They used the little collapsible shovel not to dig but to pry. Ren shot one more quick, nervous look behind her as Alex folded the blade halfway out and locked it into place. He slid it under the edge of the large stone slab they’d discovered against the back wall and leaned in with all his weight. Nothing. He bounced against the handle, grunted, strained. Nothing. He handed the shovel back to Luke, who was already stepping forward to take it.

Luke didn’t bounce or strain, just leaned in and applied slow, steady pressure. Ren watched him work, and the confident way he moved eased her ragged nerves a little. He had an undeniable sense for anything physical. Sure enough, the stone began to slide to the side. Once there was enough of a gap, the three of them got together and pushed.

A faint glow spilled out as the gap widened. Ren let the boys finish up as she gazed inside. It was a tunnel sloping down into the hillside, with an eerie glow coming from the ceiling. She swallowed hard. She’d seen this sort of thing before: in the Stung Man’s tomb.

Alex took his pack back — because it held the spell — and Ren grabbed the little shovel to use as a weapon.

“Flashlights off,” said Alex, standing in the eerie green-white light.

Ren looked at the back of his head as she dropped her light in the backpack. He was getting bossy again. With every bad thing that had happened to them, he’d grown angrier and more determined. He’d been halfway decent to her for what, half a day after the attack? And now he was leading them down this dark, dirty tunnel. He was rushing them. Why not take another night? Let me see that archaeologist book for myself? And maybe a few more? She felt unprepared, and she hated that.

To try to calm herself down, she made a mental list of all the reasons she had for being there: (1) for Alex, who needed her, (2) for his mom, who was almost like family to her, too, (3) for Aditi, (4) for that poor missing kid, and all the other ones, too, (5) AGAINST that monster, (6) AGAINST The Order …

They moved cautiously down the tunnel, feet slow, eyes wide. Ren turned her head slightly to put one ear forward, listening for the faintest sound.

Ten feet ahead, there was an opening. Flickering candlelight spilled out from inside. They crept up to it and stopped just short. Alex grasped his amulet tighter and Ren raised her shovel. They nodded at each other. Alex ducked his head inside.

He was silent for a few long seconds. Ren held her breath. Had he seen something horrible? Something they hadn’t even thought to fear?

He raised his hand and waved them in. She exhaled. “All clear,” he whispered.

It was a little side room, the last stop on the way out of the tomb or the first stop on the way in, like the mudroom in a house. Ren looked around: It was a pretty fancy mudroom. The walls, and even the ceiling, had been covered with a smooth plaster. Silver sconces held thick wax candles, and on a little shelf in the center of one wall was the single shiniest thing Ren had ever seen.

“Wow,” said Luke.

“Is that … ?” said Alex.

“One of the Crown Jewels,” said Ren. It was a golden orb ringed and topped with a galaxy of glittering gems. She’d seen it while poring over her guidebook: the Sovereign’s Orb, maybe? It reminded her of the stolen finery in the Stung Man’s inner sanctum, but only a little. “The last one just had some, like, really nice rugs,” she said.

“This one is more powerful,” said Alex, already turning away from the world-famous relic. “He’s been awake longer.”

Ren had seen Willoughby’s power for herself, of course, but a new thought rocked her now: How powerful could these things get?

“Let’s go,” said Alex.

They followed him back out into the hallway. Ren knew why he was so angry and driven, and she really hoped he found his mom soon.

1) Because she was worried about her, too.

2) Because she was worried about what the search was doing to him.

3) Because she was pretty sure he’d get them all killed if he didn’t find her soon.

Back out in the hallway, disaster struck almost immediately.

Something’s coming.

Alex stopped and put his right hand up.

“What?” said Ren.

“Something’s coming,” he said.

“I didn’t hear anything,” she whispered.

He shook his head. It wasn’t something he’d seen or heard. It was something he’d sensed. He looked down at the scarab, then closed his eyes and tightened his grip. He could feel it now, almost like a blip on some internal radar screen, off to his left, getting closer. Should we go back? No way. There was nothing back that way except the side room and, far above now, the crypt. They needed to go deeper, find the Death Walker. He looked up ahead: Ten or fifteen feet in front of them, the tunnel was brighter.

“This way,” he said.

As they got closer, he could see that light was spilling into the tunnel from openings on either side. Side tunnels, he realized. As they got closer to them, the thing he was sensing got closer, too. What is it? Is it the Walker? He didn’t think so, but he couldn’t say exactly why.

