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Rick followed Evelyn and the others back to her quarters, keeping a sharp eye out for anything unusual. In the half-light of the continuing eclipse, it was easy to see shadows everywhere, and it took all his control not to jump every time something moved in his peripheral vision.

Evelyn started talking as soon as she stepped inside her room. "We must stop him from regenerating. Who opened that chest?"

"Well, there was me and Daniels here," Henderson said, counting on his fingers. "And Burns, of course."

"And that Egyptologist fella."

Rick turned away from the window, where he had been watching for any change in the shadow over the sun. "What about my buddy Beni?"

"Nah, he scrammed outta there 'fore we opened the damned thing."

"Yeah, he was the smart one," Henderson added.

Typical. Rick couldn't help the sneer that curled his lip. Trust Beni to know when to run. "Well, that sounds like Beni."

"We must find the Egyptologist and bring him back to the safety of the fort before the creature can get to him," Evelyn said earnestly.

She had a point. Rick nodded, taking the lead. "Right. She stays here, you three come with me."

Every single one of them protested that one. Lots of "not me" from the men, and Evelyn's offended "Just a minute" stopped him at the door, realizing that no one was following him.

"You can't leave me behind here like some old carpetbag!" Evelyn shouted.

He could, and he would. She was staying here where she would be safe—she was not going out there where that thing waited to make a human sacrifice out of her. Not while there was breath left in Rick O'Connell's body. He didn't deserve her, but he wasn't going to stand by and let her put herself in danger, either.

Rick walked toward her, and she put herself in his way, her chin lifted. "Who put you in charge?"

He ignored her, lifting her and throwing her over his shoulder.

"O'Connell!" she shrieked. "What do you think you are doing? Jonathan! O'Connell!" she protested ineffectually as Rick carried her to her bed and dropped her on it.

"Sorry, but he's a bit … tall." It wasn't much of an excuse, but they all knew Jonathan wasn't going to be able to stop Rick from trying to protect Evelyn from herself—and that he wouldn't have tried particularly hard. If there was anyone else in the room who didn't want Evelyn putting herself in harm's way, it was her brother.

"Coward that you are!" Evelyn shouted at her brother, even as Rick turned from her and strode toward the doors. "O'Connell, you are not leaving me in here!"

But he was. Before she could reach the doors he had closed them on her, and was locking them securely.

"Jonathan, if you don't open this door in one minute flat—" Her voice was muffled by the thick wood. Rick didn't look forward to the anger he'd find when he came back for her … but she would be alive to be angry with him, and that was what mattered. "O'Connell, let me out of here!"

Ignoring her, Rick grabbed Daniels by the collar and dragged him in front of the doors, looking down into the man's wide eyes. "This door doesn't open. She doesn't come out. And no one goes in. Right?"

"Right."

"Right." He looked at Henderson. "Right?"

"Right."

Evelyn was still pounding at the inside of the doors, calling his name and Jonathan's. Rick lifted the key, dropping it into Daniels' hands. This time, he didn't expect anyone to follow him to the door, so he made the point clear. "Let's go, Jonathan."

Startled, Jonathan looked around at him. "Oh, I thought I could just stay at the fort and … uh … reconnoiter."

"Now!" There really wasn't time for all this palaver. Every minute they wasted was another chance for that walking corpse to find the Egyptologist and take another step toward regenerating.

"Yeah, right." Jonathan sighed, getting to his feet reluctantly. "We're just going to rescue the Egyptologist." He caught up to Rick on the stairs. "You know my sister's going to kill you."

"Well, when all this is over, I'll be happy to let her." He hadn't meant that to sound so … besotted, but it really did.

Jonathan glanced at him, smiled faintly, and drained the contents of his flask. Rick wondered why he had bothered bringing him—but it was better not to go out without some kind of backup, and he had the sense that underneath all the ridiculousness, Jonathan wasn't a bad guy to have around in a pinch.

All was darkness outside the fort, and it was mostly deserted. With all the weirdness going on, most of the population was hiding inside their homes, waiting for it all to pass. Rick didn't blame them. If it weren't for the most infuriating, intelligent, beautiful, frustrating woman he'd ever met, he'd be in a bar right now, drinking whatever was left that didn't taste like blood.

"You think we'll find him?"

"Yep."

"You think we'll find him before the monster does?"

Rick glanced at Jonathan, not bothering to answer. They both knew the odds were slim and getting slimmer.

"Right." Squaring his shoulders, Jonathan followed Rick through the streets.