Flight of Souls
Chapter 31 – Saving Evie
Varne? Bewildered, Tia looked around to see Robert Varne standing not far away, looking indecisive. "Rob?"
"Tia?" He looked aghast at the sight of her. "Good God, Tia, you look dreadful!"
"Thanks," she said dryly.
He flushed slightly. "There's probably a first aid kit in my father's car," he said. "Wait a minute while I get it."
Sir Randolph's car was about forty yards away down a slight hill. Tia sat wearily down on a large rock and waited for him. He handed her the kit when he came back. "What are you doing here?" Tia asked, opening the kit and rummaging through it. Robert stood there looking unsure of himself.
"A combination of kidnapping and rescue mission, I think," he replied. "Ardeth Bey insisted I come along. At sword point, actually." He nervously glanced at the tomb entrance. "You say my father is in there?"
"Yes," she replied, taking a roll of bandage and a small pair of scissors out of the kit.
"Did he really try to kill you?"
Tia snipped off a length of bandage, took off her shoe and started to wrap her ankle. "Twice. This last time he drugged me, then left me laid out for burial in that tomb."
"Maybe there's some mistake," Rob said desperately.
Tia shot him a look of pity, and then started looking through the kit again. The blow to her face had triggered a nasty headache. "Is there any aspirin in here?"
"What will O'Connell and Bey do to him?"
Again, Tia didn't answer. She had recognized the look on Ardeth's face when he entered the tomb. It was the same cold, merciless look that had been on his face when she'd first seen him at Tirza; with a hint of the vicious rage he'd shown minutes earlier when he'd killed the driver. She didn't know Rick O'Connell very well, but from what she knew of him from Evie, he had a streak of that same controlled violence in him, however well hidden by his habitual friendliness. In her opinion, Sir Randolph Varne didn't stand a chance.
Tia found the aspirin and swallowed two tablets with a swig of water from a bottle packed with the kit. "I'm sure Rick O'Connell just wants his wife back safe, Rob," she said quietly. After all, that wasn't completely a lie. "There's nothing you can do."
"I can't just stand around here while they murder my father," Rob stated. "I'm going in." He started for the tomb entrance.
"No, wait!" Tia stood aghast as he disappeared into the darkness. She stood for a moment looking after him, then sank back down on the rock she'd been sitting on before. Now what? If Rob interfered, she was certain that Ardeth would kill him. Rick might hesitate, but Ardeth would not.
If she went after him, she might be able to keep him away from the conflict until it was over. Did she care so much about Rob, she wondered? No. She didn't want to see him dead, but she also didn't want him to interfere with whatever Ardeth and Rick were going to do with Sir Randolph. You've gotten callous, living in the desert, she thought wryly.
Ardeth told you to stay here, she said to herself firmly. You'll only be in the way if you go in there. After all, she thought bitterly, when have you ever done anything but wait for someone else to rescue you? You've been captured by Arab tribesmen, kidnapped again by a lunatic with delusions of grandeur, drugged and abandoned in an ancient tomb, then nearly raped. And in your past life, you were no better, she thought savagely. You were abducted, forced into marriage and then poisoned.
"That's it," she said aloud. "I'm done with being a victim." She looked down at the ruined high-heeled shoe. Nothing would make her put that damn thing on again. Instead she took the roll of bandage from the first aid kit and wrapped both her feet. Not very elegant, but it would protect her against the small sharp rocks that littered the tomb. Another strip of bandage served to belt Ardeth's oversized robe around her. The driver's gun was still on the ground in the alcove where it had fallen. Retrieving it, she tried to check to see if it was loaded, but didn't know how. If I get out of this, she thought to herself. I'm going to learn how to shoot this wretched thing. There was one last torch on the ground. It took only a moment to light it, and then she was ready.
Sir Randolph stalked out of the secondary burial chamber. The women weren't in there. No matter. He'd search the other annexes off the main burial chamber and work his way up to the surface. Even if he didn't find them himself, he'd flush them toward the entrance where his driver would stop them. It shouldn't take long. Except for the secondary burial chamber that he'd already searched, the tomb consisted of empty rooms. There was nowhere to hide.
Evie made her way up the third stairway into the Chariot room. When she reached the top of the stairs she dropped to her hands and knees to feel along the floor. If she hadn't gotten disorientated, the bridge over the Ritual Shaft should be directly in front of her. A quick glance over her shoulder, however, showed the faint but growing glow of torchlight. Sir Randolph was coming up the corridor and he'd be on the stairs in moments. There wasn't time to grope her way slowly over the bridge. If she made a mistake she would fall. A fall of twenty feet to a rocky floor could injure her badly. To the left of the Chariot room on this level was a large, square room with four pillars in it. As quietly as she could she felt her way into this room and crouched behind the first pillar she came to. The torchlight grew brighter.
Ardeth and Rick carefully made their way down the first stairway and first corridor, each with a torch in his left hand and a weapon in his right. The last thing Ardeth had wanted to do was leave Tia alone with Robert Varne. She was bound to be shaky and shocked after the near rape and the sight of Ardeth's swift and efficient knifing of the would-be rapist. He was sufficiently a man of his culture to not wish to leave his woman alone with any man. Added to that, he'd had to leave her at a time when she would be emotionally vulnerable in the company of a man she'd favored in the past. Let it go, he ordered himself. No use thinking about it now. Now was the time to think about Sir Randolph Varne and Evelyn O'Connell.
Sir Randolph reached the Chariot room and looked around. His eyes froze suddenly on the ground. To the left of the stairway, and leading into the pillared room on the left was a trail in the dust. A slow smiled spread over his face. He looked into the room and saw nothing but the shadowy pillars in the torchlight. Hiding behind the pillars, were they?
Evie watched in horror as he came closer to her. He would see her in a moment if she didn't move. If she did move, he'd see her even sooner. "I know you're in here," he purred menacingly. He pulled out a gun. "Come out and I won't shoot you."
Making a sudden decision, Evie stepped into the flickering torchlight. "I'm here, Sir Randolph."
He smiled; an expression that might have been charming had his eyes not been so cold. "Where is Tiye?"
"I don't know. We were separated." Which was true, as far as it went.
"Nefertari, my love, you've been disobedient," he said silkily, walking toward her slowly. "Did I not tell you not to concern yourself with her?"
"She's my sister, my lord," Evie replied, backing up a few steps. "I cannot turn my back on her." Her past experience on the yacht with Sir Randolph had taught her that if his mind was firmly in the past, she was better off taking the role of Nefertari rather than trying to shift his focus to the present. "She is but a child, my lord. Can you not forgive her?"
"She is a whore," Sir Randolph said coldly. "She has betrayed me, soiled herself with that blasphemous priest." He blinked then. "Or was it with that Medjai commander….?" His face suddenly seemed uncertain and he shook his head slightly.
Evie saw her chance. Quickly she lashed out with her hand, knocking the gun to the floor. She followed it up with a punch that landed a few inches above his belt buckle. Sir Randolph doubled over, dropping the torch onto the ground. Evie fled, the light from the downed torch just enough to see her way into the Chariot room and to catch a glimpse of the bridge over the Ritual Shaft.
Author's Note:
So here I am on Christmas Eve, updating my story. Well, I have to do something to keep me awake until the kids are asleep enough for me to put the presents under the tree. Merry Christmas, everyone!
Thank you for reviewing lilylynn and mrsblonde1503. I'm glad to know you're still reading. And josephine, not to worry about 'quality' reviews. Just knowing someone actually wants to read this is rewarding enough.