Spenser was nearly to Marvel’s tent the second time she screamed. When he raked back the flap into the tent, his gun drawn, he saw the King Cobra—its fanned hood wider than a man’s hand, a full twelve inches of its body off the ground–coiled on a silk dressing gown puddled at the foot of Marvel’s bed.
He dispatched the snake in one messy shot that sent the reptile’s innards spiraling around the tent like soggy confetti. When he looked up, he saw Marvel standing on the bed, her arms wrapped around the center tent pole, and wearing not a stich of clothing. Before he could avert his eyes—as if that were possible—he felt Pierce trying to push past him through the door. He turned and barred his entrance.
“It’s dealt with, Pierce,” he said hoarsely.
“What the…who…?”
“It was a snake. I killed it. Go on back to your wife.”
To Pierce’s credit, he turned and left without any more questions. By the time Spenser turned back to the inside of Marvel’s tent, she had pulled the bed sheet up over her nakedness. She still stood on the bed however as if immobilized in every other way.
Even from this distance, he could see she was shaking.
“I…I touched it with my foot,” she said, her shoulders trembling so hard she looked like she was about to start convulsing.
He was at the bed in two strides, and held open his arms to her. With what was without a doubt the sexiest whimper he had ever heard, she fell into them, dropping the sheet between them as she did.
* * * *
The next morning, Rowan watched Marvel light Spenser’s cigarette and then try to hide his lighter in her skirt so he would attempt to retrieve it. He was glad to see her setting her cap elsewhere and Spenser was a good man. He could probably handle her although the jury hadn’t come all the way back on that one. He grinned to himself. With any luck, he wouldn’t need to have the talk with Marvel after all. It had been his own bad judgment that had brought their relationship to the point of that damned kiss on the boat mere hours before he got the information that led him to Ella. He had to admit, as happy as he’d been these few days bringing Ella back to camp, the thought of letting Marvel down after he’d stupidly led her on hadn’t been high on his list of things he was looking forward to.
“You look pensive,” Ella said from the day bed in the tent. It had been an uncomfortable night for her. The baby seemed to be growing bigger by the hour and no position was endurable to her for long. They were both eager to return to Cairo.
“Just thinking,” he said, turning away from the sight of Marvel and Spenser rough housing around the dining table. Spenser had just pulled her onto his lap and appeared to be tickling her, if her high-pitched squeals were any indication. The man was clearly besotted with her. Rowan snorted. Good thing, too. If he didn’t treat her right, Rowan would have to beat the shit out of him.
“About what?”
He sat down on the foot of the bed and stroked her knee. “Nothing important,” he said. “One more night, and then we’re on the boat to Cairo.”
“What if I go into labor on the boat?”
“You’re not going to go into labor on the boat. But if you do, I’ll be there.”
He looked into her beautiful brown eyes and couldn’t believe how much he loved her, how much he was willing to do to make her happy.
“You’re looking at me funny,” she said.
“I’m looking at you adoringly, you twit,” he said, grinning. “Can’t you tell?”
“Hmmph.”
“How you feeling this morning?”
“You think that snake in Miss Newton’s tent was on purpose?” She was squinting at him like she was trying to figure something out.
“You mean do I think someone deliberately put it in there? Why would anyone do that?”
“I don’t trust that bastard Digby. He tried to kill Julia and he tried to rape me.”
“You never mentioned that.” He stood up and flexed his fists. He felt an immediate rage pump through him. He turned to look in the direction of Digby’s tent.
“Please don’t go start something with him, Rowan. There are a lot of things I haven’t had the time to tell you. My point is that Digby is quite capable of throwing a poisonous snake in a tent.”
“He doesn’t even know her.”
“Rowan, honestly! We switched tents with her. Hello? That used to be our tent.”
He looked at her and his mouth fell open. Marvel had talked them into switching tents last night because hers was bigger.
“Son of a bitch,” he said.
“Pretty difficult to prove,” Ella said, shifting uncomfortably on the bed and trying to draw her knees up.
“Your back hurt?”
He sat down next to her and ran his hands down to the base of her hips and massaged her. She groaned and pushed her body back into his hands. He nuzzled her neck. “Just a little bit longer now, babe,” he whispered.
