Page 142 of A Thousand Nights Before Dawn
He reached out for Zahra as they pulled him away. “Help her! Help her!”
Namir was forced through the halls. The other assassins were in thepr-aa, and they had already killed a fewmedjay.
Nubia stood in one of the halls, barely visible in the chaos. Namir’s terrified gaze found her. Light glinted off a dagger. One of the assassins stepped up to Nubia as she tried to run past, thrusting a blade into her side. Nubia fell to the floor with a scream.
Namir’s eyes went wide. “Nubia!” He rushed to her side. She was lying on the ground, blood pooling around her figure. Her panicked eyes locked on the ceiling. Blood spilled from her lips, and her lungs struggled for air. He picked her up. “Nubia, stay with me.” Tears filled his eyes. “I will fix this. I will fix this!”
As he spoke, the mark on his chest glowed, and the wings disappeared. Nubia’s eyes narrowed in confusion as the wings appeared on her chest. She lifted her hand to his arm, but gravity pulled it back down. Her head lolled, her breath stopping in her throat.
“Nubia,” Namir cried. “Nubia!”
The vision changed again, showing the second floor of thepr-aa. Nubia lay on her bed, a white sheet covering her blood-stained body. The Pharaoh Queen sobbed loudly beside her. Zosar and Waaiz talked in the hall outside of Namir’s room.
Namir knelt by his bed, where Zahra was lying. Her eyes were closed, and her chest was covered in bandages. The pallor of death clung to her skin, her breathing only visible by the struggling motions of her chest. Namir held her hand tightly, his still stained by his sister’s blood.
Zahra’s glazed-over eyes fluttered open, finding Namir beside her. His swollen eyes met hers. “I am so sorry, Zahra. I did not think this would happen.” He squeezed her hand. “I promise, tomorrow will be different. I will not let this happen again.”
Zahra watched him, dazed. Moonlight sparkled in her eyes, and realization slowly gripped her. She pulled in a sharp breath, looking around with panicked eyes as she grasped the blanket.
Namir’s face filled with alarm. “Zahra, look at me. I am here.”
She grabbed his arm, pulling him closer with sudden strength. “Hem-netjer.”
Namir’s eyes narrowed. “I don’t understand. What do you mean?”
Zahra pulled in a shaky breath. “Run.”
Waaiz let out a cry from the hallway. Zosar closed the door behind him, a bloodykhopeshhanging at his side. He turned toward Namir, his eyes consumed by darkness.
Namir shot to his feet. Zosar ran toward him, grabbing his throat and throwing him against the wall. Namir gasped, tugging at Zosar’s arm with alarmed eyes. Zosar’s fingers dug into Namir’s skin, and he held the sword close to Namir’s throat. He gritted his teeth in effort, but the blade wouldn’t move any closer to Namir’s skin.
A raspy woman’s voice echoed through the room as the Pharaoh Queen’s shouts came from outside. “You cannot kill the Pharaohs’ firstborn as my vessel. Re has decreed I cannot touch him. Bind their memories of this night to the Thoth’s power. They will not remember until its hold on the day ends.”
Zosar dropped thekhopeshasmedjaybanged on the door. Green energy spread from his fingertips, going up Namir’s neck. Namir choked, gasping as his eyes rolled back in his head.
Zahra watched helplessly from the bed as Namir crumpled to the ground. Zosar threw his hand out toward her, and green magic entered her mind. Her eyes rolled back in her head.
The voice came again. “Curse her. She must not be allowed to interfere.”
A whimper came from Zahra’s throat as Zosar put his hand over her chest. Darkness dripped from his veins, coiling into a black snake on her skin. She struggled for breath, shaking her head as the snake wrapped around her chest, sinking its teeth into her heart.
The obelisk chimed six times in the distance. Thesibyl’smark appeared on her forehead, and her amber eyes shimmered.
“No,” the voice cried. “She was supposed to be dead. Do not let her touch you!”
Zahra, in her weakened state, reached out numbly toward Zosar. At the final chime, the Thoth stopped time, and Zahra’s hand landed on Zosar’s arm.
The past came blasting back to her mind as Zahra and Namir were thrown from the Thoth’s vision. Their hands disconnected, and they landed hard on the floor of the hidden library. Zahra rolled over, clutching her head as she cried out in pain. Zosar’s spell fought her mind, trying to force the memories back into hiding.
Zahra pushed against the spell. Her head glowed with thesibyl’smark, and she screamed, forcing the spell away from her and Namir’s minds. It lingered above their heads, but it did not touch their memories.
Zahra got to her knees, gritting her teeth. Her frame trembled at what she saw. The hidden library was gone. All around her stood women cloaked in black, holding oil lamps. The sky was without sun, moon, or stars. The only light around her was from the lamps.
Zahra stumbled to her feet. Fear penetrated her heart. Where was she? She reached out toward one of the women. “H—Hello?”
The woman turned toward her, and Zahra’s eyes went wide. It was her grandmother—Doris. There was a large gash that looked like it was caused by an animal over her chest, and her eyes were glazed over. Her voice echoed the voices of the other women. “Beware the day of a thousand nights.”
Zahra backed away. The other women turned toward her. They weresibyls—her ancestors.
