“Soliman is in Greece,” Drake said. “And we’re going to get the scrolls and find him.”
“So you know where the scrolls are too?” Leila breathed. Finally, things were going to go their way.
“I have a hunch. One Medjay, Sed, who seems to have missed the memo about today’s meeting, is supposed to guard the Archive. Sed can be found in Abdullah’s old stomping grounds… if he’s still alive.”
Leila tapped her chin. “The mountains?”
Drake nodded.
Disappointment prickled in Leila’s chest. That made their task impossible. The mountain range was vast. It would take days to cross it, let alone search it for medieval scrolls. When Abdullah had guided her through it on camel back, he seemed to know the mountains like the back of his hand. He knew of a place to stay overnight in a ghost town and had quickly found a cave to take shelter in during a sandstorm. A cave that even had hieroglyphics carved onto a wall deep inside its veins.
Leila gasped. “The cave.”
“That’s it.” A half-smile flashed on Drake’s face.
“Wait, wait, wait.” Xander held up a palm for them to stop. “Who is this Sobek you mentioned? And how do you know Soliman is in Greece?”
Drake turned to him. “Sobek is a Medjay. He lives in Athens, near the Flisvos marina.”
“Why did Soliman call him a lung doctor?” Leila wondered.
Drake shrugged. “Sobek is a diver. Lately, Adel has been really adamant about increasing his lung capacity. That’s the only connection I can think of.”
Leila pursed her lips. There it was again. Adel.
“Right. But how do we get there without getting shot?” Xander asked.
“Onuris will let us know when the coast is clear. He knows where to find my jabs.” Drake grinned slyly. “He’ll get the car ready for us and let us know when to leave. It’ll take maybe nine hours to get there, so let’s get some shut-eye before we have to hit the road.”
Xander threw his hands up in the air. “All right. But if we don’t find those blasted scrolls, I’m out.” He lowered himself onto the blankets spread over the sand and leaned against the pole.
Leila held back another sigh as she sat down, though she could finally see a faint glimmer of hope. If Xander was willing to come this far, then maybe he’d go all the way. It felt too soon to say goodbye, and she wished she would never have to.
CHAPTER 16
The SUV sprayed rocks from beneath the tires as it roared through the sand dunes, heading north. Wind whipped through Leila’s hair, keeping her cool as the sun blazed down on them.
For Leila, driving was the preferable method of crossing the desert, rather than on the back of a camel. With the car, they had already traveled what had once taken her days on top of a dromedary.
The vehicle had been packed with food, water, and gas—enough to get them across the desert at least twice. Not to mention the guns stowed under the seats, just in case.
Conversation had been sparse since they had snuck away from camp before the sun came up. Drake had assured them their guard, Pakhet, was sleeping soundly, and Leila had no reason not to believe her. She’d felt the sting of Drake’s sleeping concoction before. It was effective.
Xander sat in stony silence in the backseat, his arms crossed, his gaze, while hiding behind sunglasses, locked on the dunes as they rolled by. She was glad he kept the glasses on—then he couldn’t show disdain every time he laid eyes on her. What did he see? A liar? A thief? If only she had told him about the Medjay sooner.
She glanced down, past the scabbing burn marks on her arm, to her hand and empty ring finger where the indent had nearly vanished. Her heart somersaulted. He had deceived her, too.
The dunes turned into mountains as they continued along the two tire tracks that served as a road. Their path wound through the shadows of the rock masses, into valleys and ravines.
The afternoon sun hung low in the sky when Drake brought the SUV to a halt. Leila forced her eyes open and groggily took in their new surroundings as Drake and Xander climbed out of their seats. Brown mountain peaks towered above them, the terrain barren and comfortless.
Leila opened the door and slipped out, then walked to the trunk where Drake and Xander were already shrugging backpacks over their shoulders.
“We’ll have to walk from here,” Drake said.
Leila nodded, glad she was still wearing decent walking shoes. They weren’t exactly meant for mountain hiking, but they would have to do.
After donning as much gear as they would need for an evening trek—and a little extra food and water in case they got stuck—Xander retrieved the guns from under the seats and Drake then locked the SUV.
“If the path is clear, it should be about an hour hike,” she said as they began a brisk walk across the rocky ground. Leila followed Drake, and Xander tailed several yards behind them. The path widened and narrowed as it curved around the mountain, sometimes with a drop-off to the right, at a height of a hundred, then two hundred, then three hundred feet.
After an hour of uphill climbing, they came to a stop in the shade of an outcrop and emptied a couple of water bottles each. Leila’s backpack felt considerably lighter, and a flutter of panic rose in her chest at the sight of the emptied bottles. Then she remembered there was still enough for the return journey. She wasn’t going to run out this time.
Taking in deep, calming breaths, she scanned the mountains that surrounded them. She didn’t recognize any of the terrain—not that she had expected to. The last time she’d been in the area, the air was thick with sand. After a sandstorm, everything had pretty much looked the same. Sand. Rocks. Sharp mountain peaks.
But Drake was confident as she navigated the unreliable path. Was there anything the woman couldn’t do? Leila had climbed the mountains once before and studied the maps, but she couldn’t help feeling nervous. Who knew what they would find when they got to the cave? What if someone was waiting for them like last time? She had barely escaped alive. Her chest felt tight just remembering those days of horror.
Drake urged them onward. A half-hour passed, then another. They were nearing two hours on the trail when Drake finally came to a stop.
“Down there,” she said with a single nod toward the valley below.
Leila followed her gaze to a cliff face and the weight on her shoulders lifted. She’d recognize that entrance anywhere. A jagged crack ran down the middle of the cliff, widening at the bottom until there was a hole large enough for a person to fit through.
“That’s it?” Xander asked, panting as he used his wrist to wipe sweat from his brow.
“Yep,” Leila confirmed, “that’s it.” She felt strangely cold in the desert heat. The sickening memory of being shot at from a killer hiding behind these very rocks was hard to shake.
“And no sign of Sed,” Drake mused. “He should have stopped us by now.”
