Free The Pyramid of Souls by Erica Kirov Page B

now."
       Nick thought of Damian's vault. In the deepest basement of the Winter Palace Hotel and Casino was a vault of money: the one the family showed to the gaming commission, which oversaw all the casinos. But hidden there was another vault—one that housed all of the family's relics and artifacts, the magic that they guarded and kept safe. The Eternal Hourglass that he, Theo, and Damian had recaptured rested there, inside a glass case.
       "You brought the Pyramid of Souls here? To the convention?"
       Atsu nodded. "We always travel with it. The pyramid is too important to leave behind. This news is very dangerous. In the hands of Shadowkeepers, the pyramid could collect the souls of those in Sanctuary."
       "What's that?" Nick asked.
       "It is a place where Magickeepers go when they disappear—a resting place. It is also a place where Magickeepers are vulnerable—a place where the soul house easily could be used to capture their essences."
       Nick looked at Isabella and lowered his voice. "What if the raven lady took it?"
       Isabella nodded. "We should never have let her out of our sight. Do you see her in the ballroom?"
       Nick scanned the crowd. He spotted her—looking over her shoulder and scurrying from the room. While everyone else was fretting over the theft, she was leaving.
       "There, Isabella!" he hissed. "She's up to something."
       "What are you two whispering about?" Siti asked. "Do you know who has our clan's soul house? You have no idea what the Pyramid of Souls can do." Siti's eyes were wide with terror. "We are its guardians. If we have lost it, no one is safe."
       Nick exchanged a look with Isabella. "Come on. Let's go. You two can come. We'll explain as we go."
       With all the adults in an uproar, the four of them slipped out of the ballroom with Sascha on their heels. Out in the lobby, Nick looked for the raven woman, but she was nowhere to be seen. What did I expect? he thought. A Shadowkeeper coul d disappear with the snap of a finger and the blink of an eye.
       "We need to find out what's going on," said Nick. "Let's

    start in the classroom. Maybe one of Theo's crystal balls will tell us what we need to know."

    ***

    The four of them—and Sascha—snuck into the empty classroom. Nick heard the skittering sounds of bugs and spiders in their glass jars, the chirping of crickets, and some gloops and pops and hisses—he wasn't sure he wanted to know wher e those sounds came from. Nick squinted and looked at the rows of crystal balls—some glowed in the darkness—but he was too afraid to turn on a light and attract attention.
       "If you were going to try to find out something about an ancient Egyptian artifact, which ball would you choose?" he asked Atsu.
       The tall, dark-haired boy walked to the crystal balls and surveyed them, one by one, until he came to a ball that stood atop a gold pedestal. Each of the feet on the pedestal was shaped like a sphinx, and hieroglyphics were etched in the base.
       "This one!" He pointed. "Don't you agree, Siti?"
       His sister nodded solemnly. "Yes, Atsu. That is a wise choice."
       Nick stared at the ball. He was in big trouble if Theo caught him. His cousin didn't like anyone Gazing in his collection without permission, just as Damian didn't allow anyone in his library. But trouble or not, this was an emergency, and everyone was panicked and frenzied with worry downstairs. Who would look for them there? He touched the ball and waited for a vision in his mind.
       The first time he had ever Gazed, Madame B. and Grandpa had told him never to make assumptions. But now, staring into a ball on a sphinx pedestal, he expected to see Egypt. Instead, he had a vision of a disheveled, nineteenth-century American writer…

    ***

    Ryan's Saloon, Lombard Street, Baltimore, Maryland, September 28, 1849
       Edgar Allan Poe was passed out on a wooden bench outside a noisy saloon when a passerby poked