“I know,” she said. “Rowan?”
He kissed her on the neck. “Mmm?”
“Have I told you yet about Halima?”
He felt her stiffen and he stopped what he was doing and moved around to face her.
“Is Halima a man?” he asked warily.
She shook her head and he could see tears were in her eyes. “Halima was…” She put her hand on his shoulder and squeezed her eyes shut to prevent the tears from falling.
Rowan tried to imagine what horrors Ella had endured in the seven plus months that they had been separated. He knew he would hear them all some day. This one was clearly important to her.
She fought to control her emotions. “She was my dearest friend,” she said.
Rowan nodded. “Did something happen to Halima?” he asked gently.
She began to weep then and he gathered her into his arms and let her cry for as long as she needed to. God knows she probably had a thousand reasons for a full-fledged breakdown. He held her tightly and murmured comfort to her the best that he could. When she finally managed to talk again, he wiped her face with a damp cloth and settled her back onto the bed.
“I don’t know what happened to her,” she said. “I sent her away when I knew I was going to try to escape.” She took a long steadying breath. “But Horus told me that he’d found her and killed her.”
“I wouldn’t believe anything that bastard said.”
“I know.”
“Do you want me to find out, sweetheart?”
She grabbed his hand. “Rowan, no,” she said. “I don’t think I could bear to know that she died that night. Please, no. I tell myself he was lying and that she lives. You know?”
He leaned over and kissed her cheek. “I’m sure she lives,” he said.
* * * *
“For the love of God, man, how could you have been so stupid?”
“I apologize, effendi. No one told me they switched their tents.”
“I knew you Arabs were lazy, but I didn’t realize you were sub-intelligent.”
“I will not fail again, effendi. I know where I can get another snake.”
“No more snakes, you idiot.” Digby pushed a knife, its blade nearly six inches long, into the hands of his cowering servant. “Tonight. You will go to the right tent this time. Can you do that?”
“Yes, effendi.”
“Call Pierce out and tell him that Miss Newton is being attacked at one of the caves by the dig site. The way the woman dresses it won’t come as a surprise to anyone. Can you remember that?”
“Effendem Newton is being attacked at the dig site.”
“Very good.”
“And then I kill him?”
“While I must say I appreciate your enthusiasm, Ra, I need you to do as you are told.”
“Yes, effendi.”
“I will deal with Pierce. You will enter the tent and kill Mrs. Pierce. Can you do that, you retarded heathen?”
Ra nodded. “Yes, effendi.”
“And you won’t have any problems with that? Because I must say Abdullah was a grave disappointment to me on that score. He flatly refused to hurt women—colored or white. Most extraordinary. I had to fire the blighter.”
“I am not weak like Abdullah,” Ra said.
“No, I can see that. Except maybe in the head. Never mind. It’s all very simple. Get Pierce out of the tent. Then slit her throat.”
“Yes, effendi.”
“And you’re sure Pierce trusts you?”
“With his life, effendi.”
“You’ll have to run off straight afterward.”
“Yes, effendi.” Ra’s eyes glittered as Digby dug into his pocket and pulled out a gold sovereign.
“One now and one six months from now when we meet in Cairo.”
“I will not fail you again, effendi.”
“See that you don’t. I must say I’m getting bloody tired of the continual resurrection of the late Lady Digby. Never mind. Off you go but stay close. I’ll signal you when it’s time.”
Somewhere in the Sahara
When Julia had spent two nights alone in a row, she knew she could wait no longer. It might not buy her a lifetime or even a year, but she couldn’t lose him yet.
She would have to tell him.
On the third night, she went to his tent and she could see he wanted her. She waited until after they had made love but before he was so sleepy he wouldn’t want to talk. After nearly six months of living with him she still only knew a few words of his language and they were mostly labels for body parts. Rudimentary sign language worked well enough for most other things.
“Ammon?” She sat up next to him and let the fur rug which normally covered them both fall to her lap. She knew he didn’t want her again but she preferred to visually remind him of her value to him. Having him stare at her naked breasts as she “talked” could only help her case.
He grunted when she sat up. He remained lying down but she could see he was watching her.
