Strange and Ever After (Something Strange and Deadly #3)(51)

And I needed to know why.

Then my eyes landed on the display of maces, and an idea ignited. I dived for the nearest one, its head of spiked bronze looking particularly effective.

For half a breath Allison gaped at me, her mouth hanging open—and in a flicker of a half-formed thought, I realized how much I would rather have had Jie beside me at that moment. She would know instantly what to do.

But then Allison caught onto my plan, and she snatched up another mace. “Now what?”

My only response was to slink back into the middle of the hall, for the mummy was close now. His groans—a sound like ancient wind—grated against my skin. The glowing items in his hands burned my eyes with their light. There was a heaviness in the air. An electrical shimmer. It set my teeth to grinding, and my hairs pricked up.

This wasn’t simply one of the Dead—the mummy reeked of power.

With a deep inhale, I sank low into my stance. But then Allison’s hand thrust up, pointing ahead to a lone figure limping through the entrance hall. “Milton,” she growled. “And he’s getting away.”

She was right. Why the professor was the last to leave—and why it looked like he could barely shamble out, I had no idea. But this was our chance to get what we’d come for.

“All right.” I tightened my grip on the mace. “I’ll distract the mummy, and you go after Milton.”

She nodded once, and a stiffening in her body told me she was ready—and absolutely unafraid.

“We’ll run straight at it,” I said, taking a single slow step. “And when I say ‘move,’ you’ll slip around it. Can you do that?”

She gave another sharp nod, and without another word we set off. Our heels clicked in unison, picking up speed until we ran almost as fast as the pounding light.

And the mummy hopped onward. Its moans grew louder and louder until they vibrated up my body, through my chest. The glowing items in his hands—whatever they might be—glowed more brightly. Blinding.

Then we were to Thutmose, and my arm was swinging back to aim for its one and only leg. . . .

“Move!” I swung out just as Allison skittered left. As if on instinct, she threw in a twirl and ducked low to glide around the mummy. Then she was behind it and barreling onward.

My mace connected with its knee.

Shock waves thundered up through me. Thutmose II did not move—I moved, thrown backward as if caught in an explosion. A shout burst from my lips. My back hit the tiles, my head cracked down, and as a thousand stars fell over my vision, I knew with deep certainty that I had made a mistake.

Oliver! Help! Sum veritas! My mind screamed the command, unbidden yet absolutely needed.

Instantly, a sensual, explosive heat rushed over me. Perfect and pure. Oliver was coming, and I felt a tug in my gut that said he was approaching fast.

So I tried to sit up, tried to draw in my elbows. But when I lifted my torso, I instantly froze.

For the mummy had reached me. His twisted form was bent halfway, his closed eyes shifting as if the eyeballs behind could see me. I had the definite impression that Thutmose II was inspecting me.

“Dormi!” Oliver’s voice trickled into my ears, a million miles away and strangely drawn out.

“Eleanor!” That was Jie, also far off and dulled. When I squinted to see beyond the mummy and the pulsing glow, I found them running toward me—but each of their steps seemed to take an eternity.

It was as if Thutmose and I were trapped outside time—outside the earthly realm entirely.

The mummy straightened and extended his hands. I shrank back. The sandstone walls were bathed in blue flashes from whatever it was Thutmose held. Without thinking, my fingers eased into my bodice and withdrew the ivory fist.

“Is this what you want?” I held it out. The ivory blazed as brightly as whatever Thutmose held—and at the exact same tempo. “Is this why you came to life? Take it.”

He did not take it. Instead the light blinked faster and flared so brightly, my eyes screwed shut.

And like a breath held too long, magic burst from my chest—unsummoned and scalding, it poured out of me. I had to gasp to breathe, and my eyes could not squeeze tight enough against the light.

Two long heartbeats passed until suddenly I found I could breathe again. My eyelids peeled back—the light was gone. My vision was clouded with shadows, yet I could see.

And what I saw made my bowels turn to water.

For the mummy knelt. Its head was bowed, and in its skeletal fingers were two curved tusks. No longer glowing with light yet undeniably offered to me.

I stared at the ivory, each the length of my forearm. One was topped with an open hand—a flat palm that looked exactly as my own ivory fist had when I’d first seen it in Paris. The other curved piece was topped with a jagged, knobby end . . .

As if it had lost its hand.

I wet my lips, and, with great care, I reached out . . . and plucked the broken ivory piece. When Thutmose II did not move, I peered beyond once more—but Oliver and Jie looked no closer than they had moments before.

Time had truly stopped.

So with a steeling breath, I slowly brought the broken tusk to the half-clenched ivory fist. My fingers trembled, and my eyes shuttered over and over . . . until at last the pieces touched.

A strange, slithery sensation oozed up from the ivory. It felt like I was holding a snake—scaly and frantic—that wanted freedom. But then the feeling stopped, and with it time lurched back to its normal pace.