Nikolas (9 page)

If he was lucky enough that this was indeed Sophia, he was going to make the mating bond official within minutes, with her permission, of course. Nik wanted to jog the couple of blocks to the Nile Grand, but he made himself walk. He didn’t need any unwanted attention, especially if someone was watching Sophia. He entered the lobby and walked up to the front desk. When the clerk got a good look at him, her demeanor changed from bored to interested.

“Good morning, sir. May I help you?” she gushed.

Nikolas didn’t hesitate to flash his beautiful smile. It rarely failed to get him what he wanted. “I sure hope so. I left my key in the room. I’m so embarrassed.”

“Oh, don’t worry. It happens all the time, Mr.?”

“Stone. Nikolas Stone, room ten seventeen.” Nik leaned his arms on the counter, smiling even larger.

The clerk had to enter the information several times. Her attention was more on Nik than it was the computer. She opened a drawer, retrieved a blank key card, and swiped it into the machine to register it to the proper room. She handed it over and asked, “Is there anything else I can do for you, Mr. Stone? Anything at all?”

Nik winked and said, “You’ve been a doll. Thank you so much.” He pocketed the card and headed for the stairs. That had been way too easy. Maybe it was an omen. When he reached the tenth floor, he walked with purpose until he reached Clara’s door. When he didn’t hear any noise coming from inside, he let himself in. Nik was immediately assaulted with honeysuckle. This had to be Sophia’s room. He took a look around, noting the room looked unused with the exception of the laptop on the desk.

He opened the top dresser drawer. He pulled out a pair of lace panties and held them to his face. Even though they were clean, the faint hint of Sophia was evident where she had touched them. Instead of putting them back, he shoved the sliver of material into his pocket. He moved to the bathroom. Toiletries were neatly lined up on the vanity. A large cosmetic box was on the shelf underneath the sink. Nik squatted down and tried to open the box, but it was locked. Why would her cosmetics be locked up?

Next, he opened the closet. There were a lot of clothes on hangers. He slid each item across the bar, noticing some were for a younger woman, while there were a couple of frumpy looking dresses a grandmother might wear. A grandmother named Beatrice, perhaps?
What are you up to, my bunny?
The safe was closed and locked. If he had time and his computer, he could get into the small box fairly quickly. Whatever she had locked up would have to remain that way for now. The last item Nik looked at was the computer. He opened the lid to the laptop and powered it on. When it booted up, he wasn’t surprised to see the password bar appear. If Clara’s computer was anything like Nik’s, it would have a complex password that would require one of Julian’s programs to break it. Nik powered the system down and closed the lid.

The message light on the phone was blinking red. His message was still there meaning she hadn’t been in the room since he called. While debating on whether to sit and wait, a voice from the room next door made up his mind for him.

“We still haven’t found the old woman, but the Brooks girl is at the zoo. Drago paid a worker to give her the note. We have eyes on her now.”

Brooks girl?
They were talking about Sophia. Was Beatrice the old woman they couldn’t find? Fuck! Nikolas had to get to the zoo. He took his cell phone out of his pocket and did an internet search for the Cairo zoo. He returned his attention to the voice next door.

“Yes, Princess. I will make sure she doesn’t get away again.”

Nikolas had planned on leaving a note for his mate, but he needed to get to the zoo before something happened to her. Why the fuck did he not get her phone number? Nik sneaked out of the hotel room and ran down ten flights of stairs. He exited the side of the hotel and jogged to the front of the building, hailing a taxi. When he got in, Nik told the driver, “I need to get to the zoo as fast as you can.”

The Cairo Zoo was located in Giza. It was a fairly quick trip by car, but it was still enough time to give Sophia a chance to slip away. Nik’s shifter was clawing to be released. It knew their mate was in danger, so Nik did his best to calm down on the short ride. When the taxi pulled up to the entrance, Nik had the appropriate pounds ready to give the man. He bought a ticket and stepped out of the way of other guests. The zoo was situated on eighty acres. That was eighty too many to guess where Sophia would be, so he inhaled deeply. Amid the numerous animal, plant, and people scents, there was a faint trace of something sweet.