“If you take me to the Valley of the Kings,” she said slowly, “at the big camp where many men dig, I can show you where Effendi Carter hides his gold.”
She used her hands to try to explain her words and hoped he was understanding her.
“Gold,” she repeated. “Very valuable. Treasure. Much much baksheesh.”
“Gold,” he said.
“Yes,” Julia said, reaching out to stroke his chest. “I can show you where. I can show you how.”
She could see she had his interest. He reached up to stop her from touching him but his eyes were on her mouth now. He was listening.
“Every week, Effendi Carter pays his men much gold. He keeps it in a small box and I know where. Tomorrow, Ammon. Tomorrow the gold will come to the camp and we can take it.”
Without warning, he reached for her and pulled her onto him. A thrill went through her. It had been months since he had wanted her twice in one night. And never on top. She opened her hips and slid him inside her and began to move slowly up and down on his stiff shaft. Within seconds, she arched her back and flung her head back as the familiar exquisite pleasure began to radiate up from her core to her fingertips. She felt his hard and callused hands cover her breasts as she rode him higher and higher until the release burst through her in a ragged scream of ecstasy.
He had heard her. And he had answered.
KV62, Howard Carter’s Camp
“After everything that’s happened, will someone please tell me why they’re letting that douchebag sit down with the rest of us like there’s nothing wrong?” Ella whispered to Rowan as they watched Viscount Digby take his place at the other end of the dining table.
Marvel and Spenser sat opposite Ella and Rowan with Digby and Howard Carter anchoring both ends. In some ways, Ella couldn’t believe she was back here after all these months—after everything that had happened. She suddenly found she missed Julia and was surprised to realize she hadn’t thought of her in months.
“I am delighted to have you all here tonight,” Carter said, nodding to Rowan in particular, “and I believe I have an announcement of some special merit.”
“That’s an understatement,” Spenser said wryly.
Carter chuckled. “Yes, well, Mr. Spenser, you must allow me my little wit now and then. So, very well, it is an announcement of very special merit.”
“You’ve found the tomb?” Digby blurted. Clearly, Carter was attempting a little dramatic reveal that Digby had effectively ruined.
The rest of the table reacted as if Digby hadn’t spoken and so, after an annoyed look in his direction, Carter continued. “I have recently sent a wire to Lord Carnarvon,” Carter said, “asking for his immediate presence—at his earliest convenience, of course.”
“You’ve found something,” Rowan said, grinning.
Carter returned Rowan’s grin. “We bloody well have,” he said. “Excuse the language, ladies.”
“What is it?” Marvel asked. She looked luminous tonight, Ella couldn’t help but notice. She really did have exquisite skin and it was spectacularly set off by her blushes which she seemed to do pretty much constantly. Ella glanced at Spenser who hadn’t taken his eyes off Marvel since they sat down. That’s what being in love will do to you, she thought. It makes an already pretty girl even prettier.
“Well, I must say, we have discovered something,” Carter said. “Something pretty extraordinary.” He took a teasingly long sip of his wine and the table groaned and complained good-naturedly. “Well, alright,” he said, “if you must have the truth, we’ve found the tops of a set of stairs.” He paused dramatically. “They are leading to what I believe is a private chamber. A private royal chamber.”
“King Tutankhamun,” Rowan said in a hushed voice of awe. Ella couldn’t help but look at him. She knew he loved history and now he was here when it was all happening. He looked like he was glowing with excitement.
“Exactement,” Carter said, his tone of awe matching Rowan’s as if he couldn’t believe it himself.
“Does anybody else know?” Marvel asked in a loud stage whisper, making everyone laugh.
“No, my dear,” Carter said, “and that’s the point. Those vultures out there on the camp’s perimeter must not know how close we are.” He looked at Spenser. “I’ve got three men guarding the steps and they need to be relieved for round-the-clock posting.”
Spenser nodded. “I’ll see to it,” he said.
“In fact,” Carter said, “I hate to ask, Josh, but if you could see to it, personally, tonight? Hope that won’t interfere with any plans, old boy.” Carter’s eyes twinkled but Ella could see he was serious, too.
“Of course not,” Spenser said, his face flushing a bit. “I’ll head over there straight after dinner.”
