Danilo sat straight up. “We’re leaving,” he announced. “Immediately.”
I stood up. “Fine. I wasn’t very hungry anyway.”
“We’re leaving the hotel, Katerina. You have five minutes to gather your belongings from your room.”
“Five minutes!” I exclaimed.
Mala grabbed my arm. “Hurry, Duchess.”
But they weren’t even my belongings. Danilo had bought everything that was in my trunk. I didn’t care whether I ever saw that wardrobe again. “I’m ready now,” I said.
Danilo and Mala were not, however. Reluctantly, I followed Mala back to her room, where she threw her things into a small suitcase. She was cursing in Polish in a low voice.
“Why did our plans change so quickly?” I asked.
She muttered something under her breath, and I caught a whisper of the Romanov name.
“Are they here?” I asked. Had George come for me after all? My heart began to pound.
“Who? You are being silly for not taking your things, Duchess. It will be a long time before you will see fancy dresses again.”
“First tell me why we must leave so quickly.” I would stall as long as possible if it meant helping George and Papus stop Konstantin.
“The Grigori who sided with the French mages were seen traveling south. They know where we are headed, it seems. But Konstantin Pavlovich does not wish to face them before he’s completed his ritual. We are in danger here. Now you must go get your things.”
“Why do you remain loyal to Danilo?” I asked her. “Because of your loyalty to Princess Cantacuzene? The Montenegrins killed Johanna. Konstantin may mourn her death, but the crown prince does not.”
Anger flashed in her eyes. She looked as if she wanted to strike me, but her hands remained clenched at her sides. “I will remain loyal to Konstantin, for one day he’ll be able to bring the princess back to me.”
I looked at her in shock. George had cut off the blood drinker’s head after Militza had poisoned her. There was no way Princess Cantacuzene could return. Not even the lich tsar was that powerful, was he?
“Now,” Mala said, pushing me down the hallway to my room, “no more stalling. The crown prince’s Grigori will not allow you to interfere with his plans. You have five minutes to gather your things.”
Reluctantly, I hurried next door and hastily packed as much as I could from the wardrobe Danilo had provided. Once I was safe in St. Petersburg, I would burn every last one of these dresses.
My five minutes were up before I could finish. One of the Grigori came to carry our baggage. Danilo entered my room behind him. “Are you ready? Very good. We must go quickly.”
“Why?” I demanded. “If the grand duke is coming, you cannot stop him. He will find me, Danilo.”
I received a slap to my face before I knew what was happening. It was Konstantin’s harsh laugh I heard. “Forget about your precious grand duke. He already knows we’ve been together for the past week and he assumes we have eloped. He will never marry you now, Katerina.”
Tears leaked from the corners of my eyes, as much from the pain of being struck as from utter despair. He was right. There was no way George would ever believe I had not been compromised. Mala was not a sufficient chaperone. I would not have trusted Petya’s dog with the faerie dancer.
“Please hurry, Your Majesty,” Mala hissed. She was standing in the hallway, dressed once again in her black habit and head covering. No one would recognize her as the tempting belly dancer from yesterday.
“Come along, Katerina,” Danilo said, clutching my arm so tightly that he bruised my skin.
We descended the staircase flanked by several Grigori. They did not appear to be armed, but I could tell they were prepared to defend Danilo to the death.
We made it through the hotel’s lobby and into the waiting carriage outside without incident. Mala sat across from Danilo and me, glancing out the window repeatedly as we raced to the dock at the river, where a chartered steamer was waiting. But surely traveling by rail would be faster? How far south did Danilo plan to take us?
The moonlight glimmered across the dark waves on the wide river. I was a little sad to be leaving such a beautiful city.
“Step quickly, Katerina,” Danilo said as he rushed me up the gangplank. I stumbled, but two ship porters standing at the entry were quick to offer their assistance. Danilo brushed them aside and gently pushed me onto the steamer. “Your room is this way, Katerina.”
He took me directly to a small cabin on the upper level and promptly locked me in.
27
I awoke in a tiny room, not remembering at first where I was. And then it all came back to me. I’d given in to the tears and cried myself to sleep. Now my head ached and my eyes were puffy. The ship rolled gently, and glancing at the window, I could see the lights from the waterfront passing by slowly. The sky was just beginning to lighten. We’d left Cairo. I had no idea where we were.
I washed my face in the tiny basin in my cabin and tried to make my hair presentable. I finally gave up and twisted it into a topknot. I was shocked to find my door unlocked.
In the early-morning sun, I could see that the steamer we were on was just a small cruiser, with only a few cabins and one large common room on the main deck. In the common room, I found Danilo and Mala. They were arguing over a piece of papyrus in Mala’s hand.
“They won’t know what they’re looking for,” Mala was saying. “I’m sure it will be safe.”
Danilo tore the papyrus out of her hand. “It won’t matter if the tomb has already been desecrated.”
“What tomb?” I asked. “Where are we headed?”
Mala turned away and went to stare out the window and sulk.
Danilo pulled a chair out for me, gesturing for me to sit. “Abydos.”
“Isn’t that south of Cairo?”
“Quite a distance south, actually.” Danilo sat in the chair opposite me and stirred his coffee. “I had a private steamer chartered to get us there as fast as possible. I’m afraid we have no time for sightseeing at Sakkara or Armana. And I’ve had to persuade the captain to travel through the night as well to get us there in record time.”
“I don’t understand. What is in Abydos? I thought we were returning to St. Petersburg.”
Mala laughed and turned to face me. “We must go to the temple in Abydos for Konstantin’s ritual. Once it is completed, Papus will have no choice but to help us.”
“The ritual you spoke of in the bazaar?” I had an uneasy feeling about ancient Egyptian rituals, and I hated that Mala knew more about the crown prince’s plans than I did.
Danilo smiled. “I don’t believe it will be anything you have not done before.”
A chill slid down the back of my neck. I did not want to take part in anything Danilo was planning. Konstantin was a powerful necromancer in his own right. “You have no need of me, Danilo. You know perfectly well you are capable of handling this on your own.”
He leaned forward and tucked a loose strand of my hair behind my ear. His voice was soft but deadly. “Oh no, Duchess. The necromancer who recites this ritual must be pure. Something, alas, that is too late for me.”
Revulsion washed over me. I felt cold and clammy. And slightly nauseated. I had no desire to think about Danilo’s … impurity. What if he and Mala had …? No, I did not want to think about it.
“I still have a part to play,” he continued. “This ritual will require every ounce of power the two of us possess. It requires a small sacrifice.”
“You would never kill me.” But I did not believe my own words.
His smile showed his sharp, tiny fangs. “I wouldn’t say never, Katerina. But no, not at this time.” He glanced from me to Mala enigmatically, his eyes flashing from black to green and back to the strange hazel color that told me the two men were fighting for control of Danilo’s body again. I feared it was only a matter of time before Danilo would surrender completely to the lich tsar.
Then the crown prince’s mood changed as he sat back and dumped three heaping spoonfuls of sugar into his coffee. With a much more pleasant smile, he said, “Have you never heard of the Temple of Osiris at Abydos?”
