Chapter 2

Lock-Nah watched the woman as she peered through the windows of the back door. She was pretty, he mused. Dark pants and a grey shirt covered her body but did very little to hide her natural curves. Her dark brown hair was piled into a chaotic bun on top of her head though a few strands had escaped and curled gently near her face. It was her eyes that kept his attention on her. Grey, or possibly light blue it was hard to tell from this distance, eyes that seemed to shine hauntingly. The tan on her skin, that hinted at plenty of time spent outdoors, made the color of her eyes even more startling.

One of the men with him commented something vulgar about the woman as she walked away from the door. Another said that encountering someone with ghost eyes like that always meant trouble and bad luck. Lock-Nah rolled his eyes and told them all to be quiet. They were there for the bracelet, no matter how pretty the girl was. She would be killed if she got in the way. He said as much before he stood up and the small group moved towards the front door.

Still feeling slightly unnerved, Caroline walked quickly to the bedroom. Grabbing the gold disk from earlier, she bunched it in her hand and headed back to the front room. They would just have to explain to Evelyn what had happened and hope for the best.

"Hey Evy! I think...I found..it." Her voice trailed off as she turned the corner into the room. Evy had a sword in her hand and was pointing it at the lone man across from her. He had onyx skin and he was incredibly muscular but the bright red robes covering those muscles made goosebumps raise on Caroline's skin. Had he been outside? Had he been watching the house? Watching her?

His gaze briefly flickering to Caroline then back to Evelyn before Alex spoke.

"Woah mom maybe not the best idea." He immediately stepped behind his mother as he said as much. As Evy told the dark man in front of her to get out of her house, more men dressed similarly entered the room.

"Definitely not the best idea. I think it's time to yell for dad now." Alex continued slowly backing up, keeping a tight grip on the chest. Caroline grabbed the back of Alex's coat and pulled him closer to her. She then pushed him into the space between the bookshelf and hallway door. The man seemed smug and completely at ease.

"Now I'll just kill you and take it anyway." As this man, who seemed to be the group's leader, spoke tauntingly Caroline heard movement from behind her in the hallway.

"I think not." Another man, this one obviously Egyptian and wearing black robes instead of red, slipped through the doorway and past Caroline. He glanced at her briefly and a flicker of desire showed in his eyes. While the intruders all became tense and drew their swords, Caroline relaxed slightly. Based on Evy's descriptions and the reception this man had received, this had to be Ardeth she'd never met him for herself, Evy had told her all about how he had saved them and how he had become one of the family's closest friends. He wouldn't let them be hurt if he could help it.

In the blink of an eye the fighting started. It was loud, much too loud, and a calm descended on her, a familiar response to danger. Caroline's expression was blank and unreadable as she began feeling numb. Evy and Ardeth fought well and kept the bad men away from the two younger people. Caroline kept Alex at her back, pushed against the wall so nobody could touch him. The chest he was holding dug into her back but she wasn't about to leave him unprotected unless she absolutely had to. Ardeth focused solely on the dark-skinned leader who suddenly joined the fray; he was obviously very good. As Alex complimented his mother's fighting skills Caroline noticed one of the men running towards them. Everything seemed to slow down with every step closer he got.

Caroline suddenly lunged for the man as he raised his sword. Her right hand pulled the hidden knife from the holster inside the back of her pants. Her left hand tossed the heavy gold key she had directly at the man's face. It made significant purchase on the bridge of his nose, breaking it.

With his eyes full of involuntary tears, he didn't see the woman's blade but he certainly felt it. She slashed across his face from chin to eyebrow in one hard stroke. His hand then came under attack and he dropped his weapon. Realizing too late that he had no chance against this opponent, he couldn't even turn to run when her hands wrapped around his arm. The man felt his feet leave the ground. His body rolled across her back before he suddenly crashed onto the hard wooden floor. She had used his weight against him in a classic self-defense move and now he couldn't catch his breath. As he stayed still gaping like a fish, Caroline took down two more men in similar fashion.

Lock-Nah broke away from Ardeth for a second and happened to look over at the woman. He noted that her eyes were indeed gray like he had thought. Her face was cold and calculating as she engaged her attackers. Something in her stance and reaction told him that she had done some serious fighting before. He was suddenly attacked again, his enemy taking advantage of his distraction. Realizing he'd revealed more than he wanted, Lock-Nah struck the Medjai, his blows growing more violent as he sought to distract his enemy.

"No! Let go!" Alex's shout brought Caroline's attention back to him and horror shot through her. He was engaged in a tug of war with one of the men. The larger man won quickly, flinging Alex across the room before fleeing down the hall to the backdoor. Knowing Alex had the bracelet on his wrist, Caroline let the intruder go. Instead she jumped over the fallen bookcase, realizing it must have become part of the fight too, and ran to the boy. The men in red were all running out now, thinking they had what they came for.

