by S. L. Gray
"I'm not hurting him. I'm not trying to hurt you. I'm telling you your father had an echo. She married him. She gave him children. The fairy tale was true for them. Why not for you, too?"
"Because I like facts, Garamendi." Kade closed the folder, but didn't toss it down. The thick edge of the paper bit into his fingers as he tightened his grip. His mother and father, echoes of one another? Why wouldn't they have told him?
"Melanie didn't know about the phantoms," he argued. "I had to feed her the words of the dispel. I'm not sure she believes what I told her even now. If she's one of us, she doesn't know it. Either that, or she's one hell of an actress."
"And no one can put one over on you, is that it?"
"Not like this," he insisted. There were things he wasn't sure of, and Garamendi's suggestion had his mind churning, but one thing he didn't question, not even for a moment. "Not this woman. I kissed her because she kissed me and I liked it. Free will, Garamendi, not predestined fate. Free will's a human right."
"We're not exactly human."
Kade put his shoulders back. Enough was enough. Now he dropped the folder, letting it slap against the massive desk. "Did you want a report or just to shock me with your theories? If that's it, okay, you got me. I'm shocked. Can I go?"
Garamendi drew the folder toward him with his fingertips. Seemingly unfazed, he slipped it back into the drawer. "You can go when I dismiss you. Until then, you sit."
Chapter Seven
Zahret hurried through the temple, the damning proof clutched in her hand. The plot to kill the boy pharaoh was very real.
She'd been patient while the sun set, much too slowly. She’d kept her peace while her teacher delayed her, as if he knew the task she was meant to carry out. He slept now, as she should have been sleeping, but there'd be no rest tonight.
It was not a secret that there were many who disapproved of the new Pharaoh. They called him weak. Misshapen. Not at all fit to lead. They challenged the pronouncement of the high priest who named him. The loudest questioned the will of the gods themselves.
It wasn't a god who would kill him. It was a man. A cruel, ambitious man who meant to put the crown on his brother instead. He planned to play the humble advisor, never taking responsibility or blame. His brother would be remembered, while he made plans and sealed secret bargains with their enemies. His were the connections that made ideas reality. It was clever. It was perfect.
Nearly.
Zahret's sandals whispered against the marble floor as she passed two more pillars and found Mahmoud's room. She paused a moment to catch her breath, letting nervousness bleed away. A knock on the door and her part of the investigation ended. She closed her eyes and whispered a quick prayer of gratitude.
Mahmoud stood there when she opened them again. The scent of cardamom and saffron wafted past him, inviting. Zahret began to smile. She liked him, despite the way he towered over her and rarely spoke. He was comfortable and comforting.
"How did you know I was here?"
"I've been waiting," he answered, dark eyes scanning the hall behind her. "You have it?" he prompted when his gaze dipped to her again.
Zahret nodded. She clutched the rolled-up scrap of cloth with both hands now. She held it tucked close to her heart, hidden by the hunch of her shoulders and the loose folds of her robe. The confession that sealed the assassin's fate had been written there.
Mahmoud smiled and nodded proudly, then offered her his hand. "Come inside," he invited. "We'll have a drink and something to eat. You look like you could use it," he confided as he tucked her against his side. "You are much too small."
Zahret laughed. This was an old game. "If you were not so big you would not notice." His hand rested on her shoulder as they stepped inside.
The moment they crossed the threshold, the door crashed shut behind them, blown by a wind that touched no skin and stirred not a hair. The candles he'd left burning flickered with it. Wax spit and spattered, and then the flames went out.
The quiet sound of clapping came from the darkness in one corner. "Very good," said the man who stepped out, still applauding. The man whose name was written on the cloth Zahret held. "I feared you wouldn't catch me, but you are a clever little network of spies. You are everywhere, like shadows, easy to ignore and forget."
"There you are. Do you have any idea how worried I was? You just disappeared."
Noura's voice jerked Melanie out of the daydream. Vision? Someone else's memory. She was lost for a moment, mind scrambling to piece together where she stood. Coffee in her hand, break room, vending machines... A glance at the clock proved she'd been here ten minutes at least. What the hell was that?
