FOR THE SECOND TIME THAT WEEK, I woke on a sofa in a hotel room with no idea how I'd gotten there.
The room wasn't nearly as nice as the Four Seasons Alexandria. The walls were cracked plaster. Exposed beams sagged along the ceiling. A portable fan hummed on the coffee table, but the air was as hot as a blast furnace. Afternoon light streamed through the open windows. From below came the sounds of cars honking and merchants hawking their wares in Arabic. The breeze smelled of exhaust, animal manure, and apple sisha-the fruity molasses scent of water-pipe smoke. In other words, I knew we must be in Cairo.
At the window, Sadie, Bes, Walt, and Zia were sitting around a table, playing a board game like old friends. The scene was so bizarre, I thought I must still be dreaming.
Then Sadie noticed I was awake. "Well, well. Next time you take an extended ba trip, Carter, do let us know in advance. It's not fun carrying you up three flights of stairs."
I rubbed my throbbing head. "How long was I out?"
"Longer than me," Zia said.
She looked amazing-calm and rested. Her freshly washed hair was swept behind her ears, and she wore a new white sleeveless dress that made her bronze skin glow.
I guess I was staring at her pretty hard, because she dropped her gaze. Her throat turned red.
"It's three in the afternoon," she said. "I've been up since ten this morning."
"You look-"
"Better?" She raised her eyebrows, like she was challenging me to deny it. "You missed the excitement. I tried to fight. I tried to escape. This is our third hotel room."
"The first one caught fire," Bes said.
"The second one exploded," Walt said.
"I said I was sorry." Zia frowned. "At any rate, your sister finally calmed me down."
"Which took several hours," Sadie said, "and all my diplomatic skill."
"You have diplomatic skill?" I asked.
Sadie rolled her eyes. "As if you'd notice, Carter!"
"Your sister is quite intelligent," Zia said. "She convinced me to reserve judgment on your plans until you woke up and we could talk. She's quite persuasive."
"Thank you," Sadie said smugly.
I stared at them both, and a feeling of terror set in. "You're getting along? You can't get along! You and Sadie can't stand each other."
"That was a shabti, Carter," Zia said, though her neck was still bright red. "I find Sadie...admirable."
"You see?" Sadie said. "I'm admirable!"
"This is a nightmare." I sat up and the blankets fell away. I looked down and found I was wearing Pokémon pajamas.
"Sadie," I said, "I'm going to kill you."
She batted her eyes innocently. "But the street merchant gave us a very good deal on those. Walt said they would fit you."
Walt raised his hands. "Don't blame me, man. I tried to stick up for you."
Bes snorted, then did a pretty good imitation of Walt's voice: "'At least get the extra-large ones with Pikachu.' Carter, your stuff's in the bathroom. Now, are we playing senet, or not?"
I stumbled into the bathroom and was relieved to find a set of normal clothes waiting for me-fresh underwear, jeans, and a T-shirt that did not feature Pikachu. The shower made a sound like a dying elephant when I tried to turn it on, but I managed to run some rusty-smelling water in the sink and wash up as best I could.
