Alex boosted Ren up on his shoulders. Luke was the obvious choice for the job — taller and stronger — but the big jock had balked. “This is seriously all you,” he’d said, putting his hands up and backing up a step.

Alex did his best, but it was more of a launch than a lift. As soon as Ren was more or less in position, Alex lurched up and forward. Ren wobbled and rose, and rose and wobbled. Luke reconsidered slightly, helping to steady her. But five seconds later, it all came crashing down. Ren toppled from Alex’s shoulders, taking him with her. And when Luke tried to catch them, he wound up on the ground, too. The three fell in a heap among some crushed stalks of barley.

“Did you see anything?” asked Alex from the bottom of the pile.

“I saw some roofs!” crowed Ren.

Alex pumped his fist: Yes. “Let’s go,” he said. And as the first skittering, chittering sounds of scorpions advancing through the tall grasses reached their ears, Ren and Luke didn’t argue.

Alex and Luke followed Ren’s lead. They kept low and tried to disturb the tall stalks as little as possible, easily outpacing their tiny, tail-heavy pursuers. Soon, they came to the edge of the field. They stopped just short, peering through the last few rows of barley.

Ren’s sense of direction had been unerring: A complex lay before them. Three square stone buildings were arranged in a triangular formation. And at its point stood Ta-mesah. As an Order operative, he’d nearly finished off Alex and Ren in London. Now, as a hulking, ten-foot-tall Death Walker with the head of a huge crocodile, he stood sentry in front of the largest building.

In front of the other two buildings, two enormous crocodiles basked in the late-day sun. “They’ve got to be twenty feet long,” said Luke.

Alex peered through the thin veil of barley as it swayed in a light breeze. The air was dark gold now, and it swirled and glimmered with shifting shapes, but as he watched, he saw three glowing rectangles hold firm.

He pointed them out to the others. “Portals,” he said. “More false doors, like the one we came in through.”

“This is like the Grand Central Terminal of the afterlife,” Ren whispered.

Suddenly, Ta-mesah’s gaze shifted and he scanned the edge of the field. Alex’s breath caught. Had he heard them? he wondered. How was that even possible? Crocodiles barely have ears!

But then Alex’s own ears picked up a rustling to their left. The friends sank a little farther back into the stalks and watched as the Stung Man emerged from the field and approached Ta-mesah. The two conversed briefly. The new Death Walker was so much larger than the old one — thanks to his mammoth stone statue — that the exchange looked like a father and son talk.

Father.

The thought hit Alex hard. His own father had caused all this: a father he had never known, a father he never would … He shook his head hard to clear it and then turned to the others. “I’m pretty sure I can guess what they’re talking about,” he said.

“So much for the element of surprise,” said Ren.

Alex took hold of his amulet and felt his pulse race with ancient energy. He leaned in and tried to pick up at least some of what they were saying. It was no use. At this distance, their words were just a low mumble. A moment later, the Stung Man walked past Ta-mesah and into the tall open archway of the central stone building.

“That’s got to be the one with the Spells,” whispered Ren. “It’s bigger, and guarded by Death Walkers. The other two are just guarded by reptiles.”

Luke eyed them. “Those are some Jurassic Park–looking reptiles.”

“Yeah, but crocodiles are dumb as mud. They’ve got brains the size of walnuts. And most of that is for hunting.”

“That’s the part that worries me!” hissed Luke.

Alex eyed the formidable stone structure. It was the size of a small house but built like an old bank. It had one visible entrance, which was currently blocked by a ten-foot-tall undead ambush predator. And at least one more Death Walker was already inside.

“What do we do?” said Ren.

“I don’t know,” answered Alex, eyeing the long shadows stretching out behind the buildings. “But whatever it is, we have to do it fast.”

“Maybe if one of us, like, lures him away,” Luke offered. “And the others sneak inside … ”

“And straight into a giant scorpion stinger?” countered Ren.

“Okay,” he said. “What’s your big idea?”

Ren’s mouth opened, but nothing came out.

Suddenly, a huge sound filled the air. It was as loud as thunder and sounded like a combination between a roar and a low, rumbling growl.