“We need to go faster,” he whispered. Whatever it was, they needed to beat it to the intersection. He didn’t mention that part, afraid they’d stop instead.

They began hustling down the hallway, their footsteps and breathing getting louder as their pace increased. He looked back: Ren was right behind him. Secure in his speed, Luke loped a little farther back.

“Keep going,” breathed Alex, waving for Luke to pick up the pace. Luke waved back: Hello!

Alex and Ren zoomed past the side tunnels and stopped. Alex tried to calm down and center himself for another look at that internal radar screen.

But before he could, he saw his cousin just now reaching the intersection. Luke looked to the right and then to the left. And then his eyes grew huge in the green glow. Whatever Alex had sensed was right there.

“Oh, snap!” blurted Luke as a pale figure lurched out of the tunnel toward him. It reached for him with outstretched arms, grabbed for him with tightly wrapped fingers.

For one horrible second, Alex thought it had him. But Luke was fast. He went from walking forward to running to the right with one quick swivel of his hips. The mummy charged stiffly after him, and they both disappeared down the passageway.

“LUKE!” Ren screamed.

They both rushed back to the intersection and peered down the passageway. No sign of the mummy or Luke — and ten feet ahead they saw the glow of another intersection.

Alex tried to push the panic out of his mind. They were in a warren of tunnels — and had just lost their strongest member. He closed his hand around the scarab and shut his eyes, trying to focus, trying to find the mummy. Nothing. Already too far away.

Guilt poured into Alex like icy seawater into a sinking boat. On some level, he felt like everything that had happened was because of him. But this was his fault on every level. His cousin. Gone. Ren’s words echoed in his head, as clear as they’d been that morning. Maybe more so: “You dragged me there — you served me up!”

But maybe it wasn’t too late to help Luke.

Ren didn’t say anything now, just turned with him and ran after Luke. They reached the next passageway. Which way had he gone? They took their best guess and continued on, desperately hoping they’d find him. Hoping there’d be something left to find.

“You can sense them, can’t you?” Ren huffed from beside him. “That’s why we were running.”

“When they’re close,” Alex gasped.

“How?”

They reached another intersection. Two more choices, the odds stacking against them. They stopped, hands on knees, and Alex considered his answer.

“I don’t know,” he said. But he did know — he’d sensed that, too. He just wasn’t comfortable saying it: Because they’re dead.

The tunnels twisted and turned. They stopped to investigate another little room, but this one was unfinished, not much more than a cave in the dirt, and there was no sign of Luke. They’d lost him, and now they were lost, too.

“Wait, I …” Alex whispered, coming to a sudden halt.

“What is it?” said Ren. She shot a few skittish looks around the empty passageway and then down at the amulet. “Another mummy?”

“I don’t know,” said Alex, closing his eyes to concentrate. “Feels different.”

“Different how?”

He shook his head. This ability was still new to him. “Just different.”

Suddenly, his eyes snapped open. He looked directly at Ren. “It’s coming this way!”

“Should we run?” said Ren in an urgent whisper.

Alex considered it, and then: “No. We have to stop running. We came here for a reason.”

Ren looked up at him. “I was afraid you were going to say that, but …”

“But what?” he said urgently.

“But we need to be smart this time. We can’t just stand out here and wait to be seen.”

Alex knew she was right. If this was the showdown he’d been looking for, they needed to get the upper hand. “The little room,” he said.

“An ambush?” she said skeptically. “But what if it’s …”

But Alex was already rushing back to the little room. “Hurry,” he said.

They ducked into the dark, dank chamber. It wasn’t much bigger than they were, so all they could do was huddle together inside.

Ren stared out into the soft glow of the hallway and raised the shovel, her hands trembling slightly on the handle.

Alex closed his eyes and gripped the amulet hard. It felt like this thing was right on top of them.

“I don’t know …” Ren whispered. “If it’s him … I don’t know if I can go through that again. This place … it’s like our own grave.”

They heard a noise in the passageway and fell silent. All Alex heard was the blood pounding in his ears, and then …

Another noise, closer now, just outside the entrance. Ren raised her shovel a few inches higher, almost scraping the dirt roof. Alex grasped his amulet tighter, the wings of the scarab digging into the soft flesh of his palm. Had they prepared an ambush — or trapped themselves?

Too late. It was here.

