“Well,” I began, cringing, “the truth of the matter is, I do not know where . . .” My words died on my tongue. The first orange beam of light was now spraying over the limestone. It lit up the pyramids as if they were sun’s rays. So bright. So golden.
And movement was flashing before the Sphinx’s head.
Hurry.
The word burst in my brain, as glaring and sharp as the sunrise.
“Spyglass,” I croaked, lurching close to the window. Daniel pushed it to me, and I locked my magnified gaze on the Sphinx’s eroded head just as a scruffy jackal trotted before her patient face, plopped down, and looked directly at me.
Hurry, he repeated, his yellow eyes trapping mine. You must hurry.
“Go to the Sphinx,” I said.
“How do you know?” Daniel asked.
“I just . . . do,” I murmured. No one would believe me about the jackal anyway. “Trust me, Daniel; we need to land beside the Sphinx.”
We split up. Joseph, Oliver, Daniel, and I would find the Old Man; Jie and Allison would remain with the airship.
Jie was opposed to it—of course—but Joseph insisted someone ought to guard our things. And since Allison was adamantly unwilling to searching for the Old Man (Thutmose II and the Hell Hounds had sated her appetite for the Dead), that meant Jie had to be the one to stay back as well. She needed her hourly bleeding, and as Allison pointed out, what if more excitement should happen (like last night!) and we all forgot?
As these discussions were rambling on heatedly beside the airship’s swaying ladder—which sent crisscrossed shadows over the Sphinx’s face—I waited anxiously nearby. The morning air was quickly warming, and sand gritted in my eyes, coated my skin and my lips. I barely noticed. I simply hopped from foot to foot and stared up at the Great Pyramid. It towered above me like enormous steps. Up, up, until it blocked out the entire morning sky—and all the other pyramids too. Overwhelming, dominant, ancient.
And slowly ascending, one springing leap at a time, was the jackal.
For half a breath, awe and fear cramped together inside me. We were here—in Egypt at the pyramids. We were about to find the Old Man and learn the secrets of the Black Pullet. It was what Elijah had wanted. What Marcus wanted . . . and now it was what we wanted too.
And I was trusting a spirit jackal to guide me.
“You see something, don’t you?” Oliver’s voice snaked into my ear, almost carried off by the gusting wind.
I tensed. There was nothing cruel in his tone . . . yet there was nothing gentle either. His voice was empty—as was his expression when I glanced at him sideways.
“Yes,” I admitted. If anyone would believe me, it was Oliver. “I see a jackal. We are supposed to be following him.”
“You seem unimpressed by this jackal, so I presume you have seen him before.” Oliver spoke it as a statement, not a question.
I grimaced. It was one more secret I had withheld from my demon.
But he did not seem angry—no flash of his eyes. No sharp words. As he swatted his hair from his eyes, he said, “He is not a jackal, El. He is the jackal, and it is best we not keep him waiting.”
“You know him?”
Oliver gave a grunt of acknowledgment. “There are many creatures in the spirit realm. The jackal is a messenger of sorts . . . I think. He stayed on the dock; I lived beyond. We never interacted.”
“You are not upset I didn’t tell you about him?”
Oliver settled a flat-eyed gaze on me. “A bit. It would have at least explained how you crossed the curtain despite your dream ward. But . . .” He chewed his lip for a moment. “I am less upset over the jackal and more worried about him. Ivory artifacts and spiritual messengers open many questions. Let us hope we find the answers here.” He dipped his head toward the Great Pyramid before launching into long strides, his feet kicking up sand as he aimed for the first jagged level of enormous stones.
The need to chase after him swelled in my chest—to grab his sleeve and beg him to yell or drink from his flask or show any sign of what he felt. He was not only worried. Or if he was, it was a more terrifying, crippling worry than I had ever seen my demon wear.
But I simply set off behind him, assuming Joseph and Daniel would catch up soon enough.
Of course, climbing the Great Pyramid was no easy feat. Though the structure looked smooth from afar, the walls were actually comprised of steplike bricks that rose up to the peak. Each level of the bricks was as high as my head. So tall were the stones that I could not climb them unassisted.
“Help?” I called weakly, mortified heat rising in my face.
Oliver paused, already three levels up and with his clothes billowing in the sandy breeze.
He glanced back. Then, with seemingly no effort, he hopped to the level above me. He spoke no words, yet he offered me his hand. My heels were just digging into the rough rock when Daniel’s hands gripped my waist.
“I’ll help her,” Daniel said roughly, pushing me up.