“I am Dr. John Dee,” he said, handing the man his small overnight bag but holding on to his laptop bag. “Yes, sir, I recognized you. Follow me, please.” Dee thought he could hear a trace of the Middle East in the man’s accent; he was almost positive it was Egyptian. He followed the man to an anonymous black limousine parked directly outside arrivals in the no-parking zone. The driver pulled open the rear door and stepped back, and in that instant, Dee’s nostrils caught a familiar scent and he abruptly realized that this car and driver had not come from his company. For a heartbeat he thought about turning and running… but then he realized he had nowhere to go. “Thank you,” he said politely, sliding into the darkened interior. The door shut with a soft pneumatic click. The odor in the enclosed compartment was enough to take his breath away. He sat quietly and heard the thump when his suitcase was put into the trunk; moments later, the car pulled smoothly and silently away from the curb.

The Magician put his laptop bag beside him, then turned to look at the hooded figure he knew would be sitting at the other end of the leather seat. Forcing a smile to his face, he bowed slightly. “Madam, I must say I am surprised-and delighted, of course-to see you here.”

The shape in the gloom moved and cloth rustled. Then the interior light clicked on, and Dee, though he had been alerted by the smell to what he was going to see, started at the terrifying sight of the huge lioness’s head inches from his own. The light gleamed off vicious-looking incisors and glistened off thick whiskers. The Dark Elder Bastet raised her head and glared at him with her huge yellow slit-pupiled eyes. “I am really beginning to dislike you, Dr. John Dee,” she growled.

The doctor forced himself to smile, then lowered his gaze from the sharp teeth and brushed an invisible speck of dust off his sleeve. “You are in the majority, then; a lot of people dislike me. But fair is fair,” he added lightly, “I dislike a lot of people. In fact, most people. But, believe me, madam, I have nothing but your best interests at heart.”

The light clicked off and Bastet became invisible in the gloom.

A thought struck Dee and he asked, “I thought your aversion to iron prevented you from using modern conveniences like cars.”

“Iron is not toxic to me, unlike some of the other Elders. I can tolerate it for short periods of time. And much of this vehicle is carbon fiber.”