Free A Little Rhine Must Fall by Erin Evans Page B

brushing my hair out of my eyes and came face to face with Cecily. She grabbed my elbow. “Hurry. If we go this way we’ll miss all the guards. Unless you want to keep using the Voice.”
    I didn’t, so we ran. I had no idea I had that much energy left. A moment earlier I had been ready to lie on the ground until archeologists found me hundreds of years from now. Now I was racing through the dark pyramid complex, tripping over rocks, and trying to keep up with a vampire who wasn’t even panting. She probably wasn’t breathing either, but you get the point. I was panting enough for both of us.
    We reached the wall and I stopped, gasping for breath. “The gate is closed!”
    “No problem,” Cecily made a cup with her hands and motioned for me to step up.
    I was wary. “What are you going to do?”
    “I’m going to toss you up,” she said.
    Bastet was nowhere in sight, having taken her own path back. I looked around for a ladder, or a door, or maybe a magic carpet that would lift me gently up and over. Nothing.
    “Come on, we haven’t got all night.” She held her hands out again.
    It was just as bad as I imagined. Whatever parts of me had survived un-bruised from my pyramid jaunt now joined the rest of me.
    Cecily dropped lightly beside me and caught me rubbing my hip and muttering. “Did you fail to stick the landing?” she asked.
    “Stick the landing? Yeah, I stuck the landing. I stuck it right on my butt.” I was a little caustic.
    “At least it’s padded,” she smirked and I had to start laughing.
    :If you two are done being idiots, can we go?: Bastet had arrived.
    There were almost as many people on the streets at night as there had been in the daytime. The air was full of strange exotic smells, and I wished we had more time to sightsee or maybe just try some of the food I could see people eating as we passed different restaurants. It was so loud, too! Taxi cabs crowded the roads and they were all honking their horns. I kept bumping into people trying to take in as much as I could. Bastet hustled us by everything in a rush and we soon made the turn back into the alley.
    My eyes took a moment to readjust to the darkness after the lights of the street. Bastet was at my feet, back arched, hair raised, tail straight in the air and a low rumble coming from her throat. Cecily was also in fight mode, crouched and ready to spring. I saw the danger last. The end of the alley was not empty.

 
    Chapter Eight:
    Reentry
     
    I was not in the mood for this. I was tired. I wanted to go home. It felt like I had been awake for days, but I knew that when I got home it would probably still be mid-afternoon.
    “Double, double, toil and trouble,” I muttered, then louder, “What do you want?”
    Three figures were waiting for us at the end of the alley. I recognized them by their hooded robes which were pulled up to hide their faces. They stood in a line, hands held in front and hidden by the voluminous sleeves. They were too cliched to be muggers. It had to be the WAND.
    “You shall not pass,” one intoned.
    “And who is going to stop us, little witch?” Cecily’s voice was low and sweet and sent chills down my spine. I’d seen her in action several times before and I would not want to be on the wrong end of her spiked heels.
    “We have no quarrel with you, bloodsucker,” another one answered, “but the human cannot pass.”
    Bastet growled loudly. :We paid for the human to use this Zipline:
    “You paid for two trips for the human. Those have been used.”
    Crap. It was the pregnant thing again. I was barely six weeks pregnant. It didn’t seem fair that I should count for two people. (Unless it came to food. Then I was definitely eating for two!)
    “They are just trying to extort more payment,” Cecily murmured to Bastet.
    :What is the price for the two humans to return to their home?: Bastet hissed.
    “We want nothing from you, goddess,” the third witch chanted in a monotone.
    “Well that’s just