We joined the others, who’d moved away from the site. Our gazes were riveted to the shifting sands, and to the object rising from them.
A huge pyramid rose and rose and rose from its sandy grave. I was awed by its massive beauty. Most people were used to the look of the pyramids in the modern era—crumbling yellow stones. But if we could look at the pyramids in the time they were built, we would see them just as this one was—smooth white limestone, topped with gleaming gold.
“Holy shit,” whispered Dove. She looked at me, and then over my shoulder, and her eyes widened.
Before I could follow her line of sight, Drake yelled, “Watch out!” and shoved me hard. I stumbled to the right and fell, rolling across the sand. When I stopped, I found myself lying next to an equally stunned Dove. We stared at the starry sky above, and tried to catch our breath.
“Other than that time in Guatemala, this is the strangest night I’ve ever had,” she said.
“Guatemala? When we fell into that pit, and no one noticed until the next day?”
“No. When Ax pissed off those guys in the bar, and you and I had to sing Abba songs in exchange for his life.”
“Oh,” I said. “Yeah. That was a strange night.” I glanced at her. “We really nailed ‘Waterloo.’”
“Totally.”
We rolled onto our stomachs and took a view of the chaos surrounding us. Our new paranormal friends were engaged in fierce battles.
“More vampires,” said Dove. “I guess those are the bad guys.”
“How do you know?”
“Ah. Good point.”
“Moira.” Drake suddenly loomed over us, and we scrambled to our feet. “We must go.”
“Where?” asked Dove.
Drake opened his mouth to answer, but a big white blur plowed into him and shoved him to the ground. The vampire was huge, as brawny and square-faced as a boxer, and he had Drake pinned to the sand. His fangs elongated and he bent down, presumably to ravage the werewolf’s throat.
“I call bad guy,” yelled Dove.
“I concur!” I hurtled toward the vampire, using my whole body to ram into him. I knocked him off Drake, and we went tumbling into the sand. Dove ran up next to the vampire’s head and kicked him in the temple with her steel-toed boot.
That really pissed him off.
He leapt to his feet, fanged and furious, and Drake dove between us, hitting the vampire in the face. They stumbled back, exchanging quick, brutal punches.
“Excuse me.” Jessica appeared in a shower of gold sparkles. She held two magnificent short swords that she swung in deadly arcs. Oh, I recognized ancient when I saw it. And though they gleamed bright and deadly gold, they were not modern blades.
“Drake!” yelled Jessica.
He moved out of the way instantly, and she lifted the swords, stabbing one into the vampire’s chest while using the other to cleanly slice off his head.
I followed the progress of the head as it rolled along the sand. Then it, and the body, burst into ash. I looked at Jessica, and she offered a grim smile. “Unfortunately, I’m really good at that move.”
Her eyes widened, and she raised her swords at me.
“What are you—” The words stalled in my throat as I felt the grip of cold, steely fingers around my wrist. I was jerked backward, and felt something sharp prick my neck.
“Enough!” screamed my captor.
Drake, Dove, and Jessica had all been stalking forward, but now they stopped, their gazes on the vampire who held me. His skin was cold and dry, and as he pressed close to me, I could feel no heave of his chest to indicate breath or heartbeat. So, yeah . . . vampire.
“I will let her live,” said the Italian-spiked voice, “if you do not attempt to stop me.”
Drake’s hands clenched into fists, and he emitted a fierce growl. “Karn! Damn you!”
I was dragged backward several feet and then yanked into an awkward turn. In front of me was the pyramid. I glanced over my shoulder, and he pointed the blade at my left eye. The sharp tip was so close that it brushed the edge of my eyelashes. “Move.”
I walked forward, because I liked having two eyes and his undead grip was fierce. I got the impression that he was only slightly resisting the urge to snap my wrist. We stopped at the left corner, and that’s when I saw another gold circle like the one in the door that had unlocked the pyramid. There was no inscription on the gold, or the wall surrounding it. Hell, there wasn’t even an arrow pointing toward the gaping hole.
“Open it.”
“You open it.”
He yanked me close, placing his lips on my ear. “I will kill you, Dr. Jameson. If you value your life, then you will do what I say.”