“Good man. Thank you.” It seemed to Ella that Carter gave a nod of thanks to Marvel too but she might have imagined that. Surely Marvel and Spenser weren’t a couple in that sense already? While it’s true they’re both American, this is still 1922.
As dinner progressed, Ella found herself more and more impatient to be alone with Rowan. She didn’t think she would ever get enough of being with him and she liked it best when he had his arms around her and she could feel his breathing and smell his familiar scent. She was about to nudge him under the table to get him moving in that direction when Marvel turned to her and asked her a question.
“I’m sorry,” Ella said, “could you repeat that, Miss Newton?”
“I said, I understand that you and Rowan will be leaving us tomorrow?”
“Yes,” Ella said, glancing at Rowan and wondering when he had told Marvel. “We’re going to Luxor tomorrow to catch the first boat to Cairo.”
Ella frowned as Rowan excused himself to join Carter over by the chess table with a glass of brandy. She hoped he wasn’t thinking of playing a game. Her feet hurt. Her back ached. The baby was using her kidneys as a punching bag and she wanted to be alone with her husband.
“Well, I’ve been graciously allowed to stay on at KV62,” Marvel said, casting a shy look at Spenser, “but I told Rowan that you are both welcome to stay in my suite of rooms at Shepheards for as long as you are in Cairo.”
What was there about this woman that hit Ella wrong? She seemed just as nice as she could be. But there was something…
“Thank you very much, Miss Newton.”
“Please call me Marvel. Everybody does.”
“Okay, Marvel. Thanks. But I don’t expect we’ll be staying in the city long.”
“Oh? Will you be sailing back to New York?”
She caught the motion of Rowan turning toward her and she knew she’d put her foot in it. She patted her belly and said, “Well, first we’ve got a baby to get born and I’m not sure what our plans are beyond that.”
Bringing up the baby or her pregnancy seemed to embarrass Marvel and Ella was ashamed to realize that it pleased her a little. Before the conversation could go any further, however, Rowan was by her side with his hand on her elbow.
“Ready to go, little mother?” he said lightly.
“Funny man,” she said as she heaved herself out of the dining chair and watched it fall over backward into the dust. One of the camp servants leapt for it. “Sorry. Guess I’m a little clumsy these days.”
Rowan said goodnight to the table and led her back to their tent, his hand firmly on the small of her back guiding her to ensure she didn’t stumble.
Once back in their tent, Ella kicked off her shoes and sank onto the bed with a groan. Rowan peeled back the tent flap and joined her on the bed. The two of them sat there and looked out at the dark-blue of the night sky, a panoply of stars scattered before them like gold dust on a velvet background.
“Have I told you how many times I looked up at the stars and wondered where you were?” Ella said softly. She reached for his hand.
“I did the same thing.”
“I can’t believe we found each other again,” she said.
“I don’t think I ever really doubted it.” He turned to her and put his hand to her chin and kissed her gently but completely.
When they separated, there were tears in her eyes. “We were fools in Dothan,” she said. “Both of us, such stupid fools.”
“I know.”
“For one thing, we were already damn married but we acted like we still needed to do that.”
“I know. It was for our families.”
Ella didn’t respond. The stars glittered even more brightly, if that was possible.
“How will it be when we go back?” she asked.
“I don’t know,” he said, sighing. He put his hand on her belly. “It’ll be different this time,” he said. “I know that much.”
“I
wonder.” She stood and slipped out of her shawl and jacket, dropping them to
the floor of the tent. She knew he was watching her. “I kind of hated hearing
how close they are to finding Tut,” she said, turning to look at him.
“Especially since it’s because you
steered him where to dig.
Rowan
shrugged and looked away. “He would’ve found him eventually.”
“I hate that you aren’t going to be here for all the excitement.”
He stood and placed his hand back on her belly. “I won’t miss a minute of the excitement I really care about,” he said.
“But King Tut only gets discovered once in a thousand lifetimes. And you’re here, now.”
“I don’t regret missing it,” he said.
“Liar.” But she smiled at him. “When will Carnarvon get here? Maybe we have time to go to Cairo, go back to 2013, have the baby…”
He touched her cheek and smiled ruefully. “And what? Come back?”
