The Anubis Plague полностью

“First window on the left,” she said.

Baahir took two steps toward the window but stopped when Khaliq joined them from an empty doorway to the right.

And he looked like an Egyptian pharaoh.

“Why are you dressed like that?” Baahir asked, honestly confused by the man’s choice in apparel.

“It is the clothing of a king,” Khaliq replied, deadpan.

“A king?” Baahir asked, confused. “You believe you’re of royal blood?”

Khaliq opened his hands, motioning to the three of them. “We all are. Our lineage proclaims it.”

Baahir shook his head, and placed his hands on his hips, exhausted. “You guys really are something, aren’t you?” He squeezed his fists tight and shouted. “Anubis is a myth! We are not related to him, because he wasn’t real.”

Baahir’s outburst got no reaction out of Khaliq. Ifza, on the other hand, stepped toward him, drawing a pistol as she did.

“Sister, no,” Khaliq turned to face her and held up a hand. “He needs to see.” He faced Baahir. “He needs to believe.”

Baahir refrained from rolling his eyes, but he did as the siblings requested and stepped over to the first window on the left. It was long and rectangular. Baahir felt like a detective on the hidden side of a one-way mirror. But instead of building a case against some two-bit car thief or even a perverted Peeping Tom, Baahir searched for a wastebasket to vomit into. Grant’s condition was unbearable to look at.

But he couldn’t turn away.

Ifza’s phone vibrated. She lifted it, angling the screen so that it could only be read by her and Khaliq. Whatever the message was, it made both of the Ayads smile.

“Proceed,” Khaliq said.

Ifza replied to the sender and then pocketed the device. After a moment of silence and inaction, footsteps from further down the subterranean corridor picked up. Motion-sensitive lights winked to life every ten feet, guiding the way for the new arrival. Baahir didn’t recognize the individual, but his scrubs gave him away as a doctor of some kind. In his hands was a single black, rectangular box, not unlike what a celebratory fountain pen would be presented in.

The newcomer stopped in front of Khaliq and bowed his head slightly, presenting the box to him. The Scales of Anubis leader gently accepted the container and lifted its lid. Baahir couldn’t spot its contents, but whatever the box contained, it was satisfying to the elder Ayad. Ifza placed a reassuring hand on her brother’s shoulder and squeezed. The gesture moved them along.

“Do it,” Khaliq ordered, closing and handing the box back to the doctor.

The other man backed away.

Baahir watched him enter the surgical suite. When he did, he finally spoke up.

“Who is that?”

“A dear friend,” Khaliq replied, keeping the explanation short.

The way the man moved gave away his training. He really was a doctor of some sort. He placed the box atop a rolling cart and pushed it up next to the table holding the motionless Grant Upton. The doctor lifted Grant’s left wrist and held it while checking his watch.

Looking for a pulse, Baahir thought.

The doctor gave no indication that he had found one, and when he replaced Grant’s arm by his side, it flopped off the table before the doctor moved it back into place.

It was the first time that Baahir contemplated that he was staring at a dead man.

“You killed him?” he asked, sidestepping away from Ifza.

Khaliq kept his eyes glued to the scene on the other side while his sister turned and faced Baahir.

“No, he is only in an induced coma. “We saved his life, actually.”

Baahir tried to laugh heartily, but it came out as nothing more than an exhausted gasp for air. “You saved him? How? You poisoned him!” Baahir’s eyes flicked back to Grant. “You’re all monsters.”

Ifza’s eyes narrowed. “Watch your words, Dr. Hassan, or you’ll end up just like him.” She pointed into the room — to Grant.

Baahir knew he should do as she said and watch his words carefully, but he couldn’t.

“Better than becoming anything like you.”

Ifza smiled. “You already are.” She shared a soft laugh with her brother. The Ayads thought they were enjoying an inside joke at Baahir’s expense, and he was more than happy to spoil the moment.

Baahir faced the window. “Just because we share the same blood does not make us the same.” He snapped his head to the right and glared at the surprised siblings. Both were looking at him, confused. “Yes, I know about our family history, and it means absolutely nothing to me.” Lost in his emotional outburst, Baahir spun and stepped toward his captors, banging the base of his fist on the glass. “The Ayad name means nothing!”

Ifza lashed out and slammed her fist into Baahir’s face, dropping him to the floor with the single punch.

Baahir prodded his bloodied lip and then wiggled a newly loosened tooth with his tongue. He didn’t care. It had been worth getting what he said off his chest. Plus, he was still alive.

Ifza loomed over him.

“Sister, stop.” Khaliq spoke softly. “He spits insults because he is helpless and afraid.”