“Very unlikely.” Her eyes narrowed. “We need to be most on guard.”

“Always,” the big man responded.

“What was it?” Matt asked in Hebrew, joining her.

Adira pulled in a cheek in annoyance. “Remind me not to bring any more language specialists on my missions. Probably nothing; just looked a little like our missing agents’ car.”

“Your face tells me you didn’t think it was nothing,” Matt said.

She smiled sadly. “In my business you learn quickly to discount coincidences.”

“Great,” Matt said in English, and then sighed. “We should leave immediately.”

“Yes. But our problem is, we cannot afford to break cover and put ourselves at risk of being exposed to the Egyptian authorities. They only need to slow us down, and they’ve won.” She turned to look him in the eyes. “We stick to the plan. I suggest you start work on understanding that book immediately – every second may count.” She leaned in close to him. “You must keep me involved…this is vitally important to me.”

Matt stared back for a few seconds, wondering if the woman was under any sort of pressure – Probably, he thought. She had risked a lot for them, no, everything for them. “Don’t worry: I promise to share the results with you.”

She nodded. “It needs to be guarded. For now, where the Book goes, Baruk goes.” Her implacable eyes moved from Matt to her compatriot. They gave no hint of compromise.

Matt shrugged. “Sure, sure, no problem.”

The boat scrunched up onto the sand and Adira stepped over the side, holding her swim fins. She checked her watch.

“It’s two am.” She paused. “The first flight to the United States is not until the afternoon. We must all stay safe until then.” She turned and headed for the car.

Baruk leaped over the side, landing softly. He held the boat steady as the others came over the side, and then he smiled at Matt. “Just pretend I’m not here.” He followed them to the car.

*

Matt sat at the desk in his room, bent over the ancient book. The copy that Albadi had shown him was impressive, but contained only a fraction of the words and verse that the original did. He had no doubt that the hide covering the book was human, as there were open pores, hair follicles, and what looked like a mole still evident on its surface. It didn’t bother him, as he knew that it was not unusual for ancient tomes to be bound in human skin –anthropodermic bibliopegy dated way back to ancient snake-worshipping Scythians.

Inside the Book, the work was a mix of Syriac, Arabic, Greek, and a mélange of other ancient languages. But there was also another, the one that Dr Albadi had referred to as the Celestial Speech – it was supposed to be the language of the angels, or gods – Enochian. But in the Book, Abdul Alhazred called it the tongue of the underworld.

“Nice,” Matt had said softly to himself, causing Baruk to momentarily look up from a magazine he was reading.