The sheets fell away to reveal a gnarled figure curled on the slab as if in agony. Leathery skin had dried long ago to the bones of its arms and legs. Ribs stuck out like fish bones. But it was not a man on the slab—at least not any longer. Grisly wings were folded over most of its body, forming some monstrous cocoon. Its bald head appeared more porcine than human. Jagged yellow teeth, like broken glass, shone from lips peeled into a death’s-head grin.

“And look at the hands and feet,” Henry continued. “They must have replaced the man’s fingernails and toenails with the claws of a bird. It’s pure genius the way they stitched these various animals together to create such a unique mummified specimen.”

Henry droned on, but Jake had stopped listening. A roaring filled his ears as blood drained to his feet. Kady had also gone as white as a burial shroud. She recognized it, too. This was not some Frankenstein mishmash of body parts.

This creature was real.

Jake had battled monsters like this back in Pangaea.

Here was the mummified remains of a grakyl.

5

ANKH OF GOLD

Across the slab, Kady let out a loud groan. Her eyes met Jake’s, then rolled back into her head. The shock must have been too much for her.

Before Jake could react, she swooned to the floor. Uncle Edward barely caught her before she crashed headlong into one of the display cabinets.

On his knees, Edward cradled her. “Katherine, are you okay?”

She nodded, blushing, holding herself up with one hand. “Sorry. It’s just so … so disgusting.”

“Oh, my dear,” Henry said. “I’m sorry. What was I thinking? Of course it’s too gruesome for the faint of heart.”

Kady placed a hand to her forehead. “I could use a glass of water.”

Henry turned. “There’s a drinking fountain by the stairs.”

“I’ll get it,” Morgan said, and headed off.

Irritated and plainly embarrassed, Kady waved everyone aside. “I need some air. A moment to collect myself.”

Henry looked stricken and mortified. “Certainly. I have matters to attend to anyway. Again, I’m so sorry.”

He ushered out the workers with him.

Kady watched them leave. “Uncle Edward, I feel so stupid.” She pointed after the professor. “Please go after him. Tell him I’ll be fine. Otherwise I’ll feel terrible.”

“I understand.” Edward rose to his feet. “Jake, why don’t you come with me? Give your sister some privacy.”

“Jake, wait!” Kady said. “You have an extra energy bar, don’t you?”

He nodded as Edward left.

Jake hurried back to her side, fumbling in his pocket for a granola bar. He offered it to her.

She knocked his arm away. “Those things are disgusting.”

“Then why did you—?”

Kady hurried to her feet. “To get everyone out of here, Brainiac.”

Now it was Jake’s turn to feel stupid. Kady had faked the entire thing so they could talk. He should have known.