The City of Lost Secrets: A Mara Beltane Mystery by Katie McVay

because there was much more he wanted me to see: The Church of the Dormition, where the Virgin Mary is said to have fallen into “eternal slumber”; the Hall of the Last Supper, on the first floor of a Gothic building, said to be the site of Christ’s last meal with his Disciples; and beneath the Hall of the Last Supper, King David’s tomb, one of the most revered Jewish holy sites.
    According to tradition, King David’s tomb is also the site where Christ washed the feet of his Disciples after the Last Supper. 
    By the time we’d climbed down to this underground holy site, I could go no further. My feet ached, my head was spinning, and my stomach was growling for nourishment. I collapsed on a rock inside the main chamber to rest momentarily, before Uri would no doubt whisk me to some other place—-a tomb, a chapel, a grotto, a cemetery. 
    In the low light of the cave, there was intense quiet. Occasionally my heart fluttered as it settled down to a normal rhythm. Suddenly I heard an unusual noise in the room, like labored breaths echoing in a hollow tunnel. The sounds seemed to originate from right next to me, as if they were meant for my ears only. Why did the noises sound familiar? Where had I heard them before?
    It took several seconds for me to make the connection. This morning, while I was in my hotel room preparing for my day trip with Uri, my cell phone rang. I said hello several times but whoever was on the other end refused to speak. But someone was on the other end because I heard them breathing. Labored, echoed breaths, as if the caller was running through a tunnel.
    Startled, I rose from my rock perch and peeked my head around the corners into the adjoining rooms to look for other visitors. There were none who had entered since we’d arrived.
    “Did you hear that?” I asked, returning to the rock where I’d just sat.  
    “No,” Uri said, looking at me curiously.
    “I must be imagining things—-perhaps the heat and exhaustion are playing tricks on my mind.”
    “What did you hear?”
    “It sounded like…someone breathing.”
    “Breathing?” Uri asked.
    “It could have come from anywhere, but it sounded like someone was standing right next to me, breathing in my left ear.”
    Uri took a step closer and listened for a moment. He shook his head. “No, I’m sorry,” he said. “I heard nothing.”
    “I got a call this morning on my cell phone, and the person on the other end was breathing heavily but didn’t say anything,” I explained to Uri, hoping he wouldn’t think I was crazy. “The noise I heard a minute ago sounded just like that. I’m sorry, I must be imagining things.”
    “What?” Uri said, facing me directly now, a look of concern on his face.
    “I said I must be imagining things.”
    “Yes, I understood that part. You said you got a call on your cell phone this morning?”
    In the low light I could see his eyes darting back and forth as he searched my face for answers. He was standing close to me, and now I could hear his breathing as well as my own.
    “I could hear someone on the other end but they didn’t say anything,” I said. “They eventually hung up. It must have been a prank call, or maybe someone accidentally dialed the wrong number…”
    Uri placed his hands on my shoulders, as if willing me to focus. “What time did you receive that phone call?”
    “It was right before I met you. So, around 9 a.m.”
    “Not again,” Uri said, sighing. “Not you, too.” He looked up at the low ceiling of the cave, shaking his head in disbelief.
    “I don’t understand,” I said. “What do you mean?”
    In that moment, in the cramped confines of a dim cave, I felt myself starting to succumb: my body, to the intense weight of sheer exhaustion; my brain, to the deranged hallucination of a disembodied voice; my heart, to the gentle touch of a beautiful stranger.
    Uri gripped my shoulders again, tighter this time.
    “So you want to see the Talpiot tomb?” he