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Sin leaned against the bar, studying the map in silence while Kat and Damien made notes on a pad across from him There had to be so

But damned if he could think of it

Noto be a bloodbath He could feel it Every scenario, every plan he devised ended up with the

Sin cocked his head as a new thought entered hisat the map, he moved closer to it as he realized what he&039;d over looked

"Where&039;s the lock?"

Kat glanced up from her pad "What lock?"

"The one I have to reset to keep the Die Zakar was the one who reset it last time It should be somewhere near theot up to study the diagraave him an unamused stare "I don&039;t see it"

"That is a really bad thing," he said "If there&039;s no lock, there&039;s no stopping them"

Her eyes widened

The hair on the back of Sin&039;s neck stood up as he felt a new presence behind him He spun around, ready to battle, only to find the Drea a lot worse for wear "What happened to you?"

Xypher snorted "Was ain" He wiped the blood froraet er"

Sin&039;s stoet hi him as a sacrifice to the Dimme-if Kessar doesn&039;t kill him over the fact he freed me"

As bad as Sin felt about that, a tiny part of himself was relieved to know that his brother wasn&039;t co

"Zakar also wanted me to tell you that the Rod is in the house I really hope that makes sense to you because I have no idea what he means by it"

Sin frowned as he shook his head He had no idea either

At least not at first "Wait a sec The Rod" He spun around and headed for his bedroonored her as he went into his closet and opened the safe

He pulled several old scrolls out of their clay containers, then headed to his bed to spread the?"

"Can you read Sumerian?"

"It&039;s been awhile, but I used to"

He handed her a scroll "We&039;re looking for anything to do with the Rod of Time"

She snorted "Rod of Time, Forsaken Moon, Tablet of Destiny you Suave her a droll stare "They didn&039;t exactly ask my opinion before they named them"

"Good, cause my estimation of your intellect would be seriously scarred if they had" She leaned playfully into hi his amusement, he jerked his chin toward his desk "Get your butt over there and start reading before I beat you with my Rod of Time"

She tossed his to do with your rod than beat ae&039;ve degenerated into really bad punage I yield Save ed"

"Fine, you fun-vampire I&039;ll take my scroll over here and play by myself"

"Fun-va all the fun out of life"

Sin shook his head "You have the s"

"Yes, but notice mine are creative unlike the so stellarly na her, he spread the first scroll out and started reading

Xypher ca as they read line after line with no clues Sin had forgotten just how long-winded and boring his people could be

Daood editor could have done with the story of Gilgaive up when Xypher stepped back from his side of the bed "Found it" He held up the scroll to show theer with a crooked blade

Sin took the scroll and studied it He only vaguely re this centuries before "Now the question is, what house did he put it in?"

Xypher shrugged "He said you would know"

And in that instant he did It was genius really and it was the only place Zakar could have meant "Ishtar&039;s tomb"

Kat&039;s face paled "What?"

Sin set the scroll aside, feeling ill at the thought of having to go there again "It&039;s the only safe place No gallu would think to go there and it&039;s hidden-not even the nosiest of archeologists would be able to find it Zakar must have stashed the Rod there after he locked the Dimme down last time It&039;s the only place thatto leave

"Wait," Kat said, taking his hand "I&039; with you"

He shook his head "Kat"

The stern, deterave him both touched and warmed him "You don&039;t need to be alone there"

He would have argued had she not been coht It was the last place he wanted to be without her and he knew it "Thank you" He laced his fingers with hers

She inclined her head to him before he flashed them out into the remotest area of the Sahara, into a hidden cave that was concealed by ever-changing sands and guarded by a spell that would never allow mortal eyes to see what it contained

It was here that Sin had laid his daughter to rest and here Ishtar slept in a peaceful repose he had never been able to find for hi into his life

Kat hesitated as they appeared in a deep, dark cavern She could hear the sounds of rodents and insects scurrying out of their way Cringing in dread, she hoped they didn&039;t come any closer to her

Sin held his hand above his head and a torch appeared to light their way Kat was instantly relieved as she looked about and didn&039;t see any icky things running toward thes and rodents

But as she looked around, she was struck by the beauty of this place The walls surrounding the in fountains and of deer running through a forest An eternal fountain old splashed in one corner It had a bird and raven perched on one side and a s into the pool to catch her own reflection

"How beautiful"

Sin sed and she could feel the aave of grief inside him "Ishtar used to love to play in fountains and with animals when she was a child" He paused by one scene of a little girl who had a butterfly sitting on her shoulder while she fed a fawn out of one hand and a jackal out of the other He splayed his hand over the ie and she saw the tears in his eyes "I found her like that one day when she was four She looked up at me with her deep blue eyes and said, &039;Don&039;t worry, Daddy I won&039;t hurt them&039; "

Kat wrapped her arrief reached out and brought tears to her own eyes "She wasn&039;t really your daughter?"

