Theodosia and the Last Pharoah by R. L. Lafevers Read Free Book Online Page B

thin lead sheet that kept the tablet's magic from leaking out and being detected. I sighed in relief at the dull green stone. The Emerald Tablet, something for which occultists and alchemists had been searching for centuries. And, by a bizarre twist of fate, had ended up in our museum's basement. But it held far more than alchemical secrets. It was actually a coded map that led to a cache of artifacts that had once belonged to the Egyptian gods and still held unimaginable power. Power that would be terrible and deadly if it fell into the wrong hands—the hands of the Serpents of Chaos, say.
    I gave the tablet a little pat, then carefully rewrapped it. "Good work," I told Isis as I put the false bottom back, then replaced the cushion. "I, however, have botched things horribly." She came over and nudged my ankle. Only too happy to cuddle for a moment, I picked her up and buried my face in her soft black fur. When I felt strong enough to go on, I lifted my head and stared into her bright green eyes and confessed every horrid detail of my afternoon.
    When I got to the part about losing the orb, she stopped kneading at me with her claws and looked up. Was it just my imagination, or did her golden green gaze hold a hint of reproach? "It wasn't really my fault," I told her. "I was in danger, and everything was happening at once. It could have happened to anyone."
    She blinked, then went back to her kneading.
    "I don't suppose you can slip out into the city and hunt it down for me, can you?"
    There was no response.
    Nearly sick with regret, I went to the door, retrieved the pillow, and put it back on the bed, then went to look out the window.
    Gadji had given me the stable address, such as it was, but honestly! It would be like trying to find a needle in a haystack, I thought as I looked out over the rooftops of the city. How on earth was I to find the old quarter, and if I did, there had to be at least a hundred carpet sellers in Cairo. Which one was the stable behind? The sheer enormity of my blunder made my throat tighten with panic. Perhaps I ought to lie down just for a moment to collect myself.
    While I lay staring at the ceiling, petting Isis, there was a soft rap on my door. "Yes?" I called out.
    "Are you dressed for dinner, dear?" Mother asked. "It's almost time to go down."
    "No, Mother. I don't think I want dinner this evening."
    I heard the door open, then the rustle of skirts as Mother made her way over to the bed where I lay. She peered down at me, her lovely eyebrows drawn together in concern. "What's wrong, dear? Are you ill?"
    As I stared up into her worried brown eyes, I was overcome with a desire to tell her everything—the whole sordid mess. I was so tired of keeping secrets! They made my head ache.
    I'd spent the entire afternoon trying to think of a way to explain to her just whom she'd had tea with at the Antiquities Service, but it was, quite simply, impossible. While she knew of von Braggenschnott from his work as a slightly shady antiquities dealer, she had no idea who he really was. And if I tried to alert her, she would wonder how I had come to know him. And of course there was no explanation for that, not without explaining everything. Something I'd sworn not to do.
    "I have a bit of a headache," I said. "Perhaps from too much sun."
    Her frown deepened. "Well, that doesn't bode well for you working on the excavation."
    Bother! I wasn't about to risk the only pleasant thing about this entire trip. "Well, perhaps not the sun so much as the crowd this afternoon. It was a bit unsettling."
    Mother's face grew pale. "Indeed. You must be very careful not to let anything else like that happen again, do you understand? This is not like our own neighborhood, where you can be allowed some freedom. The streets of Cairo are very different from the streets of London."
    I thought it was beastly unfair of her to blame that on me.
    "You gave me quite a fright, Theo." Her voice softened. "I would never forgive myself if