Free Under Wraps: An Urban Fantasy Adventure (Werewolves vs. Mummies Book 1) by J.A. Cipriano Page A

why I go by Thes, though. You might not understand what it’s like to be named after a Greek hero, but where I come from, it isn’t exactly the best name to have.”
    “Why is that?” she asked. “If it belonged to a hero, it must be a strong name.”
    “I guess.” I shrugged. Theseus had been the guy who killed the minotaur and done a whole bunch of other crazy tasks. To be fair, I’d never really read the mythology behind it, so for all I knew he was a pretty cool guy. You’d think I would have, but honestly, it always felt a little arrogant, as though I was trying to compare myself to a mythological hero.
    Aside from that, going to high school in the twenty-first century with a name like Theseus was a bit of a downer. It stopped being cool in like third grade. Being named Theseus was right up there with being named Perseus. Although I was pretty sure if someone was named that, he’d probably use a nickname too.
    “So what were you going to ask me?” she asked, batting her long black eyelashes at me. I wasn’t sure if she did it on purpose, but it made my stomach do a little flip flop.
    “Um…” I said because I didn’t have anything better to say right then. I shook my head and looked off into the distance. It was nothing but desolate sand for miles and miles. I sighed. There was no good way to ask, really.
    “Do you know what happened with the book?” I asked, and as I did, Aziza seemed to deflate just a touch. She bit her lip and looked away from me, staring out over the waters of the Nile. Great, neither of us were good at eye contact.
    “Yes.” The word had an ominous quality to it, like the crackle of distant thunder in a grey sky.
    “Will you tell me?” I asked, doing my best to ignore the fact that I had to pull the information out of her. Throughout this journey, she had been more than willing to share every facet, every single iota of information with me. So why was she so reluctant to tell me this? Was it really that bad?
    “Thes, you’re going to die.” It took me a moment to process what she said. Even then, it didn’t seem right. How could I die?
    “How could I die?” I asked, reaching out toward her and spinning her so that I was staring into her face. Tears lined the edges of her eyes, threatening to spill out at any time and my heart wrenched. Was she telling the truth? No… no she couldn’t be.
    “Anyone who uses the book of Thoth dies.” She looked away, not meeting my eyes as she stared past me into the distance. “And before you ask why we went after it, remember that I am already dead. So is Khufu. It cannot harm us.” She swallowed. “But you? You absorbed the book, so how could you not die?”
    “So you don’t know for sure?” I asked, and an undeserved feeling of relief washed over me. “You’re just assuming then?”
    “Well… yes, but—”
    “If it’s just a rumor, then I’m not worried. I’m not a normal guy, remember? I’m a werewolf.” I smiled as I wrapped my arms around her, pulling her against my chest. She felt good pressed there, fitting against me like a puzzle piece, her body warm and soft. I inhaled a breath that smelled of lavender and cinnamon.
    “Perhaps you should be,” said a low, gravelly voice behind me.
    I spun so quickly that I actually pulled Aziza off her feet and wound up toppling to the ground with her on top of me. I looked up, and my heart leapt into my throat. Shrouded against the sun so that he was like a black statue, a tall, bronze-skinned man stood. In one hand, he held a spear that glittered like polished obsidian. He bent down toward me, his other hand reaching out as if to help me up.
    He wasn’t a man at all. Instead of a face, he had the head of a black-furred jackal. His huge jaws were curled into a smile that reminded me of my pack leader the moment before he taught me some kind of painful lesson. It was a smile that made my wolf leap to his feet, ears straight up, jaws just on the edge of curling into a