Page 46 of Stone
“Uncle Chet, why all this brouhaha for akalorshai?What is it supposed to do, and why is it so damn important?”
Kellingrubbed his stubble. “It’s not exactly what you might be thinking. In fact, the person who stole these items…” He lifted the bag for emphasis. “Whoever is behind the break-in got it wrong. The vial isn’t the seal. That’s one of the mainreasons why I came back. After you told me about the robbery,Irmineand I changed our focus. And what we discovered…”
Brielle frowned. “What do you mean? I saw the vial.Garenthresembles it.”
“The vial, the mother idol, isn’t thekalorshai.It’s not the seal,” he repeated and pointed toGarenth. “He is. He’s thekalorshai.”
She stared at the creatureon the bed, then at her uncle. “I don’t understand. How canGarenthbe a seal?”
“Because of what he is. He’s anesmesh. He’s the physical manifestation of anesmesh.”
“A what?”
“Anesmesh.It’s a servant and a soldier of the godPetbe.”
And then she understood. “He’s the seal because he guards the doorway between the gods and humanity.”
Kellingsmiled. “Correct.”
“So if something happens to him…” She stared atGarenth, who stared back at her. “If he dies, what then?”
“The readings say the Egyptian gods will return and proceed to kill every mortal on this world who no longer believe in them, or worship them.”
“Shit. That’s practically everyone on the planet.”
Kellingtilted his head slightly. “Ehh, pretty much.”
“But if he lives…”
“Then the gods are kept in check.”
She continued to watchGarenth. Even though the man appeared to be completely out of it, she got the impression he was listening, despite the fact that he wasn’t able to understand what they were saying. She wondered if he was judging them from thetone of their voices.
“Are you going over to the museum tonight?”
“No. I’m fagged out. I’m going home after I leave here, but I’ll be there tomorrow morning to get ready for the new shipment.”
The new shipment. Brielle pressed her lips together. “Uncle Chet, there’s something else you need to know before you go back to the museum.” She turned to face him.“Today, Moring requested a list of the items that had been taken.”
Kellinggave a nod.
“She also demanded I give her the original manifest.”
The archeologist frowned. “Did she say why?”
“No. I tried to tell her the manifest had to be filed, but she wouldn’t listen. She knows the rules. She knows protocol, but for some reason she’s refusingto follow it. It raised red flags for me.”
“It would for me, too. Then she has the original.”
Brielle grinned. “Not exactly.” At his astonished look, her grin widened. “I figured if she was going to break the rules, I needed some insurance to cover my butt…just in case. Before I handed it over, I scanned and uploaded a PDF, and emailed it to you. Then I made a photocopyof the manifest. She has the copy, not the original.”
“Where’s the original?”
She got up and went into the living room to retrieve her purse. Pulling out a plastic envelope, she handed it to her uncle who’d followed her. “Right here. I’m officially returning it to you. I figured, given the robbery and Moring’s odd behavior, I shouldn’t try to file it until I was certainit wouldn’t accidentally disappear at some point.”
Kellingchuckled and planted a kiss on her temple. “That’s my girl.”
