amulet I needed to save myself and the kids in the family.
The guy moved toward the back of the case and then lifted his head. His green gaze pierced the distance between the case holding my prize and the sarcophagus holding my body.
My heart fluttered at the intense look Xander shot my way. With his thick, black hair, strong chin and full lips he resembled a gorgeous teen actor in a Roman action movie. But we weren’t on a stage set. And life wasn’t a movie with a happily ever after. His lips quirked in a slight smile and for a second, I thought he smiled at me. My knees liquefied and I melted into the coffin. With no air in my chest, I waited for him to sound the alarm. To tell Jeb of my presence.
Had he seen me? Or had I been completely unnoticeable?
Which was a good thing, right? I was a thief.
“Looks like someone was here before us.”
“What’re you talking about Xander?”
“Whoever it was picked the lock.”
Xander hadn’t noticed me, but the tool I’d stupidly left behind.
My shoulders drooped with what should’ve been relief but felt more like disappointment.
Jeb opened the case. “Xander, take the amulet now.”
My muscles bunched, ready to spring into action.
Jeb mumbled the foreign words faster.
Xander moved closer and reached out.
I couldn’t let this happen. Fitch would tear me a new one if I didn’t get the piece. This heist was all he’d talked about for weeks. We’d practiced a billion times. I had to take the amulet.
Crawling ninja-style out of the sarcophagus, my black gym shoes hit the ground without a sound. But inside, a screech built in my lungs and released on a heavy exhale, the scream so loud it sounded like an alarm. “Aiyeeeeee!”
Xander and the old man froze.
I lunged at the case, swooped in, and grabbed the amulet.
A jolt rocked my body. Pain rocketed up my spine, but I held tight to the prize. Clutching the piece in both hands, I hit the concrete floor like a football player making a catch and kept rolling.
“A girl.” Xander’s surprised voice rose on a high note. “What the…Tut.”
“Grab her!” The old man spoke in English.
“Touch her?” Xander sounded horrified like I was the slime of the world. “I can’t.”
“She’s got the amulet.”
I tried to get to my feet, but the pulsing inside threw me off balance. I crashed back onto the floor. Pain seared my fingers and heat rushed my veins.
My body jerked. My head spun.
Something slammed into me from the inside, like it was in my body trying to get out. Back and forth I jerked. A powerful energy thumped from my ribcage to my stomach and back again.
I trembled from head to foot. My vision blurred. Images swam before my eyes—a blue river, golden statues, Egyptian pyramids, deceit, and death.
“What’s going on?” The sound coming out of my mouth warbled. “Am I dying?”
This felt worse than the time I had pneumonia with no medicine, or the time I broke my arm and Fitch duct taped it…
Fogginess seeped into my consciousness. If I blacked-out they’d steal the amulet, leave me to be caught, to go to prison, to face Fitch’s wrath. Whatever was inside me ignited like a nuclear bomb. My skin could no longer contain my organs. I’d explode into tiny pieces and scatter across the museum floor.
“It’s happening… To. Her.” Jeb’s voice was faint as if coming from a distance, but I saw his shoes through squinted eyelids.
“But it’s my right. My inheritance.” Xander stomped his sandaled foot near my head. “My destiny.”
“It’s too late.” Jeb’s voice curled like a sneer with extra hatred. “The transfer has occurred. This stupid girl is now in possession of King Tutankhamun’s soul.”
Chapter Two
Olivia
Possessed?
Every horror movie I’d ever seen flashed through my mind. Spinning heads, hauntings, uncontrolled urges to eat human flesh. My tummy turned as if an alien already nibbled on my liver. The lingering effects of the strange zap continued to slam my internal organs. Like an old-fashioned pinball game, the tiny metal ball banging off my lungs, then my ribs, then my small intestine.
I lay on my back, bruised inside. Exhausted. The cold, concrete floor cooled my body. I must’ve blacked out and imagined things. Crazy things.
Like that guy Xander thinking he was going to become King Tut.
Like the old man Jeb thinking I was King Tut.
I didn’t believe in aliens or ghosts or ancient Egyptian souls. I might’ve never regularly attended school, but I’d read a lot. King Tut was an ancient Egyptian king who’d died while a teenager, which totally sucked. I could be dying from electrocution now, which also sucked.
A shiver crossed over the waves of heat raging inside and filled me with panicky static. I could be arrested lying on the ground in a closed museum holding a stolen artifact in my hot hands. I had to get out of here. Get away from the clumsy criminals Xander and Jeb.
Stiffening, I listened wondering how long I’d blacked out for. The pressure alarm in the empty amulet’s case hadn’t gone off yet. Only seconds then. I still had time to make a successful escape.
