Page 66 of Autumn L.A.W

“I don’t hate it,” Joell said. “I just assume something wants to eat us.”

Rayna added, “We’re here if you need backup. Hey, Ezra, keep her loaded up with snacks. She needs emotional support carbs.”

Sahara closed her eyes, but a faint smile appeared. “It’s contained for now. But we’re moving it to a more secure facility in the desert.”

“A secret bunker?” Joell guessed.

“Yes. How did you know?”

Lioness sighed. “Good. Students don’t stand a chance against cursed geometry. Also, I googled ‘obelisk possession symptoms,’ and I want you to know I regret everything.”

“Please stop googling,” Sahara murmured.

“Never,” Lioness said, then gently, “You okay, desert princess?”

Sahara hesitated. “I will be. And stop calling me that.”

There was a beat of silence, followed by an affectionate chuckle.

“We love you,” Joell said.

“Fiercely,” Rayna added.

Lioness exhaled. “Yeah, me too. Call if it hits four. Or if the desert fox starts talking. Or if your silver fox does anything charming. We like updates.”

Sahara glanced at Ezra, who looked politely confused. “I’ll keep you informed.”

“Good,” Lioness said. “We’ll be annoying until then.”

Click.

The fox settled at her feet. Beneath the earth, the obelisk waited in its crate, quiet as a sleeping bomb.

“Stay asleep,” Sahara whispered.

The obelisk did not answer. But something seemed to be listening.

CHAPTER 15

A military truck that looked like a covered wagon with giant tires delivered the crate to a pile of sand surrounded by more sand. The desert offered no welcome. Moonlight skimmed the dunes, and the desert breeze smoothed them into pale ribs.

Sahara felt something there that had lasted with the patience of centuries. The sand hid what it always hid. She stood at the seam where the world thinned. It wasn’t a door. It was a flaw in reality, a subtle distortion, like the air had learned how to part just enough for something important to pass through.

That something important lay right next to her. The two of them had lifted it off the truck with magical strength.

Ezra stood beside her, close without crowding, steady without clinging. “You don’t have to carry this alone,” he said.

Sahara let out a breath in a whoosh. “Good. Because I’m done performing miracles for an audience that doesn’t show up.”

A corner of his mouth lifted. Quiet humor. She was still grounded. “I’ll take notes instead.”

She glanced at him, then back to the seam. “If I start doing something reckless, you don’t get to jump in front of me.”

Ezra considered that, then nodded. “I’ll stay where you can sense me.”

“That’s acceptable.” Sahara reached forward. The air changed as soon as her fingers crossed the threshold.

She widened the entrance. The smell of sand faded into stone dust and metal and something old enough to feel remembered. They proceeded inward with the crate, and the world sealed behind them.