“Wait!” Penny called desperately. “We can tell you how to defeat Barnes.”
Mansfield laughed again. The mummified Nephthys started toward a door that led outside, walking stiffly as if the wrapping drove the body inside like a puppet. Through the heavy glass of the vast greenhouse that enclosed the temple, a carriage was visible waiting outside. The ambassador pointed at the shambling mummy. “Thank you, but I already have the means to defeat Mr. Barnes. Now that I have her, there’s nothing he can make that I can’t unmake.”
“Goddamned blood magic,” Malcolm growled. “I finally get to shoot someone and it actually helps them.”
“What are you going to do with us?” Penny demanded as the ambassador walked away.
Mansfield looked back from the doorway, then smiled malevolently at the chnoubis. “Devour them.” He slammed the door shut and in an instant their carriage rattled away.
The chnoubi holding Malcolm opened its jaw wide. Penny twisted, raising her clenched fist. “Close your eyes!” She crushed the two dice together in her hand and threw them.
Even with his eyes shut, Malcolm sensed the bright flare. Clawed hands released him and he lurched forward a few steps. He opened his eyes to see the chnoubis grasping their faces. Malcolm and Penny ducked past the blinded snake-creatures and raced for the door where they had entered. Malcolm paused to scoop up his Lancaster and dagger. He kicked open the door and they left the Egyptian temple for the mundane hallway of a London mansion. Behind them, the chnoubis surged unsteadily forward.
Penny whirled and brought up her little gun. It began to vibrate. Within seconds, the hum built to a crescendo and she pulled the trigger. The staggering discharge plowed a swathe through the temple columns as wide as a London lane and propelled Penny back against Malcolm. The vibration filled the corridor, making Malcolm grab his ears in pain. Suddenly the deafening crash of breaking glass washed over them and a wave of yellow dust poured out the door as the temple collapsed and debris sealed the chamber.
Malcolm grabbed the coughing Penny and dragged her with him down the hallway. They passed countless empty rooms, working their way to the front of the house. He heard scratching sounds coming from behind the walls.
“Look out!” He shouted as timber and plaster exploded in front of them.
From the rubble rose one of the chnoubis. The beast attacked, tossing wreckage aside. Malcolm charged it and stabbed directly into its throat with his knife. He buried the blade to the hilt. With a cry of rage, Malcolm drove the blade downward, slicing through the flesh and tearing a gash in the thing’s abdomen.
“Come on!” Penny lifted a chair and threw it through a dark window. She then kicked out the remnants of the sharp glass. However, a shape slithered outside and a chnoubi reached for her. She ducked the swipe.
Malcolm leapt between them, blasting with his Lancaster, each shell forcing the beast back. “Go down!” he commanded.
They pounded down the stairs to the servants’ quarters, where more empty halls greeted them. There was a crash ahead of them and one of the chnoubis smashed through the ceiling and dropped to the floor in a shower of wood. It rose up in front of Malcolm, towering over the man, with its oily skin twitching. Its body swayed like a cobra.
Malcolm backed up, taking Penny with him. She screamed when the other creature came slithering down the stairwell after them. Its rubbery body thudded down each step. Despite the trail of blood it left, it looked spry as ever.
Penny ran for the one exit left to them: the cellar. Malcolm tried to stop her, but it was too late. The chnoubis charged and he had no choice but to chase the engineer down into the darkness. On the final stone step, he whirled around to aim up at their monstrous pursuers but none came.
“Why didn’t they come after us?” Penny asked in a breathless voice.
Malcolm suspected but didn’t tell her. They were deeper in the earth now, and the creatures could be all around them. They could strike from nearly any direction although hopefully the stone walls would give some protection. He knew now what the bones were from. They were the regurgitated meals of these monstrosities. The disgusting things had herded them right to their feeding grounds.