Curse of the Egyptian Goddess Read Online Free PDF

he said dryly and without sympathy.
    My frustration level had reached its limit and I didn’t know what to say. Crap! I need a drink.
    He must have been thinking the same thing when he walked away because he pulled a bottle of wine out of the cupboard nook. Thankfully, he poured two glasses and handed me one. “So, what have you been doing all this time?” 
    “Thanks,” I said taking a large drink. “I borrowed some money from my dad and bought a small business. That’s my income. I work there occasionally if someone calls in sick, but I try not to spend too much time there. I’m afraid I’ll spread my bad juju.”
    “Bad juju?” He snarled, acting like my mere presence offended him. “That’s what you call it?”
    “Why are you so mad at me? I didn’t do this to us. It’s not my fault.”
    His scowl deepened as he glared at me. “Maybe if you didn’t spend every other night drunk off your ass, you would’ve had a better plan before you came to me.”
    I wanted to throw my drink in his face, but that would be wasting perfectly good alcohol. I downed it instead. Maybe I did have a problem. “You’ve been following me?”
    “For a week,” he said, a dark loathing saturating his voice. “It didn’t take any longer than that to get the idea.”
    Defensively, I gathered up my strength. “Yeah? Well at least I’m not running around the world telling people I’m not who I am!”
    “Is that right, Emma?” he asked smugly.
    I grimaced, remembering everything I’d done to forget who I really was; drinking, changing my name, anything to cover up or escape from the guilt I felt inside. He was right and I couldn’t deny it. “I did change my name but I guess you know that now.”
    “You didn’t want me to find you,” he accused.
    “No, that’s not true. You know I hated my name. After my mother died, I went to a public school and got teased all the time. Changing my name had nothing to do with you.”
    The muscles in his jaw tightened, but he didn’t speak at first. Finally, he set his glass of wine down and carefully loaded every word with disgust, “So now you want me when you need something? When I can help you? How very sweet. You’ve really turned into quite a girl!”
    Stung, I stared back at him like he was an alien copy of my once best friend.
    “Just go!” he spat. “The answer is no. I will not help you now.”

Chapter 5
     
     
     
     
    I felt suffocated with hopelessness even before the serpent slithered across my feet and came for me with all his vengeance. My bloodcurdling scream bounced off the walls as usual, but for the first time, I didn’t fight him. I relaxed my body and let the air leave my lungs without trying to fill them back up. I was ready for it all to end. I wanted Apep to finish me.
    Calvin hated me. He was the one person in the world I thought I could trust and he turned me down as easily as he’d slammed the door. Maybe the whole curse was my fault. I pulled the box out of the sand, and I was already responsible for so many deaths; my mothers, my fathers, my relatives, and Chads. Now I was responsible for the death of a friendship. It was my last thought before the light faded, but I thought I heard the roar of a cat. Not a little one, a big one, like a lion or a tiger.
    I slept for the next day and a half, waking for brief periods. Each time I pictured Calvin’s angry face, and I closed my eyes again, trying to shut it out. For just a little while, I wanted to pretend it didn’t happen. After I recovered from the snake’s attack, I tried to see him one more time, but he had already checked out and disappeared.
    ****
    By Monday morning, I had come to grips with my situation and had a firm understanding of where I stood. Nine days ago I was accused of murder, eight days ago I broke the law by hopping on a plane to Egypt, and now I was completely fucked without Calvin’s help. I wore a long sleeved black shirt with my black jeans because they suited my mood.