“Mmrack?”

Such a strange noise …

Louder, closer: “Maa-RACK?”

The sound bounced off the walls, and Alex realized that the thing was turning the corner. It was coming inside! Fear and anticipation swirled in his system. Beside him, Ren leaned back until her shoulders hit dirt. Alex took half a step forward to take her place. His eyes burned, but he didn’t dare blink.

And there it was.

He couldn’t believe it.

A shadow filled the doorway — but only the first foot or so.

“Mm-Rack?” went the mummy cat. “Mma-Raack?”

Alex now knew what happened to meows when they died.

“It’s Pai …” said Ren, lowering her shovel.

“How did she … Where did she …” mumbled Alex, baffled.

Her nerves shot, Ren crumbled to the floor, dropping her shovel with a thud. “I’m just glad it’s her,” she managed. Legs out and back to the wall, she reached one trembling hand toward the creature but reconsidered and drew it back. “Hi, Pai,” she whispered.

The thin, half-wrapped cat stood there for a moment, considering them. Then she took a few very deliberate steps toward Ren. She shook her slender frame, flicked one paw against her ragged wrappings, and watched as a pale white object tumbled free, dragging a thin silver chain with it.

“No way,” said Ren, her slumped body straightening slightly.

The cat took a four-footed step back and looked up at Ren.

Ren’s eyes, frozen with fear a moment earlier, shone brightly as she stared down at it.

“Pick it up,” said Alex, his voice rising in the excitement. “It’s for you!”

Ren reached down and picked up the amulet.

Her amulet.

It was such a big gift, but such a strange one. Ren’s expression was a perfect mix of Christmas morning and Halloween night.

She glanced over at her oldest friend and then back down at her newest. But Pai-en-Inmar was already leaving.

“Wait,” said Ren, but living or dead, cats never listened to things like that.

As Pai’s bony tail disappeared back into the passageway, Ren lifted the amulet up into the light. She pulled her legs underneath her and used her free hand to push herself up. She stood up stronger this time, straighter. “A bird,” she said.

“An ibis,” said Alex. “It’s a symbol of Thoth, the god of wisdom and writing.”

“Thoth?” mumbled Ren. “But why did she … I mean, why me?”

Alex looked at the spot where the ancient cat had been. “I think she was paying you back for setting her free.”

Ren smiled. “I’ve got an amulet.” She slowly draped it over her neck. “Just like you.”

She wrapped her left hand around it. Her breath caught and her eyes opened wide.

As Alex watched, Ren’s brown eyes flashed silver.

Ren felt her nerves settle even as her pulse revved. It was a sensation of going very fast under total control. A single image flashed through her mind: a clump of glowing green against a dark background, a distinctive S shape in its center, where the glow was strongest.

The image vanished, and then the afterimage.

Ren released the amulet and took a deep breath.

“What just happened?” said Alex.

“I saw something,” said Ren, a note of wonder in her voice. She looked down at the ibis. “It showed me something.”

“What?” said Alex. “What did you see?”

And that was the question. What had she seen? It wasn’t a memory, and it wasn’t imagination. It was something she had never seen before but that she knew, immediately and instinctively, to be true.

She stepped out into the passageway and looked up at the ceiling, one way, and then the other. And there it was, in the glow coming from the top passage, the distinctive S shape she’d just seen, a bright bending line against the softly glowing background.

She looked over at Alex and then down at the ibis. Given to her by a cat cadaver … Entirely, alarmingly unwashed … But it had given her the one thing she needed most, the one thing that put her most at ease. It had given her knowledge.

“I think I know which way to go,” she said.

“You think?” said Alex, his voice skeptical.

“I know,” she said.

As she led Alex through the dark, dangerous tunnels, she allowed herself a moment to think about it. She had always had one very simple problem with magic: It didn’t make any sense. Wisdom, on the other hand, was right up her alley. The images felt like puzzles for her to decipher.

She wasn’t sure, though. As much as she liked knowing the answers, this felt too easy. It was the opposite of extra credit: just given to her. And it was creepy and unnerving to have this thing in her head. It felt like an alien had snuck into her brain and was flipping through the channels. An alien … or a ghost.

Her eyes flashed again as she and Alex slipped past another dark, unfinished room. “Okay,” she said, and they paused as she worked out the new image.

Two glowing circles, breaking the surface of still, black water.

She realized too late that they were eyes.