Undiscovered(50)
She grimaced. “Oh yeah.”
“Come on, Rush.” He tugged her up. “Time to get back to work.”
They scoured the cave paintings again. Went in circles again. He watched her get more frustrated and dejected.
“I can’t work it out.” She kicked the ground.
“So, you aren’t a tomb raider after all,” he said, hoping for a smile. “Bummer.”
She thrust her hands onto her hips. “My breasts aren’t big enough anyway.”
He snorted. “Your breasts are perfectly fine.”
She laughed. “You did that to make me laugh.”
“Maybe.”
“We’ve been following the set-animal symbols, the symbol of Seth and Zerzura, and it just takes us in circles. I don’t understand!”
“At least we haven’t seen any snakes.”
“I guess that’s a positive.” Then her gaze went unfocused.
“What?” he asked.
“The realm of Apep. We have to pass through it.”
“Yeah…”
She hurried over to the wall. “Then maybe I should be looking for symbols of Apep.” She moved her hand as she searched the engravings. “There! Look!”
He saw the snake symbol. A glyph of a cobra.
Layne was off like a rocket. She raced along the tunnel and then spun, a smile on her face. She pointed at another snake glyph—this one showing the snake lying down.
Before they took a step, Dec heard something. Frowning, he motioned her to stop. He turned back, facing the tunnel they’d come down.
More sounds.
Voices.
“Shit.” Dec nudged her on. “Anders is coming.”
Her eyes went wide. They moved into a jog.
Every time she found the snake symbol, she pointed. The sounds behind them faded and soon, the tunnel narrowed. Dec saw they were in a new part of the cave complex.
Now the walls were bare. No paintings, no carvings.
At the end of the tunnel, his flashlight illuminated a huge carving on the wall.
A giant snake with endless coils.
“I think we found it,” she whispered. “That’s the classic image of Apep.”
“Why couldn’t it have been a cat?”
“Don’t tell me you’re afraid of snakes? It’ll ruin your macho SEAL image.”
“I’m not afraid, but I wouldn’t want one as a pet.”
She looked at the engraving. “Look at its eye.”
He saw the gleam of yellow. “Desert glass?”
“I think so.” She reached up and touched it.
There was a grinding sound. Dec snatched her back and they watched the portion of the wall with the engraving slide back, leaving a black, yawning opening.
Chapter Fourteen
“Well,” Layne said. “I think we’ve found the realm of Apep.”
“I’ll go first.”
“No, I’m the archeologist, so I’ll go first.”
“I’m the macho former SEAL in charge of your security. That means I go first.”
She rolled her eyes. “Have at it, macho man.”
She watched him move forward, his broad shoulders almost spanning the entire opening. He moved his flashlight around.
“Tunnel continues,” he called back. “No snakes.”
She followed close behind, trying to peer around him. She spotted engravings on the wall. “These scenes, they look like the spells from the Book of the Dead, but a little different.” God, they were beautiful, the colors still as bright as the day they were painted. “Look, there’s Seth spearing Apep.”
They kept moving.
“Hold up.” Declan held up a hand. “There’s a chasm.”
She pushed up beside him and gasped.
A small, narrow bridge of rock crossed over a wide, dark opening.
Declan swung the flashlight downward. “Shit.”
She hissed out a breath. “At least they aren’t giants.”
The base of the chasm was filled with writhing snakes. She couldn’t make out too many details but she could tell they were different sizes and a few different breeds.
Declan shook his head. “Ready to cross?”
She eyed the narrow walkway. It was barely wide enough for her boot. “Not really.”
“I’ll go first.”
Declan didn’t even hesitate to step out onto the bridge. He kept his hands out and his steps steady. There was just calm concentration on his face.
Okay, you can do this, Layne. She pulled in a deep breath and followed him out. It was okay, as long as she didn’t look down and didn’t move too fast.
Ahead, she saw that Declan had made it to the other side.
Something fell from above and brushed her arm. She paused, her heart thumping. “Declan. Something just fell down from the ceiling.”