“The ancient spell was spoken, and she was next to hold King Tut’s Mighty Amulet of Aten.” Jeb’s hot, cashew-scented breath hit my face. He was too close. Way too close. “She looks about the right age.”
Right age for what?
I squeezed my lids tight pretending to be asleep. Surprise was my best offense. The material of Jeb’s clothes crinkled, and he moved away. He thought I was unconscious.
Good. I needed space to make my escape.
“The power is mine.” Xander sounded like a spoiled child whose favorite toy had been taken away. “She has no upbringing. No training. No heritage.”
So, I wasn’t good enough to inherit King Tut’s soul?
&
nbsp; My eyes blinked. Blood raged through my veins. Xander was just like the private school kids I passed on my way to the pawn shop. Cold, arrogant, snobby. I wanted to smack that superior expression off his handsome face.
Not that I believed all that junk about King Tut’s soul and the amulet. The only power this necklace held was the power of money. Cold, hard cash. Money that would pay for school supplies for Tina and Doug so they could be educated and return to a normal life.
The pulsing inside my body must be from an electrical force used in the security system. An important detail Fitch hadn’t mentioned or didn’t know. Just like the security guard I’d shoved inside the mummy case.
I analyzed my body. Nothing broken. No fiery burning or slamming pain. The pulsing sensation had died down. I was fine.
Time to make my move.
My muscles tightened. I readied myself, took a deep breath, and scrambled to my feet.
Jeb jerked. His eyes popped. Xander’s mouth dropped open and his eyes seemed to dig deep into me.
I took off in a hard sprint.
“Follow her,” Jeb ordered. “Don’t let her get away.”
Xander’s lighter step flopped behind me. Right behind me.
Even in his gold sandals the guy easily kept pace. He was bigger, stronger, and possibly faster than me. I sucked in a short, shallow breath that hit the back of my throat with a sharp edge. I had to get away, find Fitch.
I zigzagged around a display of uncomfortable looking furniture and dashed past murals of ancient Egyptians. My goal was to get back to the main exhibit space. Of course, that meant putting myself in the path of the young, hot guy and the old, creepy man. And to be honest, I was more disgusted with Xander’s arrogance than the old man’s weirdness.
Rushing around a corner, I skidded to a stop in a small room partitioned off from the rest of the exhibit. An army of little stone men surrounded me. Behind them stood a solid wall. The end of the exhibit. The end of my run.
When my feet halted, my heart slid into my throat choking a startled sound. I turned, realizing my fate. Dread dripped through me like a leaky faucet. I was backed into a corner with no way out. I felt that way a lot lately.
Xander stood in the doorway, his broad shoulders blocking my path, an annoying smirk on his face. “Going somewhere?” His cocky attitude rubbed raw against my alarmed mind.
Trapped in a small room with this hot hunk obstructing the way, my internal escape clock ticked on and on. I refused to let him see me sweat. Though I did. A lot.
I straightened and smirked back. “Think you and your white sheet can stop me?”
His fashion sense was non-existent.
The quirky smile fell off his face. “Yes.” He adjusted the gold belt around his trim waist with stiff movements. The tunic ended on muscular thighs, just above his knees.
Not that I was looking. I wasn’t interested.
I squeezed the amulet tighter to control my fear and protect it from another theft. Ignoring his strong, dark looks, I took a menacing step forward. “You and what army?”
Concrete scraped on the tile behind me.
His imperial jade eyes widened. He moved backward.
I whipped my head around. No one was back there. The statues seemed closer. But that was impossible. I must be hearing things, as well as feeling things. Strange things. Too many to categorize at this tense moment. I shook my head to rid myself of any fanciful thoughts the crazies, Xander and Jeb, implanted in my brain.
Xander laughed an I’m-smarter-than-you chuckle. “How about this army?” He indicated the small statues all dressed in identical tunics, similar to what he wore. “They’re shabtis used to do manual labor for the king in the Afterlife. Which is now.”
Nothing moved.
He didn’t control the stone army. He was trying to trick me.
And doing a pretty good job.
My forced heroics faltered for a second. I turned my attention back to Xander. This guy was a lunatic and his lunacy was rubbing off on me. The army behind me hadn’t moved and there was no soul of King Tut. “Is that why you’re wearing that ridiculous outfit? You think you’re King Tut?”
“Listen to me.” Xander held up his hands in a pleading gesture that I didn’t believe. “I’m not going to hurt you.”
A hot-looking lunatic who normally would have no interest in a plain girl like me, except I had something he wanted. My heart became stone. The last time a good-looking guy made a play for me he’d wanted my skill to break into his school’s computer records. When I’d succeeded, he’d dumped me. I might not be book smart like the kids going to school, but I was street smart. Lesson learned. Never trust a hot guy.
