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Rick didn't look behind him as he hurried up the stairs, but inside the tomb, the four who remained arranged themselves predictably—Jonathan cowering with Rana against the wall, and Alex and Evelyn glaring at one another while keeping a sharp ear out for what was happening outside.

"Who's coming, do you think, Evie?" Jonathan asked.

"How should I know? You're the one who got us into all this—why don't you tell me?"

"Perhaps the young lady could tell us."

At Rana's words, Alex flushed, but it was difficult to tell in the poor light whether that was from guilt or anger. "I'm in here, too, you know."

"Nothing has fallen on you," Rana pointed out.

"Nothing fell on you, either—only near you."

Rana's sniff said she didn't think there was much difference.

Outside, there was a gunshot. Rick's, Evelyn believed. She was far from being an expert in firearms, but she was getting used to the sound of Rick's favorite guns. Then a scream, farther away and higher pitched than Rick or Ardeth's voices.

From behind her came a scraping sound. Evelyn whirled around, her hand automatically going to her pocket before she remembered that she had given Rick back the gun she had been carrying when she got it out of Osiris's car. No one else was armed, either. With Rick and Ardeth engaged above, they were sitting ducks for whoever, or whatever, was coming toward them.

"Jonathan," she said sharply. "Make sure nothing happens to Rana."

She could just as well have put that the other way. Regardless, that would have the effect of keeping them out of the way, looking out for one another.

"Alex."

"What?"

"Are you with me?"

There was a pause. Then, sulkily, "I should leave you on your own."

"But are you going to?"

"No."

"Good. Find a weapon."

They both looked hastily around. Evelyn found a knife in the bundle that Rick had brought from the car, and Alex retrieved a chunk of rock from where the ceiling had fallen, brandishing it above her head.

Slowly, the scraping sound came closer as Evelyn held the knife ready and debated whether to stand and wait or to close in. She was about to scream with impatience by the time the first sign of what they were about to deal with came around the corner.

"Oh, no. Not again," she groaned.

"Mummies?" Jonathan asked.

"Mummies."

Alex turned her head to frown at Evelyn. "Again?"

"Long story. Focus."

"Right."

Evelyn moved cautiously toward the corner where the mummy was scraping along in its hitching step. Another was behind it, then another and another. Four? Four wasn't too bad. They could probably manage four.

She tried not to think about the fact that she could no longer hear what was going on outside. Rick and Ardeth were both very good at this sort of thing—they would take care of each other and manage whatever was going on perfectly well without her being distracted and making mistakes down here out of her worry for them.

Instead, she moved carefully closer to the oncoming mummies, knife poised and ready, studying them for any weaknesses. She had to admit, the rock Alex was holding seemed like a better tool for this—the sharp blade of the knife would slide right between the mummies' ribs, when what they needed was to crush them, dismember them, and take them apart.

Without thinking, she kicked the first one in the leg, buckling its knee back. It went down and she smashed her own knee into its skull. When it was on the floor, she stamped her foot into its ribs over and over until they were basically powder.

Next to her, Alex was steadily battering at the second mummy with the rock, trying to avoid its outstretched skeletal hands. But the third and fourth ones were moving past her toward where Rana and Jonathan were pressed back against the wall. Rana had her eyes closed and she was murmuring something.

Evelyn started toward them, but stumbled and nearly fell when her mummy reached out an arm and grasped her ankle. In frustration, she kicked at it with her other foot. The bones were old and friable and they crumbled at the impact of her boot. She snatched her skirts out of the grasp of the other hand, vowing to find something more practical to wear if they were going to continue to be caught in this mess.

Alex was in a death grapple with her mummy, beating at it with one hand while she fought off the skeletal hand that was closing around her throat with the other. Evelyn was momentarily torn whether to help her or to go after the two who were approaching Rana and Jonathan. Even as she hesitated, Alex gave a strangled cry, and Evelyn grumbled under her breath and turned to help the other woman. Jonathan and Rana would have to fend for themselves for the moment.

As Alex was flailing around with the rock, Evelyn had to keep ducking those blows as well as try to wrestle the mummy away. Dimly she was aware of some kind of purple fog rolling across the portion of the wall where Rana and Jonathan were standing and the other two mummies turned away from it and came toward her.

With a final frustrated effort, Evelyn grabbed Alex's hand and used it to smash in the mummy's skull before prying its hand away from Alex's throat and snapping the arm over her knee like a stick of kindling.

She turned toward the oncoming pair of mummies, aware that she was on her own, as Alex was on her knees gasping for breath.

Then behind the mummies Jonathan came charging out of the fog, swinging the teapot and knocking off the head of the one closest to him.

Relieved and proud, Evelyn faced off against the remaining mummy as Jonathan grasped the shoulders of the one he had beheaded, pulling it off balance and knocking it to the ground, where he proceeded to smash it thoroughly.

Evelyn caught the outstretched hands of the one coming after her, instinctively twisting the arms outward while she pushed it back, moving it bit by bit toward the wall. One of the arms broke off in her hand, and she nearly lost her grip on the other one in surprise, but she managed to hold on and used the remaining arm to swing the mummy and bash it face-first into the wall.

And then there was silence, bone dust filling the room. Evelyn took stoc k of the others. Jonathan was bent over, hands on his knees, panting with exertion, Rana was waving her hands in the air to help the purple fog dissipate, and Alex was just getting up off the floor, one hand to her throat.

Footsteps came hurrying down the stairs, and Rick burst into the room. "Evelyn!" He caught sight of her, then of the carnage around her, and the look of pride and respect in his eyes made her feel ten feet tall.

"Are there any more of them?" he asked.

She craned her neck around the corner. "Not that I can tell. Is everything all right outside?"

He nodded. "Mercenaries. They weren't motivated enough to get too close to the bullets. Osiris underpaid, it seems."

"Osiris? Are you sure?" Evelyn glanced sharply at Alex. Ardeth had come down after Rick and was carefully looking over the other woman's throat.

"Best guess. Who else knows we're here and is interested in raising the dead?"

"Good point."

He came to her, catching hold of her shoulders and looking her over. "You all right?"

"Fine. You?"

He nodded. "Fine. But we should get this over with and get out of here, before he finds more mummies—or better paid mercenaries."