“I’ll meet you at the Alexandria Harbor at midnight,” Cec offers. “From there, we’ll travel by boat. Arturo called in one of his many favors, so there should be one waiting for us. But, ifnot, I didn’t have enough time to procure false papers before coming here. If it’s a commercial vessel, we’ll have to keep out of sight belowdecks.”
Procure false papers?Nonna must’ve endeavored to prepare for every eventuality.
“Oh,” he adds, “and we’ll need to make a quick stop in the Port of Civitavecchia.”
The port of what now?
“Why can’t we fly?” I wonder, my mind still sifting through all the possibilities. “It’d be much quicker to take a plane than a boat.”
Cec taps his fingers against the amber eyes of the raven head. “Right again. However, the latter is safer than the former. If the God Men were able to intercept you in Luxor, it means there are Third Reich spies lurking about, and most certainly ones at the airfield in Cairo.”
“Even though Egypt is occupied by the British?”
“You’d be surprised how easily they can blend in, manipulating those around them. No.” Cec shakes his head. “Best to be safe and travel by sea, as planned.”
With no further prompting, Cec strides for the door he breezed in through, cane hovering over the tile floor. He stops at the threshold without turning.
“I’m sorry for all this. Truly, I am.”
So am I.
He cracks open the door and slips through before I can say it aloud, the tip of his cane marking his journey. It echoes alongside the hard-beating of my heart until it disappears.
“Are you alright?” Bes asks, his voice low.
Despite feeling his gaze on me, I keep my silence. I want to tell him I’m not alright. That, as childish as it sounds, I just want to go home.
I’m such a fool. I was so ready to leave home—to abandon the only family I have, no matter how temporary—that I didn’t think through the dangers of traveling halfway around the world on my own.
And look what it’s gotten me: in less than twenty-four hours, I’ve been carted across Egypt by two different strangers, had guns shoved into my back and pointed at my face, stolen a priceless necklace from the Egyptian god of the dead, nearly died inside an ancient temple that I partly destroyed, and killed a cheap imitation Nazi.
The last point cuts deepest. As much as I’d love to make a villain of Claude, he was a man of flesh and blood. He likely had some sort of family, at least one person who loved and cared about him. And I killed him. He forced my hand, but that doesn’t make what I did alright.
I hate him for the demon he was, but I hate myself more for having to be the one to rid the world of him.
Now, I have no choice but to place my life in the hands of two more strangers who know far more than they should, and are definitely not telling me everything. Just because they think I need their protection, and just because Nonna thinks she knows best, doesn’t mean I can’t try to find my own way out of this.
I’ll simply have to keep my wits about me, and my switchblade within reach.
Taking a settling breath, I remove my hands from my midsection. “No, I’m not. But I will be.”
He moves to stand in front of me, closer than I would’ve expected. Though I have no idea why, his presence proves to be remarkably soothing to my nerves.Must be the time difference wreaking havoc on my emotions.
“I couldn’t be more sorry about this,” he admits. “If it weren’t for the museum curator sending you that telegram, you wouldn’t be here.”
He’s right, but his words don’t mean anything. Not anymore.
“None of that matters now,” I mutter.
“Cec and I will protect you,” he assures me, “at whatever cost.”
Whether he believes it himself or not, I can’t trust his promise. Not after everything I’ve seen and heard.
I don’t respond, boring a hole into his chest and refusing to meet his gaze. My entire life has been upended, but, for the life of me, I can’t look this man in the eye.
“I should gather my things.”
Still, I don’t move.
