After a ten-minute drive, they arrived at Pharaoh's restaurant in the city centre.

With a pyramid entrance look alike, the restaurant’s door was intriguing. In keeping with the theme, the inside had gigantic columns and hieroglyphic murals. Displayed all over the space were geometric pattern clay potteries, vases and bowls.

“Oh wow! I love the decor” said Poppy to Ius

A hostess dressed in a midnight-blue suit greeted them. She guided them to their table at the back of the room, close to a shisha room.

The furniture was unique. The round brass tables had unusual chairs made of tapestry with brass gilt sphinx heads.

They all took a seat as the hostess was putting down the menu in front of each person. Suddenly, Poppy felt slightly nauseous.

That’s weird; maybe the heat in the cab has affected me a little.

Ignoring that feeling and she started reading her menu. A few minutes after, a server dressed in a long-sleeve white shirt, a black tie with hieroglyphs embroidered on it, and black trousers came to take their drink orders.

Poppy was about to ask her a question to the server when she noticed a familiar figure talking to the hostess in the front.

Is that the…. She thought, yes, it is him, the bloody man in the brown suit from the hotel.

He was now wearing a black suit and was exchanging words with the hostess. He was gesturing while speaking, then walked out.

“ Are you ok? Why are you staring at that man?” Asked Ius

Poppy’s brows were furrowed; she squinted then shrugged, “I don’t know him but…... Never mind, let’s just order.’’

She asked for water with a slice of lemon. Let’s hope it makes me feel better; at the very least, it will calm down the nausea

She then leaned toward Ius and whispered, “Oh, look! Some of the hotel guests are here too.”

He got up halfway out of his chair, had a quick look and smiled, “yep, it’s them; they probably were sent here by Hanane.”

Joe cut their chain of thoughts by asking enthusiastically, “Who wants to try the Koshari?”

Ius and Poppy exchanged a confused look.

Joe smiled and said, “It is a famous vegetarian Egyptian dish made of pasta, rice, lentils, and topped with tomato sauce, garlic, vinegar, and garnished with chickpeas and crispy fried onions.”

Poppy smirked. “Wow, there are a lot of things in a dish.”

Ius nodded. “I was thinking the same thing.”

Joe laughed. “I promise you guys, you will love it.”

Ius frowned and turned to his uncle. “Have you tried it before, Uncle?”

“Yes, I have. It is delicious.”

“Huh, huh! You know what, I’ll try it.” Said Poppy excitedly.

“Me too,” added Ius

The service was quick, which made everyone at the table thrilled except for Poopy. As soon as the server dropped her plate in front of her, Poppy pushed it away.

Maybe I should wait for my uneasy stomach to calm down first.

“So, now that we are all seated, maybe one of you can explain to me why you had a confinement lamp with you and how you two are Jinns?” asked Joe directly to Altan with half a smile.

Altan glanced at Poppy and answered, ‘’ maybe it will be best for Penelope to tell us again how she found the lamp.’’

Poppy shook her head. “You can tell him, I don’t mind.” She said to Altan with a forced smile.

She didn’t feel like talking at that moment. She was sweating a little and her hands were clammy.

Altan started narrating the events of the pyramid with Ius taking part. She could see Joe nodding, making facial expressions as the story was evolving.

Joe raised one brow, took a sip of water, and said, “Extraordinary! How did you know it was a Jinn, Poppy?”

She wrinkled her nose and raised her shoulders, then answered softly, “he might have said so…...”

Joe was shocked! He was a sensor and even he could not locate a confinement lamp. Sensors were a type of witches, who, thanks to their gift, could locate any magical objects. Joe had that ability and was very successful in his relic hunting job because of that.

But he always wanted to be more than just a sensor in the coven, so he studied hard and also became a wizard.

Joe turned to Ius and Altan. “Come to think of it, what type of jinns are you?”

Altan responded, “we are Marids.”

Joe breathed a sigh of relief; it was common knowledge that Marids were honourable.

Poppy was feeling worse.

She said, “excuse me, I need to go to the loo, I will be right back.”

Ius gave her a worried look but did not utter a word.

As soon as she entered the loo, she fell to her knees and vomited. She was heavily sweating. Her head was spinning, and she had stomach cramps.

She heard a noise and turn around; the door handle was moving.

She frowned and said, “it’s occupied!” But the door handle kept moving.

She rolled her eyes and shouted, “hey! I said it’s occupied.”

“Open this door, I need to talk to you,” said a deep voice behind the door.

Poppy felt a chill running through her vein. The voice was of a grown man.

She quickly got up. “This is the girls’ toilets. The boys' toilets are next door,” she said in a shaky voice.

She heard a few clinking sounds and then saw the handle moving but at a slower pace.

Her eyes grew in size, and she gasped. Oh my God, he is trying to pick the lock.

She was about to scream when she heard a female voice say something in Arabic and the door handle stopped moving, then she heard steps running away.

She turned pale. She felt an uneasy feeling in her stomach and vomited again.

When she was done, she opened the toilet cubicle’s door slowly and peeped to see if someone was there. It was empty. She breathed a sigh of relief.

While cleaning herself up, she couldn’t stop thinking about what had just happened. She was sure that it was the man she saw twice at the hotel and now here.

What does he want from me?

She splashed some water on her face, closed the tap, and left the loo in a hurry. Such a weird evening, she thought while rejoining the others.