Zahra flopped onto her back and stared up through the open hole in the ceiling. She could just barely see the clear blue sky through the ever-widening gap. And through that hole, Zahra witnessed the entire uppermost section of the lighthouse — the lantern room — tear away from the rest of the tower and plummet directly toward her, smashing through the remains of the ruined skylight with ease.
Eyes wide, she rolled onto her hands and knees and dove forward, curling into a ball and covering her head with her arms. As the living room-sized wrecking ball passed by, a mangled section of the observation platform’s railing snared her open grappling hook. Zahra didn’t notice it in time and was unable to unwind the cord from her wrist, and she was swiftly yanked along with it.
“Shit!” she cried, disappearing below.
Baahir wanted nothing more than to leave, return to his station, and put this grotesque show behind him. He went to step away but stopped when he saw movement from someone other than the doctor. Grant’s hand twitched once. Then, again.
“It’s working,” Ifza whispered. She grabbed Khaliq’s arm and squeezed. “It’s working!”
Grant’s movements appeared to worry the doctor. Baahir thought he saw fear in the guy’s eyes. He backed away from the
Miraculously, Grant sat up. He lifted his hands to his head, squeezing it hard, going as far as to beat his own skull with his closed fists. Whatever was happening to him, Baahir got the impression that Grant wanted it to stop.
Then, he stopped, slowly lowering his hands and looking them over as if he was seeing them for the first time. Baahir couldn’t describe it in any other way. His attention turned to the rest of his body. He ran his hands across his chest and poked at his right biceps. He slowly swung his legs over the edge of the table, and for the first time, Grant noticed that he wasn’t alone.
He lifted his eyes away from his own body. The sight made all four people take a giant step back.
“I…” Baahir muttered, voice shaking, “I don’t think
“No,” Ifza said, swallowing hard, “this… this is something else.”
“Something magnificent.”
Both Baahir and Ifza turned toward Khaliq, a man who was wholly enthralled by what he saw. There was joy in his eyes. He looked like a child on Christmas morning.
Grant’s eyes were completely black. They contained none of the separations of color. The pupils, irises, and whites were all an inky black.
The doctor pressed his back against the glass as if anticipating what was about to transpire.
Grant Upton slid down from the table and attacked.
The doctor didn’t stand a chance.
Ifza turned away first, raising a shaking hand to her mouth.
Baahir wasn’t far behind her, seeing blood spray into the air in his periphery. It slathered the window in a healthy layer. He held back the contents of his stomach and stumbled back toward the elevator.
“Wha—” he gagged, “What happened to him?”
“Grandfather said that our sacred bloodline keeps us protected from the effects the hellstone has on the unworthy.”
“And those that don’t share our lineage?” Baahir asked.
Ifza looked at him. Her hard eyes had been softened by the carnal display. “They become something worse than death.”
Fear. It was the first emotion Baahir had seen out of the killer other than rage.
The elevator door slid open, and out stepped one of the large guards from upstairs. He pushed past Baahir, slowing when he took in the gruesome scene. Still, he continued forward and swiftly conversed with his superiors.
Baahir didn’t hear much, but what he did hear lifted his spirits.
Ifza stepped around the guard and bore holes into Baahir. “It seems that your dear sister has survived. She’s been spotted in Port Said and is traveling with a man who has long been a thorn in our side.”
Khaliq growled and headed back into the room across the hall from the surgical suite. The man’s change in demeanor hinted that he knew who Ifza was talking about.
“Oh, yeah?” Baahir asked, blowing out a long breath. “Who is it I should thank?”
Ifza regained her composure and said, “Waleed Badawi.”
Baahir burst out in laughter. “Uncle Wally? That’s the guy you’ve been having trouble with?” This news also called into question Wally’s relationship with the Kane family. Knowing what he knew now meant that Wally, plainly, was not his uncle.