"It didn&039;t hter in my heart"

"I know"

He cleared his throat as he laid one aral wouldn&039;t say and she had lovers by the handful It could have been anyone"

But he&039;d never held that against Ishtar He&039;d loved her regardless and that al hated me as much as she did I tried so hard toher It was as if she just wanted to hurt h her and she had to bite her lip to keep fro Given what he&039;d just confided, she wondered if Ishtar wasn&039;t his daughter after all How cruel to lie to hied to soal hadn&039;t been that mean But as she stood there, she felt the truth in her heart It would be the deepest blow and it was one Kat was sure Ningal had taken

Sin stepped away from her and headed down the narrow corridor to a chamber at the end of it As soon as he entered, the torches lit the shadows that foraped at the splendor Every part of the rooold E the wall to rass where the children danced and there in the center was a sarcophagus in the shape of an ancient temple It was exquisite

On the top of it was carved the likeness of Ishtar whose eyes were two perfect sapphires In her features, Kat saw the likeness to Sin She&039;d been right about Ningal and it aal have lashed out so viciously at the one person who should have ic

Sin paused before the iony of his features tore through her The thought of opening Ishtar&039;s to him apart

Kat wanted to spare him any more pain "You want me to look for it?"

"No," he said, his voice thick "She never liked strangers to touch her She was actually very shy" His expression guarded, he closed his eyes and pushed at the lid It shook slightly before it h the cavern

Kat asped as she saw Ishtar Because she was a goddess, her body hadn&039;t decomposed She was as perfect as the day she&039;d died Her eyes closed, she appeared to be sleeping and a part of Kat kept waiting for her to wake up and look at theht

Ishtar had been laid to rest in a criown, the hem was encrusted with rubies that set off her dark coold, were crossed over her breasts and beneath them she held the Rod of Tiold and encrusted with gems

Kat looked up at Sin "She&039;s beautiful"

"I know" He reached in to pull the Rod out from under Ishtar&039;s hands As soon as he touched her skin, a single tear slid from the corner of his eyes "I lanced up "I don&039;t want to see you like this, Katra Do you understand?"

She nodded as her emotions choked her She didn&039;t want to bury hi happened to you, it would definitely ruin ain as he closed the sarcophagus and gripped the Rod tightly in his hand "We have the key"

"Noe need the lock"

"And a miracle"

Kessar stood before the lock with Neti behind him Tall and slender and dressed in dark brown, Neti had been one of their better conversions The foratekeeper to the Sumerian Underworld, he noorked for Kessar who kept him in deep seclusion

"You are devious, master"

It was true He was the hed as he stroked his chin He&039;d embedded the lock that would hold back the Dimme inside Zakar&039;s chest The only way for Sin to save the world would be to kill his oin

He relished the i Zakar&039;s heart out to savebetter would have been to have taken his woman and have her hold the lock in her chest But that would have been suicide since her death could very well unleash a Charonte army to hunt for the hi forward, Kessar cocked his head as he looked down at Zakar eeping fro been ripped open The chain that led to the Dimme tomb flowed out of his back

He smirked at the man&039;s pain "What is that quaint huht? So and sometimes you&039;re the hydrant?" He tsked at Zakar "Guess you&039;re the hydrant today, eh?"

Zakar&039;s entire body was shaking as he bravely lifted his head to pin Kessar with a lethal glare "Fuck you"

"No, thank you I prefer woods think you&039;re so superior You cry and spit and beg for nity than the lowest beggar" He balled his fist in Zakar&039;s hair and pulled it hard "I can&039;t wait to see you die"

Zakar panted as ht actually made Kessar hard

Kessar stepped back He needed to find a female for a few minutes "Neti Guard him well I&039;ll be back to play with him shortly"

Sin had just returned to his penthouse with Kat when the Rod started glowing Two seconds later, so that felt like an earthquake shook the entire casino

"What the?" Damien asked as several pictures fell to the floor and shattered "Is thatwent through hi else" He looked at Kat to see if she felt what he did

"I don&039;t knohat that is," she said her voice tone filled with apprehension "But I don&039;t like it"

Kish pushed himself up on the wall "Maybe it was the quake they&039;re always saying is going to hit Vegas"