Fireworks: Riley by Liliana Hart Read Free Book Online Page A

room was shaped like a shoebox and the walls were covered with hieroglyphs. A rectangular platform sat in the center of the room, also covered with hieroglyphs on all sides. But on top of the platform was a series of raised blocks, similar to a tic-tac-toe board, and each of the squares had one hieroglyph inside.
    “The Book of Souls has always been more legend than truth in archaeological circles,” he began. “It was said that after Ramses the Great’s first born was killed during The Passover that his sorcerers combined their powers and the Book of Souls was born. It was a dark magic and they warned him that though the book might bring good and comfort to whoever used it, that it was possible to fall into the spell of the book’s power and lose your humanity. But Ramses and Nefertari didn’t care. They wanted to be able to see and communicate with their son again. And the Book of Souls was the only way to do that. When the book is held in human hands it opens the gates to the passageway between the earthly world and the spirit world. When the words inscribed inside the book are spoken and the name of the deceased is called then the two worlds become one for a short moment in time. But once the two bodies meet it’s often difficult for them to let go and return to where they belong.”
    “I can imagine,” Maggie said. “A difficult thing for any parent to willingly walk away from. If it ended up in the wrong hands it could do unspeakable damage. If it exists at all.”
    “We’re going to find out very soon,” Riley said, opening the journal to the pages Walker had scrawled on. “I think Walker cracked the code to open the door.”
    “How can you tell?”
    “Walker was a mathematical genius, among other things. I recognized the coding system he used immediately. It’s similar to the one used during World War II. Each number equals a letter of the alphabet. But in this case, each number represents a specific hieroglyph.”
    “Very handy, that Walker,” Maggie said, looking over his shoulder at the writing.
    “Be careful around the top of the platform,” Riley said, holding onto her arm when she moved around him to inspect the raised sections. “Those are like giant buttons. But if you press them in the wrong order there’s no telling what might happen. But chances are we’d both be dead before we knew what hit us.”
    Maggie shined her flashlight on the corner of the platform and said, “It looks like someone didn’t follow instructions.” The blood was dark and already browning, but it was enough to be able to tell exactly what it was. And that it was reasonably fresh.
    Riley looked backed toward the passageway they’d come from and felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand on end. And then he walked the entire way around the platform, checking for any other signs of human injury.
    “Whoever that blood belongs to didn’t try to open the sealed door. If they’d made an attempt at pressing the right combination of the buttons, and they’d chosen poorly, then there’d be a lot more blood. The Egyptians weren’t known for their humane killing or subtleties either one. And they weren’t much on second chances either. More than likely a wrong attempt would collapse the room we’re in or block the passageway completely.”
    “You’re really boring me with this two week vacation thing. I was hoping we could navigate our way through a field of land mines or maybe jump out of a plane without a parachute.”
    Riley grinned at her and saw the same excitement shining in her eyes as he knew must be in his. Maybe they were crazy. But at least they were crazy together.
    “You want to go back to the tent?” he asked.
    “Only if we can get naked once we’re there. By my calculations it’s been hours since you’ve been inside me.”
    “Damn woman, I’m not a machine.”
    “Could’ve fooled me,” she said, arching a brow at his obvious erection. Adrenaline was a weird thing.
    “I’ll make you