“Mallory Hayes!” a voice she recognized cried. “We have found you at last.”
At last. Etta James. The lyrics and the tune popped into her fevered mind.
“You foolish, foolish woman,” Omar chided. “Look what you’ve done to yourself.”
“Can you stand up?” Ali asked.
“Does it matter? You’re going to kill me anyway.”
“You need water. Here.” Ali held a bottle to her dry, cracked lips, and she took a few sips.
“I can’t move,” Mallory told them. “I may have broken my back.”
Ali and Omar shot a fearful glance at each other. Clearly, they failed in their mission to keep her safe until the twenty-ninth. She let out a harsh laugh. “Where’s the fun in killing a broken sacrifice?”
“Let us see,” Omar replied and squeezed one of her toes. Hard.
Hard? How did she know that if she couldn’t feel anything?
“Did you feel that?” Ali asked, hopefully.
“Do it again,” she ordered.
Omar pinched all her toes, and she felt every single one.
“I felt that!” Mallory commanded her toes to wiggle, and they obeyed. Tears leaked from her eyes. So, she hadn’t broken her back and paralyzed herself.
“We must take you back to the Cave of Osiris,” Omar announced decisively. He grabbed one of her arms and started to pull her upright.
“Wait!” Mallory cried. “You can’t move me without a neck brace. I might have a spinal injury.”
“You are not paralyzed.”
“No, but I could be if you don’t use proper precautions. I need a neck brace. And you’ll have to transport me on a flat board.”
“We do not have these things.”
“Then I suggest you get them because I’m not walking out of here on my own two feet.”
Ali nudged Omar. “Fadhel is a medical student. He may help us get access to these things.”
“You might try ordering them online,” Mallory suggested. “Sometimes packages are delivered within forty-eight hours. Assuming I have that long to live, of course.”
“You do?”
Omar punched Ali in the face, and he staggered backward. “Shut up! Shut up! Neheb is on his way, and when he finds out what happened, we’ll be punished. Let us go. Now!”
Ali offered Mallory a sympathetic smile. “We will return.” Blood trickled from his nose.
Alone again, Mallory drank some more water and set the bottle aside. She tested her legs by lifting them as high as possible. Now what? She hadn’t been bluffing about a possible spinal cord injury if she moved without stabilizing her neck. Should she risk making another attempt to escape? She could spring a trap by striking Omar with the largest rock she could find. Once he was incapacitated, she could reason with Ali to help her escape. She would promise him complete immunity from prosecution if he aided her in stopping the Court of Ma’at.
It sounded like a good plan, but Mallory couldn’t afford to make another risky decision. So, she chose to bide her time. There might still be an opportunity to persuade Ali to set her free.
Ali and Omar returned to the cavern where she still lay hours later. Not only did they come with a neck brace and a flat board, but with Fadhel, who carried a medical bag in one hand. When he approached Mallory, his dark eyes widened with concern.
“Hello, Mallory Hayes. I am Fadhel, a third-year medical student. Before we attempt to move you, I want to examine you.”
He removed a stethoscope and blood pressure cuff and wrapped it around her left arm. He took a reading and said, “One hundred thirty over ninety.” Next, he checked her temperature. “No fever.”