Anders heads deep into the Archive without argument, disappearing behind one of the towering stacks.
I gesture around me while he’s away. “Is all this from the Library of Alexandria?”
Bes follows my attention. “Most of the texts, yes. The library was already in decline before Caesar’s war, and although the fire his soldiers set didn’t burn it down completely, it barely limped on for the rest of its days.”
Cec huffs. “If it weren’t for that blighter Ptolemy VIII expelling the foreign scholars from Alexandria, it might’ve held onto its greatness.”
Bes ignores his cousin. “After the order was formed, they brought much of its contents here for safekeeping, and the rest was smuggled out through the secret tunnels built there once it was clear it could no longer stay open.”
I shake my head.I can’t believe the order is keeping all this knowledge and history to themselves.
“This is also where we store all our artifacts,” Bes continues. “In recent years, we’ve been collecting those not currently in museums so the Nazis don’t steal them first.”
Suddenly, I realize something I didn’t have the wherewithal to fully appreciate before. “Didn’twesteal the Amulet of Amun from the Egyptian people?”
Neither of them reply.
“It doesn’t seem right for you to play God only to stop someone else from doing it. Why can’t you leave the artifacts in the country they’re from?”
“We would if we could, but we can’t risk the Third Reich getting their hands on them.”
“Sounds like an excuse.” I look around the room with fresh eyes. “You’re glorified private collectors.”
Cec swings his head in Bes’s direction, grinning and holding out his hand. “I told you she’d say that. Pay up, mate.”
Bes fishes out a coin from his pants’ pocket, grimacing.
I see this is not a conversation I’m going to win. Instead, I place my hands on the table and regard the cylinder.
“What’s inside?”
“We’re not sure,” Anders admits from the nearest stacks. Hobbling up to the table, a small wooden box is wedged between his hand and a hefty pile of books. “But, based on where it was catalogued in the Library of Alexandria, we can deduce the location and time period of its making.”
He sets the books carefully onto the table and opens the box, the amulet resting gently inside. “In order to figure out the code to this cypher, though, we need to learn all we can about Seti the First.”
I fold my arms across my chest. “So, it’s not all about punching Nazis, chartering boats, and dancing in secret night clubs?”
“Unfortunately, no.” Bes grabs the top leather tome and opens it to the table of contents. “Wearerequired to read a book from time to time.”
“Right, then.” I pull out a chair and settle in. “What are we looking for?”
Anders places his long-fingered hand thoughtfully on the leather cover of one of the books. “Given we’re working with Egyptian hieroglyphics, something that could be a numbered or lettered sequence.”
I laugh once. “That’s not nearly specific enough.”
Bes opens another book and sets it in front of me. “It’s as specific as we can be, given the limited information.”
He takes a seat beside me then, pulling his own book with him. Cec has already chosen a chair on Bes’s right, and Anders hurries off, probably to find more books.
“One last thing before we begin.” Bes runs his free hand through his black locks before cupping his neck and regarding me. “After what Ansaldo imparted upon you this morning, I would understand if you still wanted to run once you take the blood oath. We’d help you do it, given the circumstances. However…” He bows his head. “Forgetting for a moment what might happen if the God Men catch up to you: if there’s the smallest chance you want to be here—with me, with us, to consider being part of something more—I beg you to stay.”
My eyes shift to his lips.I beg you to stay.God, he’s persuasive.
I decide something here and now, though: to stop letting others dictate my choices.
“I’m going to regret this, but I’ll stay, for now. I haven’t decided when I’m going to take that damn oath yet, but I won’t leave either. Not until we finish this.”
Cec grins. “Fantastic!”