"Where did you go?" Noura stepped closer, touching her shoulder. "I lost sight of you on the way out the door, and then the crowd got so tangled up that you were gone by the time I got free."
Melanie put down the cup and hugged her friend tightly. It reassured her as much, she hoped, as it soothed her friend. Nothing bad would come of a hug. "I'm sorry. For leaving you there," she explained. "Are you all right?"
Noura squeezed briefly, then pulled back and smiled up at her. "Better now that I know you are." A frown flickered through her expression and she drew her hand back to punch Melanie's arm. "I tried calling you, but you didn't answer. I would have come over if I hadn't remembered your friend at the bar."
Heat seeped into Melanie's cheeks, bringing color with it, no doubt. She watched delight kindle in Noura's eyes.
"You did go home with him. I knew it!"
Her blush intensified. "Technically, he came home with me." He'd gone home with her and told her things she couldn't possibly repeat. Then he'd made her feel things she hadn't in years. Her mind threatened to wander again. It was all too much.
Noura's eyes widened. She made a high-pitched sound Melanie recognized as muffled excitement and pulled her to one side of the break room, as if they had a reason to confer quietly. They were the only two here.
"Everything," Noura insisted. "I want to know it all. Was he good? Was he wicked? Are you going to see him again?" She bumped her shoulder against Melanie's. "Does he have a friend?"
Of course that's where her mind went. This was Noura, after all. And, she amended guiltily, if the evening had been different, she might have been following the right trail. There was still a tiny part of Melanie uncertain whether she could turn back time and throw Kade into bed or not. Lure him. Invite him. She couldn't throw Kade anywhere. Unless of course, she could make the shadows thin again...
Not here, not now. Focus. Melanie shook her head. "I have questions too, you know?" Noura's smile faltered a little but Melanie pressed on. "What happened last night, Noura? Did you see any of the fight?"
Her friend made a face and clucked her tongue. "No. That's what comes of being short like me. I heard someone say something about a brawl, but I couldn't see over shoulders. And then we were moving for the door. I missed it all."
"But you heard the gunshot, didn't you?"
Noura's mouth dropped open. "Someone got shot?"
Yes, Melanie wanted to answer. And no. The bullet went right through me. She pressed a hand over her stomach, remembering the odd sensation again. Impossible. She wanted to discount it, but with everything Kade had told her, all that had happened last night, how could she? "No," she lied. "But that man fired a gun."
"What man? Did you see him?" Noura pursed her lips. "Can I borrow some of your height?"
"There were two men," Melanie reported. "Dressed in dark suits." She summoned up a quick, desperate smile. "You must have seen them, Noura. One minute no one and the next they were there? They were after us. Me," she amended. "Kade said they were after me."
"What? Why? Not that I don't want to occasionally shake you, but shoot you? Never. It must have been a very quiet gun."
It roared like a cannon in Melanie's memory. "You really didn't hear it?"
Noura shook her head. "Nope. Do you see what I mean? Didn't see the fighters, didn't hear the sh
ot. All the exciting bits just whoosh!" She swept a hand over her head, indicating her lack of height again. "And you're avoiding my questions. Take pity on me. If I missed out on it firsthand, give me dirty details to console myself."
Melanie laughed, startled and relieved all at once. Not everything about her life had changed overnight. "No offense, but I think I'm glad you missed out on being there for the details."
"But you'll tell me anyway," Noura tried again. She caught Melanie's arm, wrapping both of hers around it in a new embrace. Chin against her shoulder, Noura widened her eyes. "You wouldn't want me to feel left out."
Melanie was absolutely not going to blush again. She had nothing to blush about. One kiss didn't exactly count as hot-and-heavy action. It was an impulse. It was the adrenaline. They'd both walked away.
And then she woke up and found him still sleeping. She'd tiptoed through her morning routine. He deserved his rest, she reasoned. She didn't want to start the day by fighting over whether she could walk herself to the bus, and he'd already made it clear he would know where she was. He could find her if he wanted her. She wasn't skipping town. She just had to go to work.
