Pulling his hand to his chest to stop the bleeding, Jake reached behind him for the firebomb.

Nothing like an explosion to chase a hunter from your trail.

With the fire gourd in hand, he trotted a few steps sideways, like a quarterback readying for a Hail Mary pass.

Two yards away, a towering fin pushed out of the sand, moving faster than he had expected.

He dared wait no longer.

Leaping up and spinning, Jake whipped the gourd at the fin.

He landed off balance on one boot and sprawled headlong across the sand, scattering the contents of his open pack and coming up on his hands and knees.

Not the most graceful move, but at least his aim was good.

The firebomb hit the fin—then bounced off and rolled harmlessly across the sand. It was a dud.

Okay, that’s not good.

22

STONE OF TIME

Jake leaped to the side as the monstrous sand shark lunged at him. He caught a glimpse of rows and rows of teeth opening in the rolling sand dune. He got clipped in the legs as it bulled past him, but he used the momentum to shoulder-roll to his feet.

Across the arena, he spotted Shaduf being hauled aboard the ship by a rope around his shoulders, supported by Nefertiti. Marika had made it aboard, too. Kady hung from another line, her sword in her belt. She waved a free arm at him.

“Get over here!”

What do you think I’m trying to do?

Jake began to run when he spotted a glint in the sand to his left. An emerald shine sparked in the first rays of the sun. He skidded and turned.

It was the crystal from Ankh Tawy, the one he’d taken from the pyramid. It had fallen out of his backpack.

“What are you doing?” Kady screamed.

He bolted toward the crystal. He couldn’t leave it behind, not after everything they’d gone through to get it. Not stopping, he swept his arm down, snatched the emerald crystal off the sand with his bloody hand, and kept going.

Or that was the plan.

As soon as his fingers closed over the crystal, all strength left him. He fell headlong into the sand, sliding on his belly.

“Jake!”

He struggled to his hands and knees, still clutching the stone. But his body felt four times too heavy. His joints ached as if filled with ground glass.

What is happening?

“Behind you!” Kady screamed.

He turned and fell onto his backside. A wall of sand hurtled toward him. The monster burst free of the sand, jaws hinged wide, lined with teeth, gullet bottomless. The shark landed on its belly and twisted and snapped toward him like a downed power line.

Kady dropped from her rope to the sand and sped toward him, yanking out her sword. She would never get here in time.

Jake lifted a trembling arm, raising his only weapon, the crystal. He had read that hitting a shark on the nose could disorient it. He had hoped he would never have to test that theory.