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massive gold doors towered above her. She grabbed the crystal handle and gave it a yank. The door didn’t budge. They were of considerable weight and size for her small frame. She dug in her heals and gave it a hefty pull. It opened a crack, enough she wedged herself in the door. With a final push the door slid open enough to let her pass.
    A cool draft buffeted her face.
    Crap .
    Not a single lantern was lit. She pulled out her flashlight and turned the head to engage the small light. The solitary white beam pierced the blackness and illuminated the familiar chairs and tables of the library. She counted, one, two, three, and four. Yep, four back up batteries. Next time she saw Asar, she was going to recommend electrical lighting in the palace. The crack in the door allowed the hallway light to mark her beacon to freedom—in case she needed to make a hasty retreat.
    Her fatigue forgotten in favor of her heart pounding in her chest, she forced her legs forward toward the center vestibule of the archive. Her flashlight provided a six foot radius of visibility. She really needed to buy a bigger flashlight. One that could be used as a weapon .
    Kendra headed in the direction that Bomani had looked earlier. The vault should be marked in some manner, and if not she could use her gift to find it. She stopped at the end of the center aisle which branched to the right and left. She glanced at the entrance toward the small sliver of light still visible. It wouldn’t be for long once she turned down either hallway. With a shaky hand, she pointed the head of the flashlight to the end of both corridors.
    Right or left? She scanned the floor’s markings. It would be just like her to be standing on top of it. Losing her nerve, she wondered if it would be better to go back and return tomorrow with Bomani. It may take her hours to find the entrance. Asar was right, she could get lost in here.
    Similar to tombs, this library was a labyrinth with dead ends and false corridors. She couldn’t leave a bread trail out of here. Irritated with herself, she tapped her foot against the black stone. Irritated was good, because it kept her mind off the darkness closing in around her. At least this was a solid structure and she wasn’t at risk of falling through the floor into a decayed crypt. See, there was an upside. How many of those she had accidentally found over the years? She lost count.
    She turned right and ambled down the center of the wide hallway, leaving her beacon to freedom behind. The beam of her flashlight danced over the enormous statues of various Egyptian gods. She named them as she went on her way to distract from the fact that they loomed over her. Nut, Sky goddess. Geb, Earth god. All the elemental gods.
    How many days had she wished to travel into the past and see the ancient Egyptian culture for herself? Unbelievably, she received something much better. She was with the gods that the people had worshiped. The historians had gotten some things right, but so much had left them guessing. The answers lie in this great hall.      
    She stopped to admire a goddess whose beautiful features were carved into alabaster marble. She touched her fingertips to it with reverence. “Hi, mom.” The stone was warm to the touch, unlike the others in the hall. The heat of the stone penetrated straight to her heart. Kendra smiled.
    She had yet to meet her mother, the goddess Mut. The Mother of the Gods had chosen Kendra’s father to sire her offspring. Offspring that held the key to battling Kepi and Menthu, the Pantheons’ enemies. She touched the medallion of her pectoral necklace, a gift from her mother. Now she would be counted among them.
    The slam of the archive door echoed off the enormous stone room. Startled, she stumbled back. The flashlight beam flittered erratically around like a strobe light until she caught her balance. She covered the top of her flashlight with her hand. The beam created an eerie reddish glow through her