Under Wraps: An Urban Fantasy Adventure (Werewolves vs. Mummies Book 1) (11 page)

All around the courtyard, the animal-headed figures stood guard, brandishing all sorts of wicked-looking weaponry. The entire inside of the left wall was covered with a mural that depicted Ra on his sun-boat traveling down a river with a host of other gods at his side. It was done in a sort of pictograph so as it swept across the wall, the scenes changed to show them fighting off a massive black serpent with eyes like the void itself.

As I stared into the snake’s eyes, a chill wriggled down my back, making me squirm. That was the creature my friend Lillim controlled. That was Apep, the deification of darkness and chaos. I swallowed. Seeing that picture on the wall made me very scared. How could someone think to control
that?

“Seems like you’re feeling better,” Aziza said, still not looking at me. “We better get down there before any sentries come.”

“Sentries?”

“Yeah, giant stone falcons that make sure people don’t scale the walls. If one sees us, it will sound the alarm, and all those statues will come to life and try to kill us. I’d like to avoid that.”

I swallowed. “I would like to avoid that too,” I replied. “So how do we get down?”

“The same way we got up here,” she said, smiling at me, and I swear to god she seemed amused by my plight.

“Is there another way?” I asked, barely resisting the urge to roll into a ball and cry. Already my palms were starting to sweat and nausea was swirling in my gut.

“I could throw you,” she offered with an evil glint in her eyes. “No?”

I shut my eyes and focused on not hyperventilating as I fell from the top of the wall and splattered against the ground over and over in my mind’s eye.

“I guess we could take the stairs,” Aziza said with a sigh. “But that’s
way
less fun.”

I opened one eye and stared at her. Had she really just made fun of my fear of heights while we were standing a million stories above the ground? Seriously? Anger built inside me as she pointed to an alcove on my right. I turned and looked to see an entrance that was blocked by a simple wooden door with slats the color of old mud. It wasn’t even closed all the way. Through the partial opening, I could see stairs heading downward.

“I will kill you,” I muttered as she walked past me and threw the door open without a care in the world. Wasn’t she worried about drawing attention to herself?

“What if someone sees us?” I asked, crawling toward her because I didn’t want to risk standing, losing my balance, and falling to my certain doom.

“I’m pretty sure it’s more likely that someone will see us standing out here in the open.” She grinned at me as she pushed the door open to reveal a torch-lined stairwell that led down into the inky darkness below. “Unless you’d like to stay out here. By yourself. With the falcons. On top of a giant wall.” She shrugged at me and made her way inside.

“Wait!” I called, scrambling toward her in a sort of half-crawl, half-shamble. She glanced at me over her shoulder, white teeth flashing in the dancing light of the torches. She quirked an amused eyebrow at me and put one hand on her hips.

A hand that was more a mottled grey-green claw with glinting black nails grabbed her face, wrapping its fingers around her mouth and jerking her backward. Her feet flew out from under her as her eyes went wide with fright.

I leapt forward, hitting the doorway a second later, my heart pounding in my chest as her feet disappeared from view down the dimly lit stairs. I took a step forward, and the door slammed shut behind me. A breath of cool, damp air rolled over the back of my neck. I whirled around as the torches went out, not one by one or anything, but all at once and completely, so that I was left in pitch black darkness.

I swallowed, trying not to lose my cool as the scratch-scratch of claws on stone filled my ears. It was too dark to see much, but I scanned the area anyway, my wolf peering out my eyes and lending me his power. Even shifted into wolf form, it was so dark I couldn’t see very well.

I sniffed, tasting the air for clues. It reminded me of sweat, old socks, and rotten eggs. I crinkled my nostrils in disgust and took a step forward, my feet padding silently along the stone. It was brittle beneath my talons, and I moved slowly so that I wouldn’t alert anyone.

I went down into the deep dark, ears straining to hear, but getting nothing. I moved further, claws trailing lightly along the walls on either side to feel for a trap door or other surprise.

A scream exploded through the darkness. It tasted of fear and pain. I leapt, loping forward down the stairs, relying on my reflexes to keep me from falling. I slammed into a landing a moment later, my shoulder smashing into the unforgiving rock. A loud crack echoed through the cavern.