“What the what?” blurted Luke.

Ta-mesah flinched visibly and then froze. A few moments later, he slowly lifted his long snout to sniff the air. Alex realized that what had been a crocodile mask in life had now become the Death Walker’s head. Even more amazing: This ten-foot-tall, croc-headed undead powerhouse was very clearly scared.

On either side of their master, the two massive crocodiles called back in response. Their low, huffing growls sounded like layers peeled off from the original sound. Suddenly, Alex understood where that thunderous roar had come from — and why even Ta-mesah was afraid. He remembered the old thief’s words: You will know the devourer by her cry …

He turned to others, wide-eyed. “It’s Ammit.”

Ren had just removed her hands from her ears and nodded. She knew the legend, too. It was fear of Ammit’s jaws at the weighing of the heart ceremony that caused the Death Walkers to flee the afterlife in the first place. And as the roar split the sky again, Alex recognized it as the angry product of a croc’s mouth and a lion’s lungs.

Ta-mesah recognized it, too. Alex watched him slink back toward the building and disappear inside the open mouth of its doorway. The gods are stronger … The crocs called back once again and then fell silent. Alex sized up the sinister sentries. They were big, but their legs looked short and stubby. “This is our chance to get inside,” he said.

After arguing earlier, Ren and Luke were suddenly on the same page. “Are you nuts?” they said simultaneously.

“Now they’re both in there!” said Ren.

“Maybe they’re hiding?” ventured Alex.

“Maybe they’re waiting!” she countered.

“It’s our only chance,” he said. “Once he comes back out, we’ll be stuck here till dark — and then it will be just as dangerous outside.”

Luke looked around. “Those spooky voices are definitely getting louder,” he admitted. “It’s like a ghost concert out here — and I don’t like the sound of that roar, either.”

Ren still looked unconvinced, though, and Alex played the only card he had left. He pointed to the nearest portal, hanging in the air. “Somewhere nearby, there’s another of these that an army of the dead is marching through to New York.”

Ren’s expression shifted quickly from skeptical to resolute. She looked back toward the buildings. “Okay,” she said, “but what about the crocodiles?”

Alex sized them up one last time. The animals were at least sixty feet from the doorway. Here at the edge of the field, the friends were half as far away — and with legs twice as long. “Don’t worry about them,” he said.

“Yeah, they look even slower than you two,” said Luke. “And that’s saying something.”

Ren glared at the menacing crocs. “We’ve come a long way for this,” she said. “What’s thirty more feet?”

As the crocs settled back onto their bellies to bask in the last rays of sun, Alex realized how true that was. They really had come a long way. He had gone from a life on the sidelines to one in the thick of the action. From a kid too fragile for gym class to one preparing for a life-or-death sprint straight toward danger. Kneeling next to him, the cousin who had betrayed them in the desert was now an Amulet Keeper himself.

And Ren? As Alex gathered his legs underneath him and crouched down low, he took one last look over at his best friend. She’d struggled to come to terms with a world of magic and mummies, secret signs and changing rules. From London to Luxor, she’d struggled mightily with her ibis. But here in this strange otherworld, she had harnessed its power to lead them right where they needed to go. And she was preparing to sprint straight toward the unknown.

Ren turned and caught him looking. “What?” she said.

“Nothing,” said Alex.

“Whatever,” said Ren. “Now, what’s your plan for the Walkers?”

“We’ll catch them by surprise or sneak around them,” he said. “We’ll use our amulets, if we have to. We’ve done this before.”

Ren gave him a deeply skeptical look. “Not with two … ”

“Okay, fine,” said Alex. “I just came up with a new plan. It comes in three parts.”

He crouched down deeper and relayed the first part: “On your mark … ”

He touched his hands to the ground in front of him.

“Get set … ” He raised up into a sprinter’s stance. Beside him, Luke did the same. The two boys clearly had the same plan. Which was …

“Go!” blurted Alex as he and Luke took off running.

“Wait, what? That’s it?” called Ren, but she took off right behind them.

In a blink — much faster than Alex had imagined possible — the two huge crocs took off running, too.

It was dinnertime.