“Including me,” I finish.
“We promised you we’d keep you safe,” Cec says. “And we mean to keep that promise, Hawkins.”
“Even if I no longer want to run from these God Men?” I ask.
“You have no idea what sort of trouble you’re getting yourself into if you choose that path,” Bes claims. “At this moment, we’re being forced to play their game. Once we get to Arturo’s, we’ll be in control. Trust us.”
I recall the conversation I woke up to this morning:We won’t be able to keep the truth from her for much longer.
“As long as you’re being honest with me,” I say finally.
Bes avoid my gaze. “As honest as we can be.”
As we slice silently through the waters of the Strait of Messina, I stare out of the helm window.
Tears prick behind my eyes. I thought so once before, but never truly believed it until now: I have to accept the fact that I cannot go home. Not when the God Men can track us in an unmarked boat over water. And since I can’t go home, I need to get somewhere safe and trusted. If my nonna and her friendship with Arturo are to be believed, the only safe place in the entire world is where Bes and Cec claim they’re taking me.
Whatever secrets they keep, can be their own, as long as it doesn’t put me in peril.
Nonna requires earned faith from her acquaintances, just as I do; she’s who I learned it from. The telegram Bes showed me at the Temple of Seti I proves her trust in Arturo and Bes, at the very least. And Cec handing me Nonna’s ring, which currently presses against my leg deep inside my pocket, proved his worth.
If they’re bringing me somewhere I’ll be safe—and, if I’m lucky, a place with texts on the Amulet of Amun—like they claim, then I’ll be alright.
Though I do wish I understood why Arturo’s acquaintances have become so comfortable with death. It irks me more now than before, when I watched Bes murder Klaus at the museum. After watching Ailsa sacrifice herself rather than get caught…
“Did Ailsa truly sacrifice her life for the Amulet of Amun?” I ask. The pendant practically hums beneath my shirt at the mention of it.
“Yes and no,” Bes answers. “Unbeknownst to us, we were all marked before the boat docked. The God Men must’ve known someone with her description was traveling with us. Otherwise, the OVRA soldiers wouldn’t have recognized us so quickly. Or been at the docks at all, for that matter.”
I consider this. “Then we were spotted at Alexandria before we departed.”
“It’s the only explanation,” Bes confirms.
“And these supposed secrets that she was willing to die for?” I prod once more. “Do they have to do with the amulet?”
Bes stiffens. “That’s between Ailsa and Arturo.”
Just like the truth the two of you are keeping from me?Maybe that truth is about how his uncle is so connected that he can send his friends and family all the way to Egypt to assist me. Even procuring a damned yacht to do so.
Bes allows for a heavy pause. The rumbling of the boat engine cuts through the silence, until he speaks again.
“You mentioned Claude passed on the legend of the amulet, that the Thule Society believes it possesses ancient Egyptian magic to cause the wearer to be invisible.”
I nod, though it wasn’t a question.
“What if I told you it was true?”
The amulet warms gently against my chest. I never thought I’d hear my fantasies confirmed, yet I’m still having trouble believing them.
“I’d call you certifiable.”
He straightens. “And you’d be well within your rights to do so.”
When he doesn’t expound, I ask, “So, what you’re telling me is, magic is real?”
“Magic is an… antiquated word for it,” Bes explains vaguely.
I raise a brow.Maybe heiscertifiable.Though I don’t see any signs of insanity in him, I struggle to surmise if he’s telling the truth this time. If magic were real, wouldn’t I know about it? I’ve been to dozens of places around the world, and none of the artifacts we found contained any magic. They claimed to, of course, but they always remained inanimate objects after we got our hands on them.