But Noura wasn't likely to let it go until Melanie gave her something. A tidbit, a morsel to feed her curiosity. So how much was Melanie willing to admit to her best friend? She let herself smile just a little, enough to perhaps look slightly naughty. "He has great hands."
Noura's sound of protest was worth the tease and she let go of Melanie's arm. "That's it? That's all I get? You can't leave it there."
Melanie laughed as she led the way back to their work room. "I can and I have. I'll introduce you sometime, but for now..." She held the door open. "We have things to do."
Though reaching for a pair of gloves was routine and mostly habit, it didn't feel the same today. Melanie shivered as she fitted latex to her fingers and took her work tray from the shelf. Maybe she was overtired from the long night before, but the sound of ancient pieces of pottery shifting as she moved sent shivers up her spine.
She settled on her stool and plucked out the first piece. It was a tiny amphora, probably used for a perfume of some sort. As damage went, it hadn't suffered much. A few pieces chipped out of what should have been a smooth lip and one long crack in the curved body. She turned it in her fingers, looking for other flaws. Not a tablet, not a piece of one, but everything seemed different now. Full of the potential to reveal secrets.
"Do you ever wonder what we'll leave behind?" she asked suddenly. "What insignificant something we'll throw away that someone, a thousand years from now, will use to build theories and explanations about who we were?"
Noura settled across the table with a tray of her own. She was still pouting, but she answered all the same. "In a thousand years, there won't be much of us left. Everything's disposable."
"Not everything. Paper, certainly, but what about other things? All the hard drives that record the things we look up and read. Shopping lists and love letters and the pictures of things we probably shouldn't have saved. Those won't just go away, you know?"
Noura paused, tapping the end of a brush against her mouth. "Mmm. That file of porn-site passwords. Not to mention the used condoms."
"I wasn't going there."
"You didn't have to." She smiled cheerfully. "You can come with me. You're welcome." One shoulder rose and fell. "I try not to think about that stuff. Why wonder about what-ifs? The here and now's more interesting. A lot more interesting, in your shoes. Not even one more hint?"
"Noura."
"Okay, okay. But you can't blame me for trying. I didn't get to take a handsome stranger home with me."
Melanie bit back a groan. "Next time, you can have him." Hopefully with less action and adventure, she added silently. "The question stands, though. If travelers find something of yours three millennia from now, what do you hope it would be?"
Noura paused and studied her across the table until their gazes met. "What's this about, Mel? You don't usually start thinking deep thoughts until after lunch. Did something happen that you haven't told me?"
Melanie hesitated, debating with herself over whether to confess Kade's revelations. He seemed to think finding this tablet mattered a great deal. There was something to be said for keeping confidences, but on the other hand, two sets of eyes were better than one. She set her brush down and cleared her throat.
"Kade's a little bit into Egyptology. He...heard a rumor that there's a missing tablet. Something someone might have picked up, recently." Lying didn't come easy. Neither did making up stories on the fly. "When I told him what I did, he wondered if I'd seen it."
"A tablet?" Noura frowned. "A tablet about what?"
"That's just it. He doesn't know. It could be anything." She paused again. "I'm keeping an eye out for it, just in case. So if you see something..."
Noura reached into the tray she'd pulled and held up a ragged corner of ancient clay. "Something like this?"
If she'd left a chair faster, Melanie couldn't remember when. She vaguely registered the sound of legs scraping against the floor, but it didn't slow her down. She plucked the piece out of Noura's grasp with a murmur of apology and laid it against her palm.
The carving had been well preserved, what little there was of it. The jagged edge where the break occurred still felt sharp, even through her latex gloves. It couldn't have been more than an inch thick, the outside edges smoothed, a border clearly set off by a shallow chiseled line.
This wasn't a laundry list or record of crops. This had been designed for display from the day it was first molded. If there were more pieces and they'd all survived the passage of time so neatly, putting the tablet together would be no harder than a jigsaw puzzle.
