Czar drummed his fingers on the wall. “Suppose the drawing triggered migraines in you, Player. You stared at the picture for hours. Your mind saw the plans for the bomb and put it all together. The longer you looked at it, the more your head hurt.”
“It’s possible,” Player agreed. “I was out of it when I went downstairs and Jonas was there with Jackson. All I had was building that bomb or I was going to keel over.”
“I think Zyah kissing you stopped it,” Maestro said. “She brought the temperature up in that room by about a thousand degrees.” He sent her a quick grin.
“He can kiss, what can I say,” Zyah defended, but she didn’t smile.
Player could see she was trying. He sank down on the bench beside her and slipped his arm around her shoulder. “Baby, I know this is hard. We aren’t certain of anything yet. We don’t know anyone’s motives, and until we do, we can’t judge anyone. I told you what Czar drilled into us when we were kids. There isn’t any use worrying about something until we know the facts. We’re figuring things out. That’s all we’re doing. Help us do that. I’ve spent time with Anat; so have Maestro and Savage. No way do any of us think she’s capable of what this drawing would imply, so something else is at play here. We have to figure out what’s going on to make certain everyone is safe and then decide what to do.”
“Player,” Czar said. “Look at the frame.”
All of them immediately looked at the drawing spotlighted under the blazing lights. The etchings had once again subtly changed, moving to resemble an actual long scroll.
“Every time the two of you connect, the etchings change to that position,” Czar said. “I’ve watched it do so over and over. When you move apart, it fades back to the original frame.”
Zyah suddenly surged to her feet, pulling away from Player. “Remember when I said the stars would give a wide view for the portal? Well, if somehow it took both Mama Anat and Grandfather Horus to open the portal together, like we did, not that I know how we did it, and the portal gave the wide view of where the target was located, through her connection with the earth, Mama Anat would have been able to pinpoint the exact location.” She looked at Player with pain-filled eyes. “You and I could do the same thing together. We have that same connection.”
“She would never do it,” Player said. “I’m telling you, baby, she wouldn’t. You know she wouldn’t. I don’t care what the evidence says. She wouldn’t do it.”
Czar looked down at his cell phone. “Destroyer said Anat insisted on coming here. It’s taken a while to get one of the vehicles for her to ride in that can transport her comfortably here. She’ll be here soon.”
Player went to Zyah, ignoring the way she tried to push him away. He wrapped her up in his arms. “Baby, I’m telling you, it’s all going to be fine.”
“I just hate this so much.”
Savage took the monocle to the bench where the little box and wrapping paper were. Carefully wrapping it back the way Zyah had it, he put the device in the box. “I’m going to put this in your purse, Zyah, so nothing happens to it. I know it means a lot to Anat. If we have to destroy the drawing, I want her to have something she loves of her husband’s.”
“Thanks, Savage.” Zyah sounded close to tears.
Czar stood in front of the drawing. “Kiss her, Player. Kiss Zyah.”
Player frowned. Zyah ducked her head against his chest. “What are you thinking?”
“I think the portal is ready to be opened, and kissing her will open it. I mean really kissing her. Turn her around so he can’t see her. You face this way. We’ll spread out. Let him face us. He wants a confrontation.”
“No,” Zyah protested. “Wait for Mama Anat. She might know who he is. If she does, she can tell us how to handle him. If we say or do the wrong thing, it might put more people in jeopardy. All of you are so used to handling things on your own that you don’t consider that it might be prudent to wait. You don’t even know who this man is. We need information.”
Player liked that she had included herself with them.
Czar nodded. “You’re right, Zyah. I wanted to see the portal work, and I’d like to see this man, but without real information, a name, a place, I can’t put Code on tracking him. Once we know who he is, we can find him and eliminate any threat to Anat and you, but until we have that information, we’re dead in the water. My curiosity got the better of me for once. Thanks for reining me in.”
Player glanced at him. That was so unlike Czar, Player didn’t believe a word of it. He’d deliberately forced Zyah to stop him. She had been the voice of reason for all of them. In doing so, she’d put faith in her grandmother’s ability to sort everything out.
Savage handed Zyah her purse. “Put that somewhere safe. I have a feeling Anat’s going to want to destroy this thing.”
“If you wouldn’t mind, Zyah, I’d like to take photos of the drawing,” Player said. “It really is a masterpiece. It would be a shame to have it completely disappear. I’d get rid of the photographs eventually.” He glanced at Ink.
Zyah frowned. “What would you do with them?”
“I thought I’d have the drawing tattooed on me. I think it would go pretty nicely over the loom scars on my chest. If it would freak you out, I wouldn’t do it, but you love the drawing. I know your grandmother’s explanation is going to vindicate your family. She will ask to destroy the drawing, and it will most likely be safer to do so.”
“Take the photos, but if this all goes wrong, get rid of them immediately.” She tucked the purse up on a shelf out of the way, just in case things got out of hand when they opened the portal after her grandmother got there.
Player knew, no matter what, Czar was going to have them open it. All of them were curious. He couldn’t blame them. He would have been. They had no idea how very creepy it was. His main concern was the bomb. Did anyone else have the schematics for that bomb that could slip through the portal? If so, were there more portals and bombs? Could this man suddenly appear and slide a bomb into the shed where they were? It was difficult to believe someone else had the plans for the bomb because in all the years Anat had been in the United States, it would have shown up somewhere. At least, that was Player’s hope.
“They’re here,” Czar announced.
Zyah dragged in air and reached for Player’s hand, her eyes meeting his. Maestro hastily opened the door and waved to the others to move aside to give Destroyer plenty of room to roll Anat’s chair into the shed.
TWENTY
“Mama Anat,” Zyah greeted, sounding as if she might burst into tears.
Anat looked around at all of them and then at the drawing under the powerful lights. “I was afraid of this.” She gave a little sigh and looked at Player. “You have gifts, don’t you? Who would have ever thought this could happen? I never even considered it. I thought my secret was safe.”
She rolled her chair straight to the drawing and stared up at it. “Horus and Ken were both so brilliant, and their minds refused to rest. They were always dreaming up whatifs. Could this be done? Nothing to them was impossible. They would talk about things until all hours of the night. I loved to hear them talk. So did your mother, Zyah. We’d sit around together and just imagine the improbable, the impossible, and how it could be done.”