Chapter Two: Eye of the Sun

"You think you can stop her yourself?" Henry Jekyll's broad, meaty face looked scornful and skeptical. The bored, middle-aged scientist had seen too many youthful, vital, energetic men crushed and turned to dust by the temptress who was older than time.

"I'm the only one who can stop her." Nick's intense blue eyes met the scientist's stare with grim determination. Then his gaze returned to the ghastly full-color photos spread out on the desk. "This was her. I recognize the signs."

"Nick, there's no proof this was anything . . . supernatural." Jenny Halsey's protective nature made her reach out to touch the hardened soldier of fortune lightly on the arm. The slim blonde spoke softly, her long-lashed blue eyes imploring Nick to relent. "You've been through a lot. Why not let the police handle this?"

"Every one of them will end up like this." Nick indicated the dead men in the pictures, men who had met up with Ahmanet on the dark city streets. Every one of them had died, screaming with pleasure, unable to resist what the accursed Egyptian queen had to offer. All of them had suffered heart attacks, the shock had been too great. Yet their slack mouths were fixed forever in wide, ghastly smiles.

"The undead queen doesn't just drain men of sustenance," Dr. Jekyll ominously intoned. "She drains them of the will to resist. And she doesn't just want eternal life. She craves unlimited power."

"Yes, but without the Eye of the Sun she can only move among the shadows," Jenny Halsey promptly filled in. She was a scholar and rarely got her facts wrong. "And nobody has seen that incredibly valuable golden medallion for ages. It may only be a myth, Nick."

"It's real," Nick Morton stated. "And we're going to find it. Then we're going to find her."

The jet airliner touched down gently in New York City, and Nick sensed her presence even on the velvet-black and neon-glittering streets of the most sophisticated city in the world.

"Ahmanet," he murmured, gazing moodily out at the city streets.

"What did you say, Nick?" Jenny Halsey gave her companion an apologetic and appealing smile. "I'm sorry I wasn't paying attention. The time difference is five hours between New York and London. It's after midnight back home. Well past my bedtime, I'm afraid!"

"In New York it's time for dinner." Nick's stormy features didn't soften, but he gave Jenny a look that took her breath away. "Let's get something to eat, Jenny. I know the best steakhouse in town!"

Jenny didn't understand Nick. His moods were so unpredictable. Yet after dinner and a quiet chat about the terrible fate awaiting all mankind if Ahmanet should ever regain her powers Nick suddenly decided to explore the vibrant late-night city!

"I suppose I should come along," the English scientist said, covering a yawn with her slim white hand.

"No, you should go right up to your hotel room and go to bed."

"Nick, if there's trouble . . ." Jenny tried to argue, but then Nick turned his broodingly intense gaze on her. His eyes held hers, his terse tone demanding total trust and immediate obedience.

"Get some sleep. We'll talk tomorrow."

"Nick, I . . ." Jenny wasn't going to go down without a fight. "I don't want you to go to her."

"I know." Nick's kiss was a command. But it was also a kind of surrender. And Jenny kissed back as though she knew her own power was just as great as that of the evil Ahmanet.