June 2018
Cairo, Egypt
Daytime
"It's too hot, hot damn...call the police and the fireman..." For the umpteenth time Devin found himself muttering those lyrics as he quietly stewed in his hotel room, whose curtains were all closed against the brutal sunlight that daily and relentlessly smote all people and things in Egypt. Why was he here again...oh yeah, he had to meet up with his associate Lara Croft to secure the mummies of two ancient Egyptians, Bayek and Aya. Since they were part of the bloodline of Devin's trusted friend Arthur, this felt like a personal undertaking. For a while the mummies had been in the use of a certain Layla Hassan, but she'd already completed her business with them, something about an Animus Project. His previous interactions with her had left Devin with the impression that she didn't gladly suffer inquisitiveness, so he hadn't pressed her for details. What mattered was making sure the mummies were in place so one day Arthur could see them for himself and receive a tangible reminds that his lineage went all the way back to the founding of the Assassin Brotherhood. Actually, according to information gleaned from Arthur's own use of the Animus a couple of years prior, his line went back to the Agricultural Revolution around twelve thousand years ago. But that was a story for another time. Right now, for Devin, what mattered was awaiting Croft's indication that she was in Egypt and ready to move in on the mummies.
His phone was already on and the battery fully charged. Devin hadn't used it much, apart from checking the time and snapping photos for his Instagram profile. What really mattered was a text or phone call from Croft, who had yet to contact him. As he walked into the bathroom, he felt his shoulders sag a little, and he quietly stared into the mirror. Staring back was a twenty-something man with long black hair and a trimmed black beard to match, wearing thin dark clothing as a pair of icy blue eyes gleamed, or at least appeared to gleam. A confused jumble of memories vied for dominance of his mind as he shed his attire and stepped into the shower, immersing himself in a torrent of cold water. He'd have opted for a hot shower had he been in colder climes, like Arthur was right now, but fate had sent Devin to the sun's anvil so he had to ward off the heat whenever possible. After nearly half an hour of basking in cool water and wandering thoughts, he heard his phone's ringtone go off. Normally he kept it on vibrate, but had opted for AC/DC's Highway to Hell as a temporary ringtone for a change of pace. Without bothering to dress himself, he simply strode from the shower to the bedroom and snatched the phone up, then answered the call.
"Hello?"
"Hello Devin, how's Egypt? I saw your Instagram posts but thought I'd ask you in a more direct manner."
Devin's already cold skin shivered with a mix of unease and pleasure as his ear registered the familiar female voice. It belonged to his longtime associate Selene, a Death Dealer working for the Vampire Coven in England. Water snaked down his body as he tried to control his shivers.
"Hot, sandy, suspicious folks around every corner...as Egyptian as you can get in this world. How're things up in the land of tea and Big Ben?"
"You know how it is, dealing with these lycans. Messy business, but I'm the best there is at it. Few are the lycans that can stand before me for long." She was like Wolverine: the best there was at what she did, and what she did best wasn't very nice. "I trust Arthur and Skadi are well?"
"Last I saw, they were. Chilling in...you know where." Last Devin had seen, Storybrooke had been much like England: overcast, rainy, on the cool side. Weather was nothing if not fickle, and like Arthur Selene was a far cry from Egypt in terms of climate as well as physical distance. "And I'm just over here waiting for Croft to contact me. She hasn't, not yet."
