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dark shadow flitted past. She tipped her gaze up to the sky and spotted the hawk, still flying lazy circles above her. For some reason the large bird of prey had royally spooked Mehmet. Enoughso that five minutes after it started trailing them the boy had taken off like a frightened jackrabbit heading for home.
    Gemma was very familiar with the stories the locals told about the mythical black hawk, al Shahin . That the bird was really one and the same as Sheikh Shahin, leader of the death warriors, an immortal shape-shifter who served Set-Sutekh, the ancient God of the Underworld. The mystical hawk was said to be a harbinger of death, that those who saw it should run for their lives. Which was just what Mehmet had done, the little brat.
    The hawk above glided down closer to her, sweeping past in a rush of wings and whistling air, then soared up to ride the thermals just above her head. A shivering thrill went through her. She couldn’t believe he’d come so near!
    He was incredibly beautiful. His matt black feathers were sleek and long, his scalloped tail fanned and elegant. He was big, his wingspan wider than her outstretched arms. As she watched him, his head cocked and his piercing black eye focused on her, as though he were deliberately studying her, as thoroughly as she was him. Sizing her up.
    That’s when she noticed the gold band around his pupil. Omigod! Just like the man’s yesterday! Gemma’s arms bloomed with goose bumps.Could man and hawk be one and the same? Sheikh Shahin, the shape-shifter?
    Wow.
    Ho- kaay .
    She was officially losing it here. Too much sun. And way too much imagination. Time to turn around. This had been a really bad idea anyway.
    She reined the mare back toward the gebel and home. Suddenly, the hawk swooped down in front of her, letting out a blood-curdling avian cry. Gemma screamed as Bint reared, pawing the air, panicked by the predator’s attack. Then the horse turned and bolted in the other direction, galloping deeper into the desert.
    â€œWhoa!”
    The hawk wheeled and flew up into the sky behind them.
    Pulse pounding, Gemma reined in her mount, quieted her, and turned her around again. This was too weird. Definitely time to get out of here. She kicked Bint into a canter.
    But the hawk came at them again, spooking the terrified horse back around to the west.
    Gemma’s pulse took off at a dead run along with Bint. Her hands started to shake as she struggled to get control of the panicked animal, her heartbeat thundering, her mind in a whirl of stark disbelief. She was nearly as frightened as her trembling mount.What the hell was going on? And why, oh why, hadn’t she thought to bring along Joss’s shotgun?
    After two more tries, both she and the trembling horse gave up and stopped turning for home.
    It was like the hawk was toying with her. Steering her westward. Preventing her from following Mehmet back to the Nile Valley and the villa.
    Taking her…somewhere.
    Which was just plain crazy.
    Wasn’t it?
    By now both she and Bint were breathing hard and the poor horse’s eyes were wild with fear. She decided to wait it out. It was still early afternoon. She had time and plenty of water. Eventually, the hawk would get bored with its game, and leave her alone. Meanwhile, she could search for the oasis.
    So farther and farther into the western desert she rode, through the waves of shimmering heat that rose from the brown earth. Until the rocky ground gave way to golden dunes, and when she looked over her shoulder the crags of the gebel had disappeared completely below the horizon. Leaving her with no landmarks by which to steer home, other than the sun. And still no sign of the oasis. How far could it be? Mehmet had never said.
    Gemma pulled out her water bottle and took a long drink, trying to calm her jangled nerves andto wet her throat, which had gone dry as the desert sand around her. She was really starting to worry.
    Tipping her head up