With every nerve on edge and my stomach coiled tightly with fear for Gadji, I began making my way through the darkened streets of Luxor to Major Grindle's bungalow.
Luxor was an entirely different place in the dark; all traces of charm and quaintness were chased away by darkness and shadows. Faraway laughter sounded sinister, and the squat, tattered buildings took on a threatening aspect, as if they were haunted. Isis carefully steered me away from groups of reveling British tourists enjoying the sights at night as well as the group of local men who watched them with ill-disguised hostility. But that wasn't even the worst part.
During the daylight hours, I had only been aware of the beneficent power of the gods that lingered in the ancient ruins. But at night, in the dark, those same ruins gave off something else entirely. Now they pulsed with several millennia's worth of accumulated dark magic and fragments of curses. They themselves weren't cursed, but rather, it appeared they acted as a lodestone for all the malevolent forces that lingered in the city. Perhaps pieces or bits of ancient curses from the artifacts that passed through, or the lingering mut or akhu from so many nearby ancient tombs. Either way, it was a distinctly unnerving sensation.
Sefu didn't help at all by scampering on ahead, then doubling back to be certain we were following. Every time he disappeared, I feared I'd never see him again. Then whenever he did reappear, it made my heart stutter.
In the end, he became quite distraught when he realized we weren't going to keep following him and pitched a raucous fit in the middle of the street. Dark, curious gazes turned in our direction. "Shh!" I told him. "I can't help Gadji alone. We'll need help."
He either understood or gave up, because he stopped making his racket and fell into step (more or less) beside me.
By the time we reached the major's bungalow, I was damp with perspiration and beginning to wonder just how much trouble I'd be in with him. All the lights were off save one toward the back, which I guessed to be his study. Squaring my shoulders, I knocked softly on the front door.
There was a long moment of silence, and then finally I heard the faint sound of footfalls coming from the back of the house. The door opened, and there stood Major Grindle himself, holding a lantern.
"Miss Throckmorton!" he exclaimed, scowling ferociously when he saw I was alone. "I distinctly remember telling you that you were not to move about this city alone."
"You did, sir." I bravely met his eye. "But I had no way to get a message to you, and it is rather urgent that we speak. Plus, I brought Isis with me. She can be surprisingly effective as a deterrent." I lifted the leash in my hand and the major's gaze followed it to the ground, where it was tied around Isis's neck.
"A cat is not protection."
"You don't know Isis, sir," I muttered. "Besides, Awi Bubu thought there was more to her than a simple feline. Not," I hurried to add, "that any feline can truly be called simple."
The major still looked highly skeptical.
"I assure you, sir, once you hear my reason for coming, you'll understand. May I come in?" I asked in a small voice.
"Yes, yes, of course. I am interested in knowing what is so important that you must risk life and limb to tell me." He moved aside to let me pass. Just as he started to close the door behind me, a small, scampering shape darted through and disappeared down the darkened hallway. "What, in the name of all that is holy, was that?"
"Gadji's monkey, sir. You see, that's why I've come. I'm afraid Gadji's been kidnapped."
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
Major Grindle's Magic Study
MAJOR GRINDLE GOT VERY SERIOUS, very quickly. "How do you know this?"
I fished in my pocket and handed him the ransom note. "They left this on my pillow."
He raised his eyebrows but said nothing as he took the note from me. After reading it, he gave a brisk nod. "Chaos, of course. But what is this Emerald Tablet they are demanding?"
"Perhaps we should sit down, sir. It's rather a long story."
"Very well. We might as well get comfortable. I suspect we've a long night ahead of us."
As I entered his study, I shuddered as the wave of riotous, jumbled magics assailed me. Isis paused in the doorway, every hair on her body standing on end, while Sefu leaped up into the air as if he'd been bitten. He landed on Major Grindle's desk, shaking his head and clacking his teeth.
"What's wrong with him?" Major Grindle asked.
"I don't think he cares for the otherworldly atmosphere in the room, sir." I tugged Isis gently into the room, then settled myself on one of the chairs facing the major's desk. "Do you mind if I unleash Isis? She's not terribly fond of the restraint."
He waved his hand to indicate for me to do as I pleased, then leaned back in his own chair. I unfastened the leash from around Isis's neck, and she began prowling cautiously around the room.
"The tablet?" Major Grindle prompted.
"Well, yes. You see, that was the item I was returning to the men you met at the Luxor Temple."
He raised a grizzled eyebrow at me. "Part of that deathbed promise, Miss Throckmorton?"
I swallowed. "Yes, sir."
"They did not seem very happy to have it back," he pointed out.
I frowned. "They were, actually. It was only that they got sidetracked with wanting to get Gadji back as well. According to Awi Bubu, they valued the tablet most highly. They would have done a lot"—like forgive someone, I thought—"to have it in their possession once again."
"So what is it, exactly?" he asked. "And why is Chaos so intent on having it?"
I waged a small war with myself. I was not supposed to tell anyone of the tablet's true purpose, but Gadji's life was at stake, a life that, by all accounts, Awi Bubu should value more than anyone. Not only that, Gadji was my friend. Hopefully, Awi Bubu would understand. "It is an encoded map, sir. A map that leads to the hidden cache of the artifacts of the gods, the ones that were hidden by the ancient priests of Egypt thousands and thousands of years ago. Artifacts with such power that they make the orb of Ra look like a child's toy."
Major Grindle grew still. "Are you serious, Miss Throckmorton?"
"Most serious, sir. And now Chaos has taken Gadji in the hopes that we'll be so desperate to have him back, we'll be willing to give up the tablet. Which I no longer have."
"Well, we'd better hope those men from the temple don't get wind of this or they'll have our guts for garters," he said dryly.
"Don't we need to tell them so we can get the tablet from them?"
"I have no intention of putting that tablet in the hands of Chaos. The havoc they could wreak doesn't bear thinking about." His tone left no room for argument.
"But what about Gadji, sir? We have to get him back. And not just because they think he might be their pharaoh. He's my friend and has saved me more than a time or two." My voice wobbled at the end, and I had to clear my throat.
Major Grindle gave a crisp nod. "And that is the best reason of all. We'll work something out." He turned his attention from me to the monkey on his desk. "Is this creature going to sit here all evening?"
"I have no idea, sir." Isis, on the other hand, appeared to have fallen in love with the major's leopard skin rug. She sat face-to-face with it, staring into its glass eyes, purring loudly.
Major Grindle muttered something about a zoo, then got up and went to his shelves. Sefu followed, leaping to a shelf just above the major's head.
Ignoring the monkey, the major began searching among the things on one shelf. "Have any of the Serpents of Chaos seen the tablet up close before?"