“You will give it to me.” Kree stepped forward, lifting his dagger. But from the way the Egyptian’s arm shook, even this small gesture took great effort from the Skull King as he possessed Kree’s body. Even with the bloodstone, the Skull King’s reach through the storm was weak. Proving this, his next words were softer, sounding farther away. “Give me the Key of Time and I’ll let you and your friends free.”

Now it was Jake’s turn to laugh. Fat chance he’d let them live. If Jake had learned anything from his previous adventure, he knew that Kalverum Rex could never be trusted. Beyond his alchemies, his best weapons were lies, deceit, and betrayal. And if he wanted something in this desert land, Jake was not about to help him get it.

The Skull King must have sensed Jake’s determination.

Dark flames burst more strongly out of that single eye. “If you will not give me the Key, I will take it from you!”

Kree swung away toward the witch, wobbly and poorly controlled, as if a drunken puppet master pulled his strings. The voice of the Skull King grew fainter, echoing out of an ever-deepening well as the connection faded.

“Get the Key … then kill them all!”

15

LOCK AND KEY

Kree suddenly fell to his knees, a puppet whose strings had been cut. The shadows around his head broke away like a flock of crows and vanished. With a groan, the Egyptian lifted a hand to his forehead, as if checking to see if his head were still on his shoulders. Fingers probed the tattooed eye above his brows. It was just a tattoo again.

The Skull King was gone.

Heka made no move to help Kree get up. It took him two tries to get back on his feet. Even then he clutched a hanging chain to hold himself up. He swung around to face Jake. That calculating, wary look from before had changed to pure hatred, as if Jake were to blame for his weakness.

Kree stumbled toward Jake, stopping only long enough to grab a curved blade from Dogo’s table. The weapon looked like a giant version of the paring knife Aunt Matilda used for skinning chickens. From the look on Kree’s face, skinning was a distinct possibility.

He lifted the blade to Jake’s throat. “Where is the Key?”

So the Egyptian must have been conscious while the Skull King took over his body, listening from inside. Fear glowed in Kree’s bloodshot eyes. The experience plainly shook him down to his bones, and he was determined to give his master everything he wanted.

“Hand over the Key!” Kree pressed the knife harder.

“I … I don’t have it.”

As the lie slipped from Jake’s lips, the slug oozed a slime that burned like a hot poker shoved into his ear.

Jake screamed as loudly as he could.

Beyond his cry, he heard Marika call out, “Leave him alone!”