Asp of Ascension (A Nefertari Hughes Mystery #1)

Chapter Forty-Nine

The second the asp left her skin, Terry's knee roared in pain. She bit the inside of her cheek and tasted blood. Her knee, weakened from all the running and without the support of the brace, buckled under her weight. She instinctively reached out, grabbing Prince Kamal's arm. He smiled back at her.

"Now you shall see the first secret," he said. With the asp in his hands, he pulled off the snake head, revealing two golden fangs, each one an inch long.

"Life repaid, life relived, life resurrected," the hooded figures continued to chant.

Mayor Harris's eyes darted around the room. He checked his watch and licked his lips again.

Prince Kamal loomed over Tanya. He pushed her leather jacket and shirt to the side. Her soft white skin was practically luminescent in the darkened room. She slept on, oblivious. There was a twitch on the corner of Prince Kamal's lips. He positioned the fangs above her heart, and then with one quick thrust, he pushed it into her flesh.

The chant continued, the voices became stronger. Tanya's eyes stayed closed, but her back arched off the stone table. Terry watched helplessly.

Prince Kamal withdrew the asp, now coated with Tanya's blood. Two small trickles ran down her chest, disappearing under her jacket. A hooded bodyguard lifted Tanya and disappeared with her through the corridor that led to the white examining room.

"Good work," Prince Kamal praised Terry. "The ambulance will find her soon."

Terry stayed quiet about the ambulance he was supposed to call for Dr. Mullaca. What if he was lying about Tanya now too? Her insides knotted up. Sarah turned the gun back on Terry again.

"Next," Prince Kamal ordered. A second bodyguard carried over another unconscious victim and placed her on the stone table.

Terry bit back a scream. Her best friend was still in her toga, but the wig was gone. The roughly cropped sections of scalp were now exposed, ugly and harsh. Maude's eyelids flickered.

Prince Kamal pulled aside the toga and placed the asp's fangs on Maude's bare skin.

"No!" Terry lunged for his arm. She clenched her teeth as her knee crunched painfully. "Let me take her place," she begged.

"Not to worry, my queen," he smiled. "You're the third pure blood. She won't remember a thing. In fact you'll only be a distant memory for her. You're not a silly schoolgirl, Nefertari—you never were. Egypt is your past and your future. It is your home, and we will build up a nation together."

Mayor Harris's forehead was slick with sweat. "Can we hurry this up?"

Prince Kamal impaled Maude's chest with the golden fangs. Her eyes flung wide open. A garbled scream came from the back of her throat while one of her hands flapped uselessly at her side.

"Life repaid, life relived, life resurrected," the chant continued.

Terry put her hands to her ears, wishing she could block them out. She was helpless without the asp.

"Nefertari must get on the table," Ms. Bernard said, her voice regaining some of its usual authority. The book was now steady in her hands.

"No," Prince Kamal snapped. "I'll hold her in my arms." Terry was helpless. All of her weight was on her good leg. Prince Kamal pulled her close. He hooked a finger in the white fabric of her dress and dragged down the neck line. His pupils dilated, reminding Terry of bottomless black wells. The razor-sharp tips of the golden fangs pressed against her flesh.

"Your heart is racing as fast as mine," he said, his breath ragged. He didn't take his eyes off Terry when the prongs of the fangs pierced her. She hardly flinched; the pain in her knee was overwhelmingly worse.

Prince Kamal couldn't hide his wicked grin. "That's my queen," he praised. Terry fought the urge to throw up. He recapped the ancient snake head back in place, locking Terry's blood inside its secret compartment forever.

"Hand it over." Mayor Harris held out his palm. "Now," he ordered.

"Not so fast." Sarah pointed the gun toward Mayor Harris's shocked face. "I didn't plan this for six months only to have to most valuable possession in my museum go to a gambling addict. Prince Kamal promised the asp to me."

"What?" The mayor was frozen under the gun's aim.

Prince Kamal ignored them and turned to Terry. He took the asp and slipped it back on her arm. The relief was instant. Prince Kamal declared, "There is one last step before I can crown my queen." His hand slipped behind Terry's neck. He moved in and closed his mouth over hers. Terry purposely went slack in his arms. "My queen," he murmured against her lips as he kissed her. When he pulled away, his eyes were wild.

Terry's body was on fire. The room was silent as if the very walls were holding their breath. His fingertips trailed down her throat. "Say something, my queen."

"Twizzlers," she whispered.

The prince didn't see the first punch. Terry's fist connected with his confused expression, sending him sprawling into Sarah. They slid across the floor, his body pinning Sarah's as they smashed into the wall. Terry's arms swung like a windmill in a hurricane, landing on anything that approached. Hooded figures flew back in blurs. Ms. Bernard screamed in the background.

Terry grabbed Maude off the table and swung her over her shoulder, fireman style. She blazed toward the open mummy case, cutting a path through the hooded figures, sending them to the floor with her fists. Mayor Harris lunged out of the way.

Terry sprinted through the mummy case and ran up a darkened stairway. She stumbled when Maude's feet hit a wall. Frantically, Terry felt around and realized this was only the turn in the stairs. She continued her ascent up the second flight. "Hold on, Maude," she grunted, hefting her best friend's drooping body higher up on her shoulder.

Angry voices echoed after her. Terry blindly clambered up the stairs. She was running so fast now that her feet were only hitting the occasional step. Terry squinted into the darkness. Two tiny pricks of light beckoned her. She clenched her teeth and put her head down, racing upward.

She and Maude smashed through the mummy lid and into the middle of the Egypt room. There were screams as delegates and socialites scattered.

"Terry?" Zach whirled around, standing still as the crowd panicked in a rush to get out.

Fraser pushed by Zach, and ran toward her. "Oh my god! What happened to Maude?"

"Take her...get out now!"

Fraser cradled Maude in his arms. "Wait...what?" A gunshot zinged through the air, hitting the ceiling and sending a shower of plaster on top of Fraser's head. "Oh shit!"

"Just do it!" Terry screamed. She scrambled over to the coffin. She held her fists above the glass case, then brought them down with all her strength. Shattered bits blew out in all directions. Another gunshot cracked through the air. Terry's bad leg felt like it was ripped in two. At her feet, a trail of blood began to trek across the floor.

"Nefertari!" Prince Kamal stood at the opening of the passageway. He aimed the gun directly at her head. "Give me the asp or everything we've created tonight will be lost."

"My mother didn't die so you could force me to be your queen!"

"You're mine now," Prince Kamal said through clenched teeth. "And soon all of Egypt will be ours."

"Egypt belongs to no one. And neither do I." Terry pulled off the asp. The pain from her knee was white hot. She gritted her teeth and gripped the edge of the case, the broken glass piercing her palms.

"No!" The gun shook in Prince Kamal's hands. He hesitated, his eyes pleading with Terry. Then, like a plume of smoke, his compassion disappeared.

Terry focused through her tears, the asp shaking in her grip, hovering above the three grooves.

Prince Kamal cried out as Zach's voice suddenly grunted and cursed with his. Another gunshot fired off. Terry slammed the asp into place. There was a clicking sound. She crumpled to the floor. The bottom half of her dress was soaked in blood. The pool steadily spread. Across from her, Zach and Prince Kamal lay in an unmoving pile on the floor. The room began to fade into blackness. Terry let out one last breath.

There was a flash of light, then a voice said, "The asp has chosen."