Caroline threw her body over Alex's careful not to hurt him, then looked around to find his mother. Evelyn was still fighting and didn't see the man behind her. Alex shouted a warning but it came too late. The man landed a cheap shot to the woman's jaw and she lost consciousness. He picked her up and ran down the hallway to the backyard. Nearly blind with rage from seeing her friend being hurt and manhandled, Caroline jumped to her feet again and gave chase. Ardeth was still fighting the leader but she knew that he would keep Alex safe.

Sprinting through the yard, she had almost grabbed Evy's limp hand when she was hit from the side. Realistically she knew it was one of the men in red but it felt like what she imagined a freight train would feel like. Instinctively her body twisted and her arms raised to protect her face. There was a sudden, unexpected heat along her forearm but she ignored it as she struggled with the man on top of her. His arm lifted again and suddenly something smacked into her temple roughly before jumping up and running away. Caroline tried to stand up but fell to her hands and knees when the world spun around her. She heard gunshots and cars speeding down the gravel driveway but she still couldn't make her head stop spinning. Tears threatened to fill her eyes as she realized that they had taken Evy and she hadn't been able to stop it.

The sound of rapid footsteps brought her back to attention. The dark skinned man ran past her and towards a waiting car. Caroline managed to see inside and saw Evelyn laying across a seat. Anger filled her body, propelling the young woman to her feet. She bolted for the car, her feet moving faster than what seemed possible. Chasing the vehicle down the drive to the front of the house she was so focused she never saw any other cars. Rapid gunfire vied for attention but she didn't turn to look. The car sped up, Evelyn opened the back curtain to scream for her husband, more gunshots, and still Caroline ran. Some dormant survival instinct made her look to her left just in time. Another car sped past her and if she had kept going it would have hit her.

Caroline dropped to her knees panting as she stared at the fleeing vehicles. Evelyn was gone to god only knows where and it hurt to think about what they might do to her. Voices reached her ears and suddenly a tiny body was latched onto her back. Alex. Reaching around, she pulled him to her chest and hugged him tightly. He returned the gesture just as fiercely.

"Are you okay? Did they hurt you?" She pulled him away so she could look him over as she asked. Once he assured her that he was fine and she couldn't see any marks on him, Caroline tried to stand up. Her ears made a strange ringing noise and her knees were suddenly weak but she didn't want to worry Alex. She had just stumbled to her feet when someone called her name.

"Caroline! Are you alright?"

Rick quickly jogged toward her. Once she turned around, he realized that she was not alright, not at all. There was blood running down her temple and a lot of blood on her clothes. He couldn't tell if all of it was hers but if it was then she needed serious medical attention. Caroline was a great person and Rick had always liked her but tonight made his respect for her grow exponentially. He had known that she cared about his family but for her to willingly fight to protect them spoke volumes. As soon as he was close enough, Rick wrapped her in a careful hug. After a minute or so he realized she was crying.

"Rick they took Evelyn! I'm so sorry! We tried to stop them but I wasn't prepared and the guy went after Alex and I didn't know what to do and I'm just so sorry Rick!" The woman rambled as the tears continued to run down her cheeks. Rick grabbed her shoulders and leaned down so that they were eye to eye.

"Hey hey hey Caroline look at me okay?" He waited until she did. "None of this is your fault. You were put in a very dangerous situation and those men would have killed all of us to get that chest. Caroline you protected my son and my wife, I can't tell you how much that means to me!"

"O'Connell." Rick turned at the sound of his name and he finally realized Ardeth was standing next to him. He pinned the other man to the stone pillar behind him.

"What the hell are you doing here? Forget that, I don't care. Who are those guys and where are they taking my wife?!"

The conversation continued on but Caroline couldn't seem to focus enough to listen. Her head was swimming and she couldn't feel her arm for some reason. Having figured out that Evy was probably being taken to the British Museum, they made to leave. Rick looked at Caroline to ask if she was coming but suddenly realized how bad she was doing.

The woman had reached up to touch the cut on her forehead and Rick panicked. Along her right arm starting just below her elbow and going almost 3 inches up toward her wrist was a very large gash. Cursing loudly Rick searched his pockets for anything to stop her bleeding. Finding an unused handkerchief, he wrapped it around her arm the best he could while asking what happened.

"Well those guys attacked and everything got really crazy so I'm not sure. I must have gotten it when I chased after the one who had Evy. One of them knocked me down and I think he tried to stab me. That's when he hit me in the head too." Caroline shook her head and looked at her clothes. "I'll be fine Rick, honestly. Let me change clothes and grab a few things then let's go get Evy."