Nikolas literally followed his nose along the walkway leading to the large animals. As he passed each cage, the animal residing there made it clear his presence was offensive, and most retreated to the back of their enclosure. When he walked through the area in front of the leopard, the scent of his mate was much more prominent. Nik stopped and looked around, hoping to get a glimpse of his beautiful woman. He continued on through the park, but his nose and his feet brought him back to the leopard. Something had happened there. The man on the phone said a worker had given her a note. If only he could figure out who the worker was. Nikolas looked around, noting the security cameras. He needed to get a look at the feed. He could barge in there now, or come back later when the park was closed. Godsdamnit!

Nik made one more pass through the large park before heading back toward Cairo. Instead of going to his hotel, he stopped at the bed and breakfast. He was going to ask for Beatrice in hopes that Sophia was there. When he walked into the small inn, the familiar scent was barely detectable. She probably wasn’t there, but he was going to ask anyway. When he reached the desk, there was an older woman standing behind it. He smiled and said, “Hello. I’m here to see Beatrice, but she isn’t answering her phone.”

“You must be her son-in-law,” a voice said from his right. Two couples, one older and one younger, were walking toward him. The younger woman smiled and held out her hand.

Oh shit. If he was wrong about the woman, these people would probably call the cops on him. “Yes, I am. We were supposed to meet for breakfast this morning, but she didn’t show.” Nik hoped it was a plausible lie.

The older man spoke up, “I saw her leave early this morning around four.”

“What were you doing up at four, and why were you watching Beatrice?” the older woman crossed her arms over her chest and huffed at him. If they were married, Nik felt sorry for the man.

“You were snoring, and I couldn’t sleep. Besides, I wasn’t
watching
Beatrice. I was down in the common area reading a book, and I just happened to see her leave.”

“I don’t snore!” The woman began a one-sided argument with the man who simply stood and took the bashing from his wife.

The younger couple appeared mortified, but Nik grinned. “I will return to my hotel and wait on her. She has a mind of her own, that Beatrice.”

The young woman said, “She’s a spitfire, that’s for sure. I’m Millicent, and this is my husband Garrett. Those are his parents Yvonne and Fred.” Nik shook hands with Garrett.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you both. If you see Beatrice before I do, please tell her I was looking for her.” Since he had no idea if Sophia was truly portraying the older Beatrice, Nik didn’t give them his name. If she was, she would know he was in town. If she wasn’t, at least the older woman wouldn’t have a name to give the police when she informed them she had a stalker.

He exited the inn to the sound of Yvonne still going on about Fred’s early morning activities. If she were his wife, he’d lock her in the Basement with the Unholy for a few days. What Nik wouldn’t give to be home in New Atlanta, flying at night, fighting Unholy, and going home afterwards to Sophia. Since she knew all about Gargoyles, he wouldn’t have to hide the blood from her. As a matter of fact, she could help him shower it off. Fuck, now his dick was getting hard just thinking about her. Nik ducked onto a side street with no traffic so he could adjust the hard-on in his jeans.

Sophia was being followed. This time there was no doubt as to who it was. The two men from the ferry had been waiting outside the zoo when she made her way to a taxi. Now, they were in the cab behind her. They knew she was staying at the Nile Grand, but they didn’t know about the bed and breakfast. Hopefully.

She wasn’t as nervous leaving as she had been entering. They had given her another clue. If they intended to abduct her, they could have done so before now. The people following her had to know she would need to get ready to travel to the intended destination, once she figured out where it was. When she arrived at her hotel, she was alone. The two men continued on past instead of getting out with her. Sophia breathed a sigh of relief and made her way to her room. When she reached her door, she felt light-headed. She stuck the keycard in the slot and didn’t try to be quiet. When the door was closed, she leaned her hand against the wall for support.
There’s no fricking way…

Sophia closed her eyes and inhaled deeply. If she didn’t know better, she’d think Nik had been in her room. There was no other explanation for the scent or the way she was feeling. Her senses weren’t as keen as a full-blood’s, but she would never forget the way her mate smelled, and her room smelled exactly the same. She shook the fogginess out of her head. If someone had been in her room, she needed to make sure all her stuff was still there and intact. If it had been Nikolas, hopefully he would have left her a note. Her laptop was where she left it on the desk. She opened the closet. The clothes were pushed apart haphazardly instead of neatly as she’d left them.

