Since I wasn’t sure exactly what we’d be doing, I dressed in a pair of skinny jeans, boots, and a black tee. Just in case we ended up going someplace nicer, I threw a flowing black skirt with a handkerchief hem into my bag, along with my notebook, a few water bottles, a pair of sandals, and my wallet. Amon would likely take care of any fees, but I wanted to keep my wallet on me just in case.
Emerging from the bedroom, I found Amon dressed in a similar fashion. He’d slicked back and finger-combed his brown hair, which made it look almost black, and he wore a pair of dark jeans with a thick black belt and a gray shirt, unbuttoned so the white tee beneath it peeped through. His muscular physique was visible despite the double layer of shirts. My goodness, I thought. Not bad, Lily. Not bad.
Swallowing and clearing my throat noisily, I asked, “So, sandblast, huh?”
“Yes.”
Amon had a falcon-like stare that made me feel vulnerable and powerful at the same time. My heart began hammering as I neared him, his eyes seeming to take in my every move at once. I got the impression that he could sense not only the rate of my heartbeat but also the pulse of blood through my veins, my sharp intake of breath as he slid his hands up my arms, and the way my skin tingled where he touched me. “Are you ready?” he whispered against the delicate skin beneath my ear, and when I answered, “Yes,” my mind wasn’t even on the place where we were going. I took a step closer and wrapped my arms around his waist. As the sand began to fly, I closed my eyes and buried my face against his chest. I sensed his surprise at the gesture but couldn’t tell if it was a happy surprise or if he’d rather I kept my distance.
My ears filled with the buzz of the storm as sand licked my bare arms and wind lifted my hair. I experienced a moment of panic as the prickles of sensation numbed me, but Amon somehow spoke to me in my mind, soothing me with soft words in a language I couldn’t comprehend. His hand slid up my back and cupped my neck and I had all of a few seconds to enjoy it before I could feel nothing and we sank into darkness.
The sand coalesced and we appeared in an alley between two buildings.
“Where are we?” I asked as I turned in circles.
“Itjtawy,” he answered softly.
“Itjtawy as in…”
“My home.”
“Oh.” Amon’s “home” was apparently now an industrial district on the outskirts of the vast city of Cairo. He began walking and I followed, not entirely sure it was safe to be walking there at that time of night. Within a few moments, Amon was able to find the Nile, and we walked along its banks as he studied the area. He stopped once and played with the top of a reed growing near the water.
“Papyrus,” he explained, without me having asked.
I would never have guessed that the clump of tall green stems with dust-mop-style heads could have been used to make paper.
A bit farther down, Amon paused, backed up carefully, and counted off steps. “It should be right about here,” he finally announced.
“What? Your home? How do you know?”
“No. My home would have been up on that crest. Can you see it?”
“That hill there? Yes, I see it. So what was here?”
“The temple. The one we would have prayed to Anubis in. I know where we are because this was the site of my first death, an experience I shall never forget. Even if I had, the Eye of Horus would show me what I was seeking.”
“Oh, I see.” I was itching to ask more questions, but I could see he was focused on the task at hand. “So what do we do?”
“Be still for a moment so that I may concentrate.”
Amon sank to his knees, closed his eyes, and lifted his hands skyward, palms up. I wasn’t sure what to do, but getting on my knees felt like the right thing, so I did. He began chanting, and after a moment, I felt the ground rumble.
Turning to me, Amon reached out a hand. “Lily!”