Theodosia

c h a p t e r s i x

T H E  H E I S T

When Theodosia's eyes fluttered open the next night, she expected to see the familiar iron bars of their closed exhibit, but despite Larry quitting his position as nightguard last night, everything appeared to be the same.

It bothered Theodosia more than she would like to admit that Larry had quit. She should have never trusted a nightguard, yet she had trusted Larry. She had grown to like Larry. For once she was enjoying the night life the tablet gave her; she had made friends, seen so much of the ancient world, and most impressively, became amicable with the Athenians (who were very fun). But now that Larry was gone, who knows what would happen to the museum and its inhabitants.

She didn't let the hope flicker to life inside her heart at the open exhibit, though. Larry had quit, like a coward. He meant nothing to her now. Theodosia doesn't associate with cowards, after all.

Rather, she shook her thoughts free of Larry Daley and his empty promises, grabbed her sword, and rushed to the Egyptian exhibit, not sparing anyone else a glance.

Since Larry was gone, Theodosia figured there was no need to keep Ahkmenrah locked away for his sake. There were a hundred different ways Theodosia could get that stone off the top of Ahkmenrah's glass case, the only thing stopping her was Larry. But he had left. He had abandoned them.

Truthfully, though she wouldn't admit it (to herself or anyone else), she desperately wanted someone to talk to about Larry. She was simmering like a pot about to boil over, and she needed to vent to someone. The first person she thought of wasn't the other Greeks, or Teddy – it was Ahkmenrah. In two short nights, he had become an important person to Theodosia, and they hadn't even talked, face-to-face.

Theodosia trusted him with her thoughts, and her feelings, and she trusted him to be honest with her. She needed someone to tell her she was being over dramatic, that everything would be okay. She wouldn't listen to anyone else, but whether she realized it or not, she would listen to Ahkmenrah.

When Theodosia arrived, breathless, at the entrance of the Egyptian exhibit, it wasn't Ahkmenrah's distressing cries that caught her attention like usual – it was the empty spot where the magical golden tablet used to be.

Theodosia didn't know anything about magic, or the tablet, but she knew it was supposed to be with Ahkmenrah, up on that wall. Always.

So, why wasn't it?

Her unspoken question was answered almost as soon as it was asked, in the form of a small boy, with the tablet tucked under his arm. Before Theodosia could get closer to the empty wall to investigate, he ran past her and disappeared behind one of the giant pillars. He looked like he was running from something, or someone, but none of this entered Theodosia's mind when she saw him.

"Excuse me," Theodosia called, following the boy behind the pillar. "Why do you have that?"

The boy looked back at the sound of her voice and in that split second he looked behind him, Cecil appeared in front of him, and he ran straight into his waiting arms. Before the kid could realize who he had run into, Cecil had taken the tablet from him.

Winking at Theodosia, he said, "Thank you very much. We'll take it from here."

"Hey!" she shouted at the same time Larry rushed in, yelling the boy's name. Cecil paid the pair no mind, walking away and using Larry's keys to flip him onto his back as his cronies joined him, smirking to themselves.

"Just in time, Larry," Cecil mocked, dangling Larry's keys above his head, "we were just locking up."

Theodosia was almost too stunned to move, but then she heard the familiar sound of a key turning a lock. It was the same noise she woke up to every night, before Larry became the nightguard only two days ago. She knew she had no chance of stopping them before they locked the gate for good, but she managed to reach the three old men just in time to thrust her sword through the iron bars, almost impaling Cecil and Gus.