Chapter 54

Shai stood stunned for a moment. The gears in his head began turning, and his face turned from its mask of unchained defeat to one of tenuous hope. "Is it really possible?" he asked, removing his grip from Zale in a conscious attempt to compose himself.

Zale shrugged heavily, his shoulders sinking back down. "I don't know. It's the only thing I can think of. The materials for the final test come in tomorrow. I don't know if they will even arrive. On top of that, I doubt there will be a second chance to try. A now or never kind of situation," he explained.

Choice fell in Shai's lap. His stomach buzzed. He met Zale's eyes and couldn't refrain from asking, "What do you think?"

"With all due respect, you'd be batshit crazy to even think about attempting something so monumentally stupid, but I was never sane to begin with," he shrugged with the glint of a smile.

"I'll take the risk. Whether you want to or not, that's on you. But it looks like this is the end. Do or die."

Shai tented his brow, the dark hair nearly meeting as he searched Zale for doubts. "You can return to your country, Zale. You need not sail upon this sinking ship. I'm sure my people would be happy to flee with you as well."

The thought hadn't even occurred to Zale. He grappled with this idea. On the one hand, he would return home and act as if nothing ever happened, waiting for Meru to return. On the other hand, he would most undoubtedly die, if not to monsters, then to his haphazard attempts to battle the inevitably of life. He rocked on his heels and bounced to the balls of his feet again and again.

A tickling in the back of his mind, or the pit of his stomach, told him that this was his last chance. If he returned, he'd be free from the bizarre life he'd found himself in since the Coma Library.

"Well, you aren't wrong. I'd also be crazy not to take that chance," he admitted.

Shai nodded once, a small smile of understanding replacing his frown. "I blame you none. I will arrange to have Akil see you to the airport. If possible, I'd like to- "

"But, I don't see myself being any better for it. I choose to stay here, Shai. If I'm dead anyway, I might as well choose when and how I'll go out. One of my old friends said that before charging into the fray of a terrible battle. We followed after him, all resigned to our fates. Of course, he was the only one who didn't make it out."

Zale patted Shai on the shoulder once, closing the deal and stamping out and potential protest. "I'll let you think about it. No one will miss an old hobo, but they might miss a pharaoh. I'll wait outside tomorrow morning. We will head out at eight.," he said before leaving Shai to think.

When Zale left the office, he walked only a short way before collapsing against the wall, knees weak and hands shaking. "Master Sotanaht, are you all right?" Mert asked.

Zale held her at bay with an unsteady hand. "I will be. I think I'm just tired. I'd like to rest. It's late after all," he said, wobbling to his feet and shuffling down the hall with Mert closely in tow.

Once in his bed, he breathed a deep sigh into the pillow but felt no relief. His chest was tight, and his stomach squeezed with nerves. 'Meru was right. I really am crazy,' he thought.

The next morning confirmed it. Like a mad man, he stood outside the estate with Mert. He shifted back and forth between his legs while waiting for Shai. He checked his phone repeatedly, and Mert, for the fourth time, said, "Pharaoh will not be any faster no matter how many times you check the time, Master Sotanaht. Please, rest your feet in the car."

"If I thought that sitting in that stuffy thing would make me feel any less stressed, I'd have a long been in there. I'd much rather be out here when he shows up," Zale said, eyes glancing from the estate's front doors to the cloudless sky.

"I believe you are wasting your time. He is wise enough to know when an idea is-"

She stopped, throat drying as Shai approached with Akil in tow. "My apologies for the delay," Shai said, head held high with a charming smile.

"No delay at all. Why are you breathing so heavy? You look like you just finished a relay race," Zale asked.

"Try boxing."

"You box?" Zale asked, surprised as he opened the door for Shai.

"Only when Akil and I disagree on things," he retorted, pointing at his left eye.

Upon closer inspection, Zale could see the darkening of the skin around his eye. It wouldn't be too noticeable on Shai's swarthy skin, but it was there. Zale's eyes flashed to Akil, looking for signs of his victory. "It was my victory, actually," Shai replied as if reading Zale's thoughts, "Though, I've never seen Akil fight quite so seriously."

Zale was shocked to find that the elderly gentleman was willing to injure his master, but also that Shai and his slender physique had the power to take down the wide framed butler. Zale simply shook his head. "So, we're doing this then?"

"Much to my dismay, we are, indeed, 'doing this,'" Akil replied for Shai with a grimace.