Dark Goddess by James Axler

Author:James Axler
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers
Published: 2014-02-28T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 15

The dry, baking heat, although not unbearable, was distinctly uncomfortable. The air felt parched of all moisture. Grant began to sweat profusely, globes of perspiration springing to his brow and body. Within moments of leaving the temple, he felt like a walking swamp.

The Cerberus group slipped on sunglasses as they followed Ibrahim el-Amid and his men along the canyon. Quarlo brought up the rear, a dark giant with a face as expressionless as if it had been carved from the stone upon which he trod. He marched a few yards behind them, heavy boots crushing the gravel beneath the metal soles.

The outlanders carried canteens of distilled water, so they didn’t suffer from thirst but none of them enjoyed the hike, either. The canyon seemed like the half-healed wound cut into the flesh of Earth.

Rock walls, raw and barren, rose high above them on either side, the streaks of exposed strata showing the white of marbleized granite and even the dark blue hue of turquoise deposits.

The ravine narrowed, widened and twisted among the ruins. The structures were square, and were not tall, all of them graceless and even sullen looking, but they were old, perhaps as ancient as the Sinai Peninsula itself. Undecipherable hieroglyphs were visible on a few of the walls, chiseled deep into the stone.

Brigid said quietly, “The Mamluks of Egypt controlled the Sinai from 1260 to 1518, when the Ottoman sultan, Selim the Grim destroyed them at the Battles of Marj Dabiq and al-Raydaniyya. From then until the early twentieth century, the Sinai, as part of the Pashalik of Egypt, was under the control of the Ottoman Empire. We’ll probably see a very strange mixture of styles.”

“If I pay attention,” Kane replied darkly. “At the moment, I’m too hot to care about Mamluks or sultans.”

Rhea seemed the most uncomfortable under the brutal sun, panting and wiping at the perspiration glistening on her face.

“I’m guessing you’re not native to these parts,” Brigid said, handing the hybrid woman a canteen.

Rhea sipped at it out of politeness and handed it back. “You would guess correctly. Until three days ago, I lived in the barony of Beausoleil.”

Kane and Grant whipped their heads toward her in surprise. “We were there two days ago,” Grant rumbled. “The place had been leveled.”

Rhea nodded. “I’m quite aware of that. I witnessed it. I was in Lilitu’s skimmer when the ville was razed.”

“Where were you before that?” Kane asked.

“In the Admin Monolith, where I had worked since my sister’s…” Her words trailed off as she groped for the proper term. “Transformation.”

“We’ve been operating under the assumption that the barons were the creations of cloning procedures,” Brigid said, a hint of a challenge in her tone. “Selected human DNA blended with that of the race called the Archons. So how can Lilitu be your sister?”

Rhea regarded her haughtily. “Obviously we sprang from the same base genetic material at roughly the same time.”

Grant grunted. “I met Lilitu when she was Baroness Beausoleil. You resemble her, but you’re not her twin.

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