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As everyone's focus shifted to Annani, Syssi's remained on the amulet.
While the goddess regaled them with tales of ancient Egypt's religiopolitical climate at the time of the young pharaoh Tutankhamun and his predecessor Akhenaten, no one was paying attention to what Syssi was doing, and she might be able to touch it without anyone trying to stop her.
"The shift to a monotheistic religion nearly drove Egypt to economic ruin because its economy was based around the many temples of the different gods they worshipped." Annani sighed. "Akhenaten was too progressive for the times. The world was not ready for his lofty, elitist ideas. While he had gathered around him in his new beautiful capital city all the intellectuals of the time, which included all the priests from temples across Egypt, the common people of Egypt were left with no guidance, and things started falling apart. After Akhenaten's death, Tutankhamun reversed the move and restored Egypt to its former glory."
It was all fascinating, but Syssi was listening to it with half an ear while trying to control the trembling of her hand as she reached for the amulet.
Perhaps instead of taking it in her hand, she should only touch it with her finger? But which part should she touch, the opal or the casing?
Maybe she should stop being a chicken and just take it in her hand?
"Tutankhamun died at nineteen," Annani said. "But he managed to accomplish a lot in the ten years he ruled over Egypt."
Kian released an indignant huff. "A nine-year-old saved the country from economic ruin?"
"He was aided by his great-uncle, Ay, the real mastermind behind the restoration."
It was now or never. Kian was busy with his mother, and no one was looking at her. There would be hell to pay later, but she had to do it.
Closing her eyes, Syssi extended her hand and smacked her palm down on the amulet.
The vision was so instantaneous that it knocked her off her feet, and she felt herself falling backward, but she didn't hit the floor. Instead, she was floating over a scene and watching events unfold from above like she had done countless times before.
The main difference was the speed with which it had happened, and her full awareness of what was going on.
Syssi was both in the scene she was witnessing and in Annani's cabin on the ship.
Six males were gathered around a map in a dimly lit room, all armed to the teeth and looking dangerous. They were speaking Spanish, of which she understood only every fifth word, and then two of them switched to another language she didn't understand but recognized as the bastardized version of Sumerian that the Doomers spoke.
One of them approached the map and drew a red circle around one of the villages, and as he spoke, she suddenly understood what he was saying as if he was speaking in plain English.
"Make an example out of them so all the others tremble in fear and give us what we demand without a fight. We don't tolerate disobedience."
As the other four exchanged glances, Syssi hoped they would argue against the command or at least look uneasy, but when they turned to their co-conspirators, the four grinned with so much malice in their eyes that they looked more demonic than their masters.
"Sí, señor."
The Doomer clapped the thug on the back. "Kill everyone, except for the pretty girls they refused to hand over. They are worth a lot of money to us. You can have your fun with them, but don't damage the merchandise too much. Just break it in." He laughed. "Surprisingly, virgins are not in high demand these days."
The vision winked out, and Syssi gasped, "Doomers."
"What about them?" Kian barked.
She was in his arms, and he was looking at her with fury in his eyes.
Oh, yeah, there would be hell to pay, but that was okay. Once he heard what she had to say, he would forget about being mad at her and get busy correcting the grave mistake they had made.
"Doomers were behind the attack. They control the cartel. If they come to investigate what happened to their monsters and find the remains, they will figure out immediately who disposed of them, and they'll come after us."
Only a bunch of hungry jaguars, lions, or immortals with fangs could have torn those monsters apart like that, but the big cats wouldn't have buried them.
It wouldn't take a genius to connect the dots and follow them to the only tourist group who had visited the ruins that day and then to the ship they had come from.
"Crap." Kian let out a breath. "What do we do now?"
"We turn around," Kalugal said. "We need to burn the bodies, or rather the body parts, before they find them."
Pushing out of Kian's arms, Syssi moved back to her chair and emptied the last of her margarita.