"Is that it then?" Noura wondered, climbing to her feet at Melanie's side. "This whole tray is full of pieces. If that's what you're looking for—"
"Can I have it?" Melanie met her gaze. "I'll trade you. I'll peel old glue from ancient envelopes for weeks if you'll just swap with me."
She could read the amusement in her friend's dark eyes as Noura folded her arms and cocked out one hip. "Old glue and you owe me dinner. A nice dinner," she amended. "Nothing in a take-out bag."
"Deal." She leaned over and kissed Noura's cheek. "You're a hero."
Noura laughed. "Tell me that when this turns out to be someone's terrible epic poem, preserved for all eternity."
"If it does, I'll tell you first. And I won't complain when you laugh at me." She lifted the tray carefully and carried it back to her chair. There were at least two dozen pieces rattling around inside. She'd have to clean and inspect them all. Number and catalogue them, then work out an order. The writing had to make sense, and that could be challenging, even without the pressure of Kade's expectations.
She picked up the tray she'd been working on to hand to Noura. She'd nearly made it to her partner's side of the table when the door opened. She didn't expect to see Kade in the doorway behind Dr. Andruss, her supervisor. Only Noura's quick reach saved her from embarrassment and catastrophe.
"Ah, here they are, just where they should be. Ms. Kendrick, do you have a moment? Good morning, Ms. Michaelides. You'll forgive us for stealing your partner, I hope. Agent Kade has requested her company."
The world spun and swam around Melanie, warping sound. The vision threatened again, edges of her sight darkening. She clenched her teeth, willing herself to keep breathing and stay upright. Deep breath in, hold it, exhale slowly...
Noura's lips hardly moved as she asked, "Is that him?"
"Uh huh." She might not be able to manage high-class conversation but it got the point across. Melanie tried to coax her heart out of its breakneck speed.
"I don't mind," Noura reported, far too cheerfully. She nudged Melanie and flashed a smile that hid a silent message. "I can handle things in here for a while. Go on. Don't keep Agent Kade waiting."
Melanie fumbled off her gloves and pocketed them as she stepped toward the door. She left her hands in her poc
kets and struggled to keep her smile polite as she met Kade's gaze. "Dr. Andruss. Agent Kade. What's this about?"
Something smoldered in Kade's eyes but it certainly wasn't pleasure. He didn't look happy to see her at all. Her pulse leapt again, this time spurred on by a tinge of fear. He couldn't be that upset that she'd simply walked out this morning. She had a job to do and she didn't answer to him, but another thought occurred a second later. Her attention darted toward the corner of the room. No deep shadows there, so not another attack.
"Private would be better," Kade told her supervisor, though his gaze didn't wander from hers. "Is there a room?"
"Of course, of course." Dr. Andruss led the way, remarking on how rare it was to have an officer of any sort drop by without warning. Unusual but flattering all the same. He rambled about projects and their progress restoring works of great importance.
Kade paced along beside him, making noncommittal sounds and nodding when he should. Melanie tried not to watch him or pay too much attention, but it was hard to resist. He held his shoulders high and tight. A muscle at the edge of his jaw ticked as though he clenched his teeth to bite back words that shouldn't be said. She might have been imagining things, but after the tale he'd told the night before, it was hard to tell.
"Now then." Dr. Andruss slid his card through a reader that unlocked a conference room. "I hope this will do." He pushed the door open and smiled up at Kade. "Make yourself comfortable for as long as you like. If I can get you anything—"
"We'll be fine," Kade interrupted, brushing past him and into the room.
Melanie did her best to make up for his brusque nature, saying, "If we need anything, I'll dial your extension. Thank you, Dr. Andruss." They traded smiles and the supervisor excused himself, glancing back once before the hall curved and he moved out of sight.
"Close the door."
It wasn't a request. When she arched an eyebrow, Kade cocked one in return. Melanie nudged the door shut, wincing at the way the click of the latch echoed through the room. She took a moment to compose herself before turning to face him again. She had to be ready for whatever he might say.