She sat back down on the bed and began to roll her stockings down. “Yeah, I guess not,” she said. “Digby was awfully quiet at dinner.”
“Wonder what he’s up to,” Rowan muttered. “Not sure it was smart to come right out and tell him you were going to the authorities in Cairo.”
“I thought about that,” she admitted. “It just means the sooner we get to Cairo, the better on all accounts.” She stood up in nothing but her chemise and put her hands on his shoulders. “I’m not at all achy tonight,” she said. “And I’ve been thinking if we were very, very slow and careful…”
Rowan groaned but slid his hands to her waist. “After all this time, I’m not sure how slow and careful I can be,” he said in a low, hoarse voice.
Ella undid his belt with one hand and reached into the front his trousers. “Oh, I bet you can find a way,” she said, her eyes bright with desire.
Hours later, the voice whispering to Rowan sounded like it was coming from within his dream. His extremely pleasant dream. But when he shifted on the narrow cot and felt for Ella’s hip, he knew it wasn’t a dream. His eyes flew open and he swung his feet to the floor while he tried to adjust to the darkness. The tent flap, now closed against the chill of the night, was moving as if someone had just come in. He fought to see in the gloom.
“Effendi! It is Ra! Are you awake? Effendi?”
Son of a bitch. Rowan stood and pulled on his khaki trousers and grabbed a shirt. He glanced quickly at Ella to see that she was beginning to stir. He went to the entrance of the tent.
“What the hell, Ra?” he said, blinking from the light of Ra’s lantern.
“Effendi, you must come at once!” Ra whispered loudly. He looked over his shoulder as if fearful someone was coming down the path.
“What’s going on?” Ella called from the tent.
“Nothing,” Rowan said. “Go back to sleep.”
“Effendi!” Ra said urgently. “It is Madaam Newton.”
Rowan snapped his head back to Ra at the mention of Marvel. “What?” he asked, looking down the path and pulling on his shirt.
“Effendi Digby is in her tent,” Ra said. “I cannot lay a hand on a white man. He is forcing himself on her!”
“Son of a bitch!” Rowan said. He jammed his pistol in his waistband and took one step out of the tent and then grabbed Ra by the shirtfront. “Guard my tent,” he barked. “Don’t leave Mrs. Pierce alone for a minute.”
Rowan ran down the path to Marvel’s tent, cursing the fact that Spenser was down at the dig site. Did Digby really think he could get away with this? In the middle of the camp? Suddenly, a form stepped out onto the path in front of him.
“In a hurry, Pierce?”
Rowan stopped abruptly before running head on into Digby. He looked down the path to Marvel’s tent, which was dark and quiet. He heard no cries. What the hell? Had Digby already raped her and was now taking a midnight stroll? Before Rowan could respond, Digby took two steps toward him and plunged a large knife into his chest.
Rowan saw the knife too late and tried to twist away. He felt the blade go in like a hard punch to the chest. It knocked the breath out of him. His hands fell to his side and he stared at Digby with his mouth open.
“And now,” Digby said, his breath coming in excited pants, “I believe I’ll just have a long overdue taste of your wife. Over your dead body, it seems.”
Rowan sank to his knees, then felt the hard ground rush up to slam him in the face. He was paralyzed but could still hear. Amazingly, he heard the sounds of the night, the sounds of the horses nickering, the sounds of a man running up the gravel and dirt pathway toward them. Was it Spenser?
“Very nice little improvisation, Ra,” Digby said, “suggesting to Pierce that I was enjoying the physical charms of Miss Newton. Very nice indeed. Come on, give me a hand. Let’s get him out of sight.”
Rowan felt hard, rough hands grab him under the arms and by the legs and lift him up.
“Bung him down there, into the ravine,” he heard Digby say as the men panted with the exertion of carrying him. “Heave him off. Hurry!”
The dark sky swam in dizzying circles above him as they swung him out and then he fell, rolling over and over against the sharp rocks of the sides of the steep ravine. When he finally came to rest, his face in the gravel and the dirt, he could feel the darkness begin to encroach completely, blotting out the sounds and sights of his world. His first conscious thought was surprise that it didn’t hurt very much to be stabbed.
His last was an overwhelming sadness that he would not be there for Ella and the little one.