❝death is only the beginning.❞
Mara El-Masri's fascination with the long-ago world of ancient Egypt started with the stories her stepfather would tell her when she was a child. Her brother Talib El-Masri is missing, left after their mother's funera...
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☾ ☽
THIS WASN'T HOW MARA wanted to return to Cairo. She had thought she would be spending her six-month anniversary quietly with her husband, and then they'd have dinner with the O'Connells when they returned before leaving for Cairo again until the next trip to London. Instead there was no chance of a quiet celebration, there was no dinner with the O'Connells, and they, along with Jamil and Ardeth, were coming back with them to Cairo.
Rick said he knew someone in Cairo who could get them to Karnak before Hafez and Imhotep brought Alex there. An old friend, he said, with an airplane (and this time he did assure them it should be a bigger plane, with actual seats and an interior, than the one piloted by another old friend of his, Winston, that brought them to Hamunaptra to rescue Evy). It had taken a few hours to get to Cairo, arriving to the city in the morning after the O'Connells and Jamil packed what they needed from their respective houses.
When they had all arrived in Cairo, Jamil had left with Ardeth. The two had discussed the Medjai the entire trip back, much of it in Arabic. From what Mara had been able to piece together during the journey, overhearing what little she did between talking to Jonathan about what had happened, they were planning to meet up the other commanders of the Medjai considering the threat that faced the world—Imhotep and the Scorpion King both. Jamil confirmed this to Mara before leaving to meet with them. That left the others to stop by Mara and Jonathan's flat so they could get what they needed (what they hadn't already brought to London with them, anyways) for the long and arduous journey before them.
"Here we are," Jonathan said, unlocking the door and opening it to let the others in.
"I have to go by the museum," Mara told them, "and straighten things up there before we leave."
"Do you mind if I come with you?" Evy asked.
"Of course not. You're welcome to."
"Thank you, Mara."
Rick was looking at the wall of art, every framed painting created by Jamil that Mara proudly hung in her flat—a piece missing from the last time they had found themselves in this very room before embarking on a dangerous rescue mission. That particular painting, that of the forgotten ruler of the Ptolemaic era and her radiant crown, had been taken away long ago (sold by Mara's brother to the first person who would buy it, the money used to pay for any medical treatment she needed in wake of what happened in Riyadh). The others were rearranged to fill in the spot it left, but the one with the sun god Ra was still in the center.
He said, turning away from the wall, "Just don't take too long there, all right? We don't have any time to waste."
"We'll be as quick as we can," Evy promised him, already heading back toward the door.
