Page 17 of Aleko
“Sounds right. Well, keeping historical artifacts out of the grasp of some Evangelical prosperity gospel misogynistic fucktards who want to prove the Earth is six-thousand years old is always worth the money, but is it really magical?”
The smile that crossed Luca’s sallow face said it all.
“I can feel it. And I’m pretty sure whatever is in there is responsible for knocking out the ship’s computers.”
“That’s not very reassuring,” said Alex.
“No, not at all! But veryeccitante!”
Luca looked upward to where the crate was gently lowering toward the quay, beaming excitedly at the container.
Trevor leaped out of the water, shifting at the mid-point in his leap and landing on human feet. It was a show-off maneuver, and Alex shook his head. He was going to have to talk to all of them about being more discrete. The deck hands on the ship were either looking the other way or knew better than tomention anything. Luca took a step back in surprise.
“Have you seen that Phantom?” demanded Trevor, gesturing down the dock to the Conti warehouse, and Alex frowned at the Rolls Royce Phantom parked in the gravel lot along with a string of SUVs. That was odd.
“It’s got gold rims. Talk about trashy.” Trevor looked offended, which was a bit rich coming from a man with no clothes on. Sebastian arrived behind Trevor, looking even more annoyed than Alex at the selkies display.
“When did we get selkies?” asked Luca.
“I think what you mean is, when can we get rid of them,” said Sebastian. “And what’s in the box?”
The crate was now at eye level, and Alex stared at the Ash Enterprises logo—a wolf head in profile in the broken circle of a crescent moon. He supposed it wasn’t very subtle, but he liked it, and Pellos had picked it.
“Supposedly,” said Luca, his original enthusiasm returning, “it is the mummy of a woman who was entombed alive by her lover! But more to the point, the main seal on the top has the same symbol as Alekos’s amulet, and it’s covered in poured lead.”
“Poured lead?” repeated Sebastian. “That sounds like that story Hudson was reading.”
“What story?” asked Luca, looking interested.
“It was the Osiris myth. His brother Set tricked him into getting into a coffin and then covered it in lead to keep him inside,” said Sebastian.
“Set?” asked Luca looking amused. “Interesting. Sounds like a clever fellow. And yes, that may be why this coffin was also covered. Although the previous owner did begin to chisel it open.” Luca frowned about that. “They didn’t make it all the way around, though.”
“Cool,” said Trevor looking suitably impressed. “Wait till you see what we found. I’m Trevor. Colin’s in the water still.”
“Luca,” said Luca offering a hand.
“So, can we see this Sheila or what?” asked Trevor, returning the hand shake.
“Have to get her out of the crate still,” said Luca, shaking his head. “Also, it ispossiblethat the plague affected the spell seals when we crossed into Greek waters. We may be leaking magic.”
Trevor looked shocked. “Son, han’nt you never seenThe Mummy? What are you trying to do—get us cursed?”
Sebastian laughed, but Luca looked confused.
As if on cue, the crate shuddered, and a loud crack echoed across the dock.
“Uh,” said Colin, clambering onto the dock, “is that crate supposed to do that?”
Episode 13
The Sarcophagus
Eliandra
“Stop,” gasped Lia, clutching at her stomach. Something was wrong. Not something. Everything.
“Be quiet,” the woman in white snarled, her expression furious. “Your services are no longer required.”