I turned, raised my head to the air and inhaled. Aziza’s scent filled my being, wafting over me along with the tinny smell of blood. Only it was different. This was someone else’s blood.

I peered over the edge of the balcony and saw nothing but oppressive darkness. Fear roiled in my gut as I stared out. It was the only way to reach her in time. I gritted my teeth together and leapt over the edge.

The ground slammed into me a moment later, hard enough to break things inside of me as I collapsed. I pushed down the pain and stood, spinning in a slow circle. There, to the left!

I pounced, claws extended, and slammed into a furry shape. Its hair was like coarse thread, thick, shaggy, and long. It made it impossible for my claws to find purchase. It reached back, grabbing me by the left arm and flinging me away. I whipped around in the air, my feet smacking into the stone, and I pushed off.

My shoulder slammed into the creature’s chest, and it collapsed under my weight. I reared back, my claws raised to rip into its flesh and spill its hot slick blood when something hard smashed into the back of my head.

I wobbled, the world spinning as I tried to turn toward it. It hit me again, and I fell sideways, crashing to the ground. My vision swam so I shut my eyes and listened. The wind whistled next to me, and I moved, lunging toward the sound. Something sharp tore through my leg as I landed.

I howled, pain leaping through me and fading just as quickly as my claws slashed, finding purchase in something. Boiling fluid spilled out over me, melting my skin, but I seized hold of the thing and jerked it toward my mouth. I bit down, clamping onto its too warm flesh and shaking until the thing went limp beneath my jaws.

Chapter 15

“I can’t believe you killed the sphinx,” Aziza said for perhaps the hundredth time as though it hadn’t been about to tear her in half… which apparently it hadn’t.

“I didn’t know he was your friend,” I said, sighing. I rubbed my eyes with my hand and stared at the torn corpse of the sphinx lying on the floor. I had ripped out its throat and blood was fast spreading around its body in an ever expanding pool of golden ichor.

“You don’t have to tear apart every single thing that jumps out at you in the dark,” Aziza said, nudging the fallen creature with her toe. Her face was twisted into a sad frown that seemed sort of brittle around the edges, like at any moment it might shatter and release a torrent of emotion. “Not everything is a bad guy.”

“I thought it was trying to kidnap you,” I replied, getting annoyed. “Let’s recap here. It grabbed you in a dark scary tunnel in a magic city filled with who knows what and then all the lights went out. How wouldn’t I get the wrong idea?”

“You could have tried, I don’t know, calling my name,” she said, her back still turned toward me.

“Look, I’m sorry.” I swallowed and reached out toward her but stopped before I touched her. “I was just worried, okay? I was worried that
thing
was going to hurt you.”

“I know,” she replied. “That’s the problem, Thes.”

“How is that a problem? I mean, okay, apparently the creepy monster trying to hurt you was actually trying to help us, but it’s not like he was friendly about it. He grabbed you. There was screaming.” I threw my hands up in exasperation.

“Yeah from the guards he incapacitated,” she said, spinning to face me. Her face was almost perfectly blank, which for her was unusual. It made a lump form in my throat. “You just killed the only person in all of Saqqara that was willing to help us. And I’m supposed to feel better because you were worried about me?” She poked me hard in the chest with her index finger. “News flash, Thes. I don’t need you to protect me.”

“I didn’t think you did.” I dropped my eyes to my feet and shook my head. “That’s not what I thought at all… I just…”

“Thes, you killed one of our allies. Don’t you understand that?” she asked, fixing me with a glare that rendered me into a puddle of jelly.

“Yes.” I realized that, but I’d been trying to ignore that particular elephant in the room. I knew that nothing could be done to help it, but that didn’t make it okay… not by a long shot. Still… still, some part of me had liked it. Had enjoyed the battle, the killing the tearing… I swallowed down that part of myself, forcing myself to ignore the entire thing because that part of me made me sick to my stomach. It worked… a little.

“Whatever,” she said, reaching past me and pressing on one of the bricks beside my head. The door on our right shuddered, and the sound of breaking rock and turning gears filled my ears, reverberating in the tiny room so that it numbed my brain. The door screeched open, sliding sideways into the wall like we were in some sort of sci-fi movie.

