Thanks to... Marxbros, Nora, Kleopatra_gurl (hey, stop saying that!:), Mai Frasier (actually, I didn't get to see About a Boy, was it good?), Eviefan, Marcher, MBooker (I'd love to hear your own ideas about it, mine are fuzzy but taking shape:), Seletha (he wouldn't necessarily know right away, he's been away for eight years and a lot could have happened in that time), Allibabab (loved your reviews:), and Kylie ...

it took me by surprise to see you standing there close enough to touch breathing the same air you asked me how i've been i guess that's when i smiled and said just fine oh but baby i was lying and as you walked away the echo of my words hurt just like a knife cut so deep it hurts i held back the tears held onto my pride and watched you go i wonder if you'll ever know

--"what i really meant to say" cyndi thompson

They took him. They took my baby. I have never felt more helpless in my entire life.

Rain always seems to add insult to injury. You're having a bad day, nothing has gone right, and on top of everything else it is raining outside. Tears flow out of my eyes and down my cheeks to match my rain-soaked hair, clothes, mood. I am slumped in the corner, holding my knees to my chest. I'm sure the look in my eye defies anyone to come near me, even Jonathan.

So here I sit, cramped in a tiny plastic bus seat, suffering through my brother's driving and trying to ignore O'Connell's stare. He hasn't said anything to me directly, but I know he's waiting for me to start a conversation. What can I say? How've you been these last eight years? How's life? Ever think about me? Probably not. He's probably quite happy wherever he's been. He's probably married, successful. That, or he's wasted his life. Perhaps he needs money. Drunk it all away. Maybe he's just gotten out of prison.

These thoughts don't make me feel better, because I know they aren't true.

"I know a man with a plane," Rick says, speaking to Ardeth. "In Cairo. He works for me, he'll get us to Karnak."

"And then what?" I ask, to the air. "What do we do when we get there?"

It takes a while for him to answer. "I don't know."

If the tears had slowed by then, they are started anew by his helplessness. Rick was supposed to fix things. He was supposed to save us. It strikes me as comical that this is my first thought. The time has long since passed when Rick could accomplish such a feat, and even then it brought us more trouble than either of us could have imagined.

By now Jonathan has gotten us to the apartment building without killing us. "Let's be quick about this," says Rick as we unload from the bus. "We're leaving as soon as possible."

"Gee, really?" I ask before I can stop myself. "I thought we'd wait a few days, maybe see how things play out. Hey, I know, maybe they'll send a ransom note."

I see Ardeth and Jonathan give each other a look and they slink off as quietly as possible. Rick doesn't answer me right away, but I can see the veins in his neck tighten, he clenches his fists. "Let's not do this right now, okay, Evy? I don't want to fight."

I can't seem to stop eight years of pent up emotions from bursting forth. "Come on, Rick, let's talk it out. What went wrong? Was it me? Was it you? Let's have a discussion. A heart-to-heart. Where have you been living for eight years? Are you happy? Depressed? Any regrets?"

He unclenches his fists, fixes me with that stare of his. "You tell me."

Such simple words render me speechless, as if an iron band has closed around my throat. I can't tell him. What difference would it make, anyway? It wouldn't change anything.

I turn slowly, place one foot in front of the other as I walk away from him, down the sidewalk, up the staircase. When I reach my door, I close it behind me. I know he didn't follow.

Ardeth comes down the stairs. He approaches me slowly, as if he suspects I might shoot him for saying the wrong thing. "She's almost ready," he says. "Jonathan has called the airline."

He leans against the car next to me, and we stand there in silence for several minutes. "You are injured," he says finally. "What happened?"

"The usual. Tall guy with a sword and a bad temper."

"I see. Are you all right?"

I try to turn my mind to the conversation rather than the throbbing pain in my chest. "It's not too serious."

He nods. "Good. Don't you need to pack anything?"

"My stuff's at the hotel."

"Oh. I thought you lived here."

"No."

"You and Evelyn are not...I mean, you are not married?"

"No. We haven't seen each other for almost nine years."

"It's just that...I thought the boy...I mean, I thought you were his..."

It almost strikes me as funny that Bey could get so flustered. "Yeah," I agree. "I think so too. But she won't say it."

"I was sure you two were going to get married."

"So was I."

"What happened?"

"I'm not sure. I'll let you know when I figure it out."

"It is not my place. But...what are you doing here, then? You do not reside in London, I take it."

I sigh, knowing he'll think I'm crazy. "Sometimes you just have a feeling. Love. Karma. Fate. It fits in there somewhere."

He smiles. "My friend, there is a fine line between fate and coincidence."

"I'll keep that in mind." I reach up to brush some hair out of my face. Out of the corner of my eye I see Ardeth's smile fade. "What?"

His eyes narrow. "If I were to say to you, I am a stranger traveling from the East, seeking that which is lost..."

Words I haven't heard in twenty-five years come as naturally to my tongue as though I heard them yesterday. "Then I would reply to you that I am a stranger from the West and it is I who you seek...how did you--"

"You bear the sacred mark!" he cries, grabbing my wrist. "This mark means you are a protector of mankind, a Medjai."

For some reason I cannot bring myself to refute his declaration. My mind whirls with objections, excuses, explanations, but I can't think of one that is legit. After all that I have been through in the past week, why would it be so strange to add this to the list?

Evelyn and Jonathan come down the stairs at that moment. Evelyn has changed out of her wet clothes, she's pulled her hair back. It amazes me that in the midst of all this, after discovering I have a son and having him taken from me almost in the same breath, I still notice that Evelyn is the most beautiful woman I've ever seen.

We load into Jonathan's ramshackle car, and somehow I end up sitting next to her. Jonathan starts the car and pulls into the street, and all the while the passengers are dead silent. "What's so important about this bracelet?" I ask, attempting to draw Evy out of her shell. If there's one thing she can talk about endlessly, it's Egypt.

Evelyn takes a deep breath. "About six weeks ago I had a dream. I couldn't get it out of my head. So I dragged Jonathan and Alex to Egypt. I knew exactly where I was going, I knew every hallway, every lock...like I'd been there before. My visions led us to the Bracelet of Anubis."

"The Scorpion King."

She is surprised enough at my knowledge of the subject to finally meet my eye. "Yes. According to legend, he sold his soul to Anubis in exchange for the defeat of his enemies. He's supposedly entombed at the Oasis of Ahm Shere, and he awakens once every five thousand years."

"The Bracelet leads the bearer to the Oasis. It will show him each step of the journey," adds Ardeth. "That is why they need Alex."

"Let me guess," I say. "If someone doesn't kill this guy, he'll wipe out the world."

"How did you know?"

"I didn't." I smile. "That's always the story."

Evelyn does not return it. "There's no such thing as always," she says, and tears her eyes away from mine no matter how hard I try to hold them.

~*~*~*~

The next chapter is MAJOR, I promise:) And really long. Really. Please review. It would make me ever so happy:)