She punched in the code to the safe, and the contents had been untouched. Her toiletries were still arranged as they had been; however, her case had been moved. She inspected the contents noting everything was still there. Lastly, she checked the clothes in her drawers. Those also appeared untouched.

Maybe she was scenting someone from housekeeping. Other than the clothes in the closet being moved around, her things were as they should be, so she let the odd feeling slide. Sophia opened her laptop and booted it up. While she waited, she pulled the note from her pocket and re-read it.

Travel to the Place of Beauty and find the Last Pharaoh’s Tomb

Sophia hadn’t studied a lot of ancient history that didn’t pertain to the Gargoyles. She seemed to recall Cleopatra being the last Pharaoh, but she would double check to be sure. The Gargoyles in Nik’s family were of Italian descent on his father’s side. Jonas’ origins were Italian and French. Sophia had only paid attention to the history of those Gargoyles of interest to her and her family. If a computer search didn’t help her, she would call Xenia. Her aunt was a history professor after all.

Her search for the Place of Beauty resulted in several hits, but Ta-Set-Neferu came up most often. It was the Valley of the Queens where the wives of the Pharaohs were buried. Both it and the Valley of the Kings, where the Pharaohs were buried, were located in Luxor. When she looked up the last Pharaoh, she had been correct that it was Cleopatra. According to everything she was reading Xenia had been correct that nobody knew where the Queen was buried. Then why did her clue have her going to Ta-Set-Neferu? Unless someone had recently made an archaeological discovery that wasn’t in the search engines, the clue was somehow incorrect. Anything that was newsworthy was on the internet within minutes of it happening, so the clue had to be wrong. Her search showed a glyph for the tomb, and she wanted to know if it was also pictured on the Cleopatra Disk. If it was, she would look there, even if it didn’t make sense. If it wasn’t, she would know she was being given the runaround.

Just in case, Sophia dialed Xenia’s number. When her aunt didn’t answer, Sophia left a message, “Hello, Xenia. I needed to ask you a question about the Valley of the Queens. Please call me when you get this.” She leaned back in the desk chair and decided to order room service. When she reached for the receiver, she noticed the blinking red light on the phone. Someone had left her a message. Right as she picked up the receiver, her cell phone rang. Xenia.

“Hello, Xenia.”

“Hello, little dove. Sorry I missed your call. You said you had a question about Ta-Set-Neferu.”

Sophia turned back to her computer and the hieroglyphs. “Yes, I received another clue as to where my parents are. It said go to the place of beauty and find the last Pharaoh’s tomb. When I looked up both, it didn’t make sense. Not unless Cleopatra’s crypt has been found in the last five minutes. I wanted you to look at the disk and see if the hieroglyphs for the Valley of the Queens happen to be on there somewhere. I know it’s a long shot, but if somehow she happened to be buried there…”

“Describe the glyphs to me,” Xenia instructed. Sophia could hear her aunt unlocking a safe. She still had the disk in her possession.

“From left to right there’s a bird, a funky building, a box, then three of the same symbol that look like fish with crosses coming out of their heads. Hang on, I’ll take a snapshot of it and send it to you.” Sophia snapped a picture of the glyph and texted it to her aunt.

“I got it. I will have to get a magnifying glass out and study the disk. I doubt this particular sequence will be stamped on there, but I’ll give it a look. I’ll let you know when I find something.”

“Thank you. Have you talked to Keene yet?” Sophia hoped Xenia and her mate worked things out.

“He’s coming over later. I’m going to tell him the truth. Let’s hope he doesn’t run screaming.”

“Call me if you need back-up. He would probably take it easier if he knew there were more of us.”

“I appreciate the offer, and if he doesn’t believe me, I’ll take you up on it. Now, let me study this disk. I’ll call or text you soon.”

“Thank you and good luck.” Sophia thumbed her phone off. A loud thump against the wall made her jump. It happened again, and she jumped again. When it happened a third time, Sophia figured out whoever was in the room next door was bouncing a ball off the wall. She drew her fist back to bang on the wall when she heard a loud voice say, “I told you, she’s in her room. I followed her from the zoo.”