Bright yellow light spilled into the room and chased away all the shadows. I put one hand over my eyes to shield them from the glare. I was about to say something when Aziza put a finger to her lips to silence me like we hadn’t just been in a shouting match and then opened the loudest door in the world. She took a couple quick steps forward and leaned toward the opening, peering out into the blinding light outside.

She waved at me, gesturing for me to come forward, and as I did, she held out her hand, signaling me to stop. She turned back toward me, eyes squinted nearly shut and put a finger to her lips. She made two of her fingers walk across her palm before making a fist and smacking it into her open hand. She nodded at me, and I nodded back.

I was pretty sure someone was coming, and we were to crush him with our fists or something. I squatted down so I could pounce upon the intruder the moment he showed himself. My muscles tensed, and my blood began to pound in my ears. The wolf cocked its ears, jaw clenched as we stared out. Every sound came alive, and the smell of dust and lizards filled my nostrils.

Aziza smirked at me and turned back, one hand held up above her head. Very slowly, she began counting down with her fingers. Five… four… three…

I crept forward so tense, I was like a bowstring. Two… one… I leapt as a shadow crossed in front of the threshold. My arms were outstretched, fingers curled into claws as I landed right on top of a giant scorpion. My bare feet slammed into its hard, obsidian carapace with a crack that dropped it flat on its belly, legs splaying out to its sides with a snap.

A piercing cry filled my ears as I rolled, barely avoiding the spine on the end of its tail as it struck at me. I hit the dirt, sending up a cloud of golden dust as the creature righted itself, dragging several broken limbs along the sand as it whirled to face me, huge pincers snapping through the air. Each clack-clack of its claws was like thunder in my ears.

I rolled backward to create distance as it struck again, burying its huge sword-like tail in the dirt. Steam hissed from the sand, and the smell of melting plastic filled my nose as it withdrew its tail. The movement was so quick that I could scarcely follow it. Black ichor dripped from the tip, splattering across the sand and sizzling.

Aziza pounced, her khopesh gleaming through the air as she landed just behind the creature and swung. Her blade smacked into the side of the creature’s tail with a sound like shattering glass. The plated chiton shattered in a spray of coppery goo. The still embedded weapon in her hand began to spark and bubble as the creature spun, tearing it from her hands.

It threw her off-balance, and she hit the sand in a heap. The scorpion dragged itself toward her as she scrambled to her feet. I leapt forward, grabbed hold of the sizzling khopesh buried in the creature’s tail and braced my feet against its carapace. I pulled, muscles cording with effort, and the blade came free with a pop. The creature juked, trying to throw me off, but since I’d already planned to lose my balance, I managed to drive the khopesh downward into its back as I fell. The metal shrieked and shattered under the force, breaking off into a jagged shard that pierced its shell.

Ichor sprayed from the wound, coating the hilt of the weapon in copper-colored slime, making my hands slip off. I fell, landing hard on my back. The air shot out of me as the creature reached back, trying to pull the broken sword from its back with one pincer. Aziza was on her feet, one hand extended toward the creature. Her eyes had gone solid purple, resembling a couple of amethyst orbs. Air began to whip around her. A cracking sound filled my ears.

The legs of a giant statue of a lion-headed goddess to our left splintered. The sound of it was like lightning crashing through the air. Aziza flung her hand upward, and a lasso of purple fire exploded from her hand. It wrapped around the stature until it was burning so brightly there was no way you couldn’t see it from space. I covered my eyes with my arm as she jerked her hand backward in a sweeping gesture that pulled the statue off its broken legs.

The huge stone lion-woman toppled over, slamming down on the wounded scorpion with a sound that reminded me of the time I’d accidently stepped on Connor’s hissing cockroach when it had escaped from its cage. Only this was a million times louder.

Goo splattered out across the sound, covering me, and my tunic, in slime that smelled like rancid pork. I wiped my face, turning to look at Aziza. She beamed at me, her legs and torso covered in the same foul-smelling gunk.

“Well that was easy,” she called as the ground beneath our feet began to shake.

A falcon cried out, high above our heads, and I glanced toward it as the statue of the lion-goddess began to move. It reached out, its stone hands hitting the ground and pushing it off the splattered scorpion. It craned its head toward Aziza and frowned.