“You’re trying to steal the amulet.” I clutched the sun disc tighter. The metal pressed into my skin.
“The amulet is no good to us now.”
Where was the old man? His limp couldn’t have slowed him down that much. They must be setting a trap. Keep the girl talking until they figure out a way to knock me out and steal the goods.
No way. Not on my first heist.
Xander stepped into the small dead-end room. The gold flecks in his emerald eyes blazed with passion. “King Tut’s soul has transferred. To you.”
“Yeah, right.” Even surrounded by a lunatic and his mini-me army, I couldn’t keep the sarcasm from my voice.
“You’re now King Tut’s host. Didn’t you feel him enter your body?”
“Slammed into me more like.” The words slipped out as I remembered the heat and pain.
“What?”
“Felt like something slammed inside me.” My body had burnt from the inside. I’d lost control of myself. I still felt the heat. “Not that I believe you.” The force had been some sort of electric security hook up. Nothing more.
“I wondered if receiving the soul would be painful.” His gaze held mine mesmerizing me for a second like he had me under the ancient pharaoh’s spell.
“Quit joking and let me pass.”
“This is not a joke. Or a lie. You are in possession of the pharaoh’s soul. A special pharaoh who learned the power of Aten the sun god.” He spoke the falsehood with such conviction. “There are rules and responsibilities—”
“Oooh.” I shook my hand like I was scared. Which I so wasn’t. “So I’m possessed.”
Jeb had used the word earlier.
“Not possessed. You host his soul. You have powers beyond your imagination.” Xander’s story kept getting better.
“Well, right now I’d like to imagine you out of my way.” I took another step forward thinking I could rush past him if I got just a little closer. “I’ve got plans.”
Messed up plans. Plans that were way behind schedule. Plans that didn’t include this room or this conversation.
He stepped back. “I’ve been trained all my life to take on this role.” He sounded all self-important, even though his olive skin paled. “You don’t know how to handle it.”
“I know how to handle you.” Why when I took a step forward, did he take a step back? Why hadn’t he tried to grab me? Why was he afraid?
With lightning speed, I walked forward and brushed past him. Our bodies made contact. A spark shot through me and flashed with heat. Like a powerful surge, energy exploded inside me.
Xander gasped. The muscles in his face froze. He wobbled, and then his body sort of lost all its strength and he fell to the floor. “People can’t touch you. You can’t touch them. You need to learn…” He clutched his shoulder where I made contact and agitated like an old dryer in a laundromat, his body shaking and vibrating.
What just happened?
I didn’t want to hurt him or anyone. I just wanted to get out of the museum and give the necklace to Fitch. I didn’t believe any of Xander’s story. Of course, I didn’t cause him pain. I’d barely touched him. Just an act to scare me.
He lay sprawled on the ground and didn’t seem to be faking. His tunic inched up his thighs and I wanted to tug it down. But that would mean touchin
g him again, and I didn’t want to touch a hot guy.
Never trust one, never touch one.
Footsteps pounded on the concrete. My chest echoed the harsh mingling of sounds: thump, skitter, plop. Jeb had followed us. I couldn’t stand around debating any longer. I had to get away. Fitch waited by the loading dock—someone who would know what to do.
Unfortunately, the only way out was down the hallway past Jeb and into the main exhibit space. I needed to hide and make Xander think I’d gone.
“Don’t leave. You need to know—”
I ignored his plea and pretended to run to the right by pounding on the ground with my gym shoes. Then, I tiptoed left, skirting the moisture sensing machine and hid behind a large phony stone tablet.
“Where is she?” Jeb limped to Xander but didn’t help him up.
“She ran away.”
My fake running had tricked him. I slipped the amulet around my neck and tucked it under my black T-shirt for safe keeping. And to hide its ugliness.
“You let her go?” Jeb didn’t even ask if Xander was okay.
“She touched me when she passed. I fell, had no strength. I couldn’t stop her.” Would his ridiculous tale be believed?
“Which way did she go? I must find her.”
Guess so.
“I just want to go home,” Xander’s voice scraped with pain.
“You have no home. You failed your one and only mission in life.” Jeb’s words sounded similar to Fitch’s threat to me before the heist. Olivia, if you’re not going to steal for the family, you don’t belong in the family.
My bruised heart ached all over again. Do the heist or get kicked out of the family. Be able to watch over Tina and Doug or abandon them like their parents. Become a thief or become a whore.
Fitch’s threats were harsh, but a loud-mouth and carrying a big stick was his form of motivation. Although this time his tone had been different. More intense. So I’d practiced and trained for this one heist.
My tummy dropped so deep it never hit bottom. Xander wasn’t even given an option. And it was because of me.
“It wasn’t my fault. She took it.” A touch of his usual arrogance returned.
