Conquer the Dark by L. A. Banks

Aziza’s wise counsel made Celeste’s shoulders relax. Everything that had happened in the hotel room might just have been a stress reliever, now that she really thought about it. Maybe Azrael hadn’t lost the ultimate control and was just battle hyped. After all, as her sister said, he was the frickin’ Angel of Death and therefore probably took the whole battle thing more deeply into his bones than the others. Maybe. That was the pretty lie she was going to tell herself to help keep from freaking out.
    Meanwhile, each woman’s hug added an additional sealing balm to Aziza’s and soon they were all ready to smile again.
    “Okay, we’ve been gone long enough,” Melissa warned.“A few minutes more and they’ll know we’re talking about them and might get suspicious.”
    It was the simple truth and enough to make them begin to quickly file out toward the lobby. But Celeste had to chuckle as Maggie held her back a bit with a mischievous grin.
    “Knocked the furniture over from wind turbulence? Really?”
    “If you say a word …” Celeste shushed her and dragged her out of the restroom trying hard not to laugh.
    Emotions running high and needing downtime to recover from the flight, Celeste said a futile prayer that plans had changed and everyone could take a much-needed nap. Knowing that wasn’t going to happen, she trudged past the lobby with the group and steeled herself for the blast of heat that almost knocked her over when the hotel front doors opened.
    Her body longed for the soft duvet and cool temperatures inside. Just a few hours and she’d be ready to go wherever they insisted. Instead she found herself back in the small white van on a mission. Thankfully the trek by vehicle was only fifteen minutes from the hotel, and a wide-open landscape soon emerged from the horizon. A hundred-yard parking lot preceded the monuments, as did a formal park ticket-stand entrance barricade with rest-stop-style toilets. However, they didn’t have to stop. Isda and his advance team had taken care of acquiring the nearly-impossible-to-get-pyramid entrance passes.
    “You need to stop yawning and give me a little credit, mon,” Isda fussed over his shoulder toward Azrael and Gavreel. “You know how hard it is to get into the bigpyramid? People stand in line at five o’clock in the morning to be sure they can, and by dis time of day, sold out.”
    “Thank you, man,” Azrael said in a mellow tone, stifling another yawn.
    “In your debt, bro,” Gavreel said, leaning his head back on the seat and closing his eyes. “For real.”
    “Yeah, whatever,” Isda muttered as he pulled their small vehicle into a space by behemoth tour buses and lines and lines of parked vehicles. “
Dis
-mount!”
    “Ya think this whole leadership-in-the-land-he-knows-best thing is really going to brotherman’s head?” Bath Kol muttered to Azrael as he passed him. “Just sayin’.”
    Azrael held up a hand, seeming too exhausted even to contemplate the matter.
    But as soon as every warriors’ feet touched the sand, Celeste watched them snap to attention, their senses keen, their eyes roving the terrain.
    “Is everything all right?” Melissa asked, touching Paschar’s arm.
    He shook his head. “Not at al, Mel.”
    Celeste hugged herself as they followed Isda, feeling the unease creep into her bones with every footstep.
    Camel drivers stood swatting flies and hawking rides right next to arts-and-crafts vendors who claimed everything was handmade, but looked as if it had been manufactured in China. Aggressive youngsters plied everything from mini-maps to small plastic pyramids and light-up Tutankhamen lens.
    “Ladies, stay next to your guardian,” Isda said under his breath, circling back to protect his group. “Here ain’t like the States. If you’re female and unescorted, you’re fairgame for whatever, feel me? If you get separated from your man, just claim to be the wife of one of the other brothers. Here, they got more than