Sandra was still prattling. “Thanatos likes us bathed and done up nicely every morning. You should always look your best.” She glanced back at Manda. “Your hair is a rat’s nest, young lady. We’ll get that sorted fast. You’ll have to grow it out and braid it properly like the rest of us, that’s how he likes it.”

Manda’s face was turning more and more red with each statement, and I glanced from her to Sandra nervously, wondering what her exploding point would be.

Bath time first.” Sandra paused just beyond the row of hammocks and stared at me. “Strip.”

“What?” My hands flew to my sweatshirt, covering my zipper. I was half afraid she was going to dive for it. “No!”

Sandra’s blonde brows knit together, and she scowled fiercely at me. “I don’t have all day for this. I’ve got to get you two presentable before Thanatos comes to look at you.”

“Screw that,” Manda spat at her. “Bitch, if you think you’re going to get me into one of those skimpy white dresses…”

My mouth dropped open as Sandra took a step forward, brought her hand up and cracked Manda across the face. The sound of the slap was a loud, clear “thwack” in the silence.

Manda’s eyes shot open wide. Her left cheek was already turning bright red, and finger marks were appearing on her pale skin.

“I’ll deal with you later,” Sandra said firmly. “It won’t take you long to learn not to talk back.” She turned back to me. “You first.”

I backed up hastily as the blonde woman advanced on me, this time she really was reaching for my zipper. “No, you can’t…”

She seized my arm roughly, and then there was a sudden blur of movement behind Sandra, and Manda was there. The guardian shrugged out of her ropes and clapped one hand down on the woman’s shoulder, the other hand came up under her elbow and Manda’s foot swept the woman’s legs out from underneath her, thrusting her around in midair as she fell.

My mouth was hanging open again. Now Sandra was on the ground, Manda’s knee pressing in her back. One of the woman’s arms was pulled up behind her, and Manda had one hand on the back of it, like she was ready to break it the moment Sandra moved.

Sandra wasn’t taking it well. She was squealing and thrashing, as much as she could pinned to the ground the way she was. “My arm!” She shrieked. “Oh! Ow, my arm!”

“I won’t break it, as long as you promise me you’ll stay down,” Manda growled.

“What’s wrong with you?” Sandra wailed. “I’m in charge here, Thanatos will…”

“Thanatos will get what’s coming to him,” Manda snapped. “Damn, Kali, you might have to sit on her while I go take out the guard.”

I was about to protest, unsure if I could hold the thrashing woman down. She was quite a bit bigger than me. At that moment though, the guard himself came a through the bead curtain. When he saw what was going on he smoothed one hand over his bald head and laughed. “Damn, Sandra. Met your match haven’t you? Maybe your position of head bitch is in jeopardy.”

“Derrek, help me,” Sandra gritted out between her teeth. Tears were starting to collect in her eyes. “She’s going to break my arm.”

Manda grunted in annoyance, reaching down with her other hand, she pinched the woman’s neck firmly just below her jaw. After a few seconds, Sandra’s eyes rolled into the back of her head and she slumped to the floor.

Anna, who was crushed up against the wall beside the sink, watching all of this with wide eyes, clapped her hands over her mouth. I noticed her eyes were crinkled at the corners though, as if she were trying to hide a grin.

Derrek lost his amused expression. “Hey, what the hell…” he started forward, hand digging into his camo pants for something. He brought out a small black box with twin rods at the end and pointed it at Manda. I recognized it from watching bad cop shows on televisions. A taser. That would probably hurt…

Manda launched herself forward with a furious growl, moving faster than I expected. Clearly Derrek wasn’t expecting it either, because he stumbled backwards, and the taser spat its wires in the wrong direction. Anna dove sideways and the taser hit the wall and crackled harmlessly against the wood. Manda tackled him around the waist, and the two of them went down, crashing together with a grunt and a scream.

I was momentarily frozen, and then Manda was screaming at me, clawing at the guard’s face. “Kali get out, find it! You have to find it!”

I snapped back to reality, my blood was pumping again, my heart thumping hard in my chest. My muscles felt electrified as I wiggled my way out of the ropes and flew past them, smashing my way through the beads in the doorway. The dull “thud” of knuckles hitting flesh made me nauseous and I ran harder, hoping that was Manda landing a blow, and not the soldier.

The women stared at me, wide eyed, as I ran through the main room. Anna appeared in the beaded doorway, eyes darting over the room. “Guard’s busy,” I panted at her, pausing with my hand on the doorknob. “If you want to make a break for it, now’s the time.”

She hesitated, took a step towards me and then looked over her shoulder. Some of the other women started drifting for the door, expressions uncertain. “Thanatos is in bed still,” I snapped. “You can get out now. Go through the back door of the kitchen and run fast. I gotta go.” I yanked the door open, heart in my throat, shooting down the hall and pausing at the door at the beginning of the hall. This was it, this had to be the treasury.

I took a deep breath and turned the knob, surprised when the door opened easily. It wasn’t locked. Footsteps pounded in the hallway behind me, and I jumped, turning to see the harem girls running. I counted six at least, streaking past in their white dresses. I noticed the woman in the lead was slender with dark skin. Anna had taken my advice.  That would be a nice distraction for the guards, and with any luck, they’d actually get away.

I entered the room quickly and shut the door, leaning my back against it, taking a deep breath. The room I was in was nearly as big as the women’s room. It had the same high, vaulted ceilings and heavy oak pillars in the corners. The similarities stopped there.

Everything you could possibly imagine was in here, it seemed like. Stacks of wooden boxes piled against all of the walls. There were old looking chests that looked like they would hide gold coins inside, ancient looking furniture, and several racks of exotic, curved swords hung on the walls, handles encrusted with glittering gems. The dull gleam of gold caught my eye as I took a step forward. There were bars of it stacked in one corner, halfway up to the wall. It looked like all the gold in the world was here.

The room was completely full to the rafters. How was I ever going to find a single clock in this mess?

I went deeper into the room, stepping around piles of boxes, looking this way and that as I waded deeper into the treasure room. A clock. It would just look like a clock, right? I was pretty sure that’s what Jai had said. I wasn’t sure what I’d been expecting up until now. Maybe a big grandfather clock, or a fancy clock on a pedestal in the center of the room, letting off beams of radiant light. Or something cheesy like that. I’d expected it to be obvious.

I pushed past a shelf full of silver cups and a box of what looked like jewelry, pausing to reach down and touch a glittering tiara that rested on the very top. Where had Thanatos got all of this stuff? I could imagine him taking a princess’ tiara if I thought about it, yanking it off her golden curls and shoving her down the castle stairs…

I snorted, and left the tiara where it was, continuing my search.

There was a stack of silver framed painting leaning against the wall, and I realized that there was a good chance the soldiers were raiding national museums, not just houses. They were stripping the earth of all her history. I ground my teeth together, gently moving one of the paintings aside to look at the others. Every one of them looked expensive, and my hand froze on the third one in the stack. The young woman smiling up at me, hands clasped demurely in front of her, was very familiar. I’d only seen the Mona Lisa in pictures and movies, but I was pretty sure that this was her. And I was willing to bet this one wasn’t fake. I replaced the paintings on top of it, holding my breath, darting a look around the room as I did so. How many other priceless items were in here?

Not important. My inner voice was insisting, buzzing with fear. Get the Kronos clock. It’s all that matters.

Pushing past an armoire that appeared to be full of fur coats, I spotted something that made me snap to attention. There in the corner was a dark, cherry wood stool. It was vaguely oriental looking, curling up at the corners. But what held my gaze was the object on top of it.

It was a clock, and not just any clock. It was beautiful.