Page 7 of Death and Desire

“He’s worried about you, Violet. We all are.” Isaac reached across the table and rested a hand on hers. “We just want you to be happy.”

“I’ll be happy if you all allow me to make my own decisions about my life.” This tired discussion seemed to be an ever-present burden as of late. Everyone expected her to be well on her way to marriage, but such an arrangement with the men of her acquaintance felt more like a death sentence than a new beginning.

“I fail to see how that makes a difference. I’m absolutely capable of looking after myself. And I won’t be alone.” She cradled the locket between her fingers, fiddling with the clasp. “Look, I’ve done countless hours of research on the culture and the city. I’m positive I can manage without two meddling shadows.”

“Dreaming of Egypt does not make you an expert, Vi.” Isaac leaned forward.

Violet snickered at the crumbs clinging to his mustache. “If that’s the case, dreaming of women doesn’t make you an expert either.” She grinned at the blush staining his cheeks. “You may be a man, but you’re still myyoungerbrother.”

“Perhaps your dreams are an omen,” David said, his lips twitching in amusement.

“I’ve had them for years. If they were bad omens, something terrible would have happened by now.” She lifted her wrist, showing the bangle clasped around it. The amber stone winked in the morning light. “Besides I have questions.”

“Mother’s bracelet?” Isaac asked. “Vi, you’ve spoken with every jeweler in England. No one has ever seen a stone like it. It’s worthless.”

“It’spriceless,” she said with certainty.

It was true. The gift was more than a jeweled bauble; it was her most treasured possession.

David reached out, taking her forearm to draw her closer. She shifted, eyeing him carefully as he scrutinized the bracelet.

“It’s an interesting piece,” he murmured softly, lifting his gaze to meet hers. Humor glinted in his brown eyes. “Perhaps it’s cursed.”

“Cursed?” She chuckled before withdrawing from his touch. “I don’t believe in curses.”

“You don’t have to believe for them to be real, Vi.” David winked, then gasped in mock suspense, his voice growing horrified. “Perhaps the dreams are merely an enticement for you to go to Egypt, where some horrible fate will befall you.”

“Nonsense.” She waved her hand in dismissal. “They’re nothing but dreams, born of excitement.”

Even as she said the words, she knew the truth. They were notjustdreams. No one knew the extent of her dreams, or how they followed into her waking hours. There were times when she thought she was going mad. A vision, a flash of memory shifting her from one place to another. Glimpses of a culture she’d never experienced. Places she’d only seen in photographs. Tantalizing hints of a foreign land teasing at the edge of her mind for years. All she could do was explore countless libraries in search of information, tour exhibits in London, examine the pieces brought back from Egyptian excursions.

But nothing quenched her desire tovisitEgypt. To walk the streets of Cairo. Toexperienceit for herself.

Even so, the dreams and visions instilled no fear, merely a desperate curiosity, as though a thread bound her to that far away land, tugging with a gentle insistent pulse. She looked at the jewel on her wrist. It was not cursed.Shewas not cursed.

Butsomethingdemanded her undivided attention.

“You’re obsessed with Egypt, Vi.” Isaac’s statement broke through her thoughts.

“I am notobsessed.” She drank her tea. “Just fascinated.”

“Those are not mutually exclusive,” David said with a knowing smile. “It’s quite easy to progress from one to the other without realizing it.”

A gentle caress brushed her mind, allaying her fear. The grandfather clock chimed the quarter hour. Violet inhaled deeply and finished her tea.

David and Isaac fell into discussion about something they’d overheard at the club, and Violet allowed her mind to drift to the delights awaiting her in Egypt. Finally, she would have a true adventure.

Violet had plans, and no one—not her father, not her brother and his best friend—would interfere with them. There was much to see, and she would experience it all to the fullest. The pyramids, the Sphinx, the sights and sounds of a city encased in both the new and the ancient. There were museums to visit and streets to explore. A river to sail and a thousand fresh delights to uncover. None of which required a chaperone or husband.

After gathering her things, Violet hesitated a moment in the doorway of her room, her gaze lingering on the nightstand. With a sigh, she retrieved a small derringer hidden there and tucked it into the bottom of her suitcase. She would go prepared.

When she reached the drive, her father waited patiently beside the Packard. She grinned as she climbed into the car. Isaac and David chose to take the Ford Model A. As they rumbled down the drive, Violet took one final look at the stone building she’d called home her entire life.

Something inside her shifted, gently tugged her away from the only home she’d ever known. With every passing mile, the longing increased, a strange desire to be in Egypt. One she could not explain, not even to herself.

As they traveled to the station, Violet asked for details of the daughter of her father’s business associate. Meeting this new companion could be the perfect opportunity to learn more about Egypt and the secrets she held.

Violet’s unbridled excitement grew as they boarded the train to London—so much so, she could barely sit still. It would take several flights to reach Cairo, and in a few days, she would uncover the truth of its beauty for herself, along with the meaning of her persistent dreams.

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