The Last Swim in Cairo

Marcus hadn't felt like a real person in three years. He moved through his days like a **zombie**—the walking dead version, not the pop culture kind. Just a hollowed-out shell operating on autopilot, espresso, and the crushing weight of mortgage payments he couldn't afford.

He checked his watch. 2:17 AM. The Giza **Pyramid** Hotel pool was empty, thank God. Marcus slipped into the water, the cool shock of it flooding his senses. **Swimming** laps in the middle of the night had become his only refuge from the insomnia and the gnawing guilt of what he'd become.

A **spy**. That's what they called it at the firm. Corporate espionage. But really, he was just a hired thief who stole trade secrets from struggling startups and sold them to conglomerates that would crush them. His latest target: Dr. Layla Hassan, an archaeologist who'd made a discovery that could rewrite Egyptian history.

The company wanted it. They always wanted everything.

He'd spent three weeks pretending to be a journalist, gaining her trust, drinking tea with her family, watching her eyes light up when she talked about the **Sphinx**—how she'd found chambers beneath it that predated known Egyptian civilization. Chambers that contained something the world wasn't ready for.

Something she'd entrusted to him, believing he'd help her protect it.

Marcus surfaced, gasping. Water dripped from his eyelashes. His phone sat on the poolside chair, vibrating with yet another message from his handler. They wanted the coordinates. They wanted to know why he hadn't delivered.

He could be rich. Could finally pay off the loans, could buy his way out of this hollow existence.

Instead, Marcus pulled himself from the pool, water streaming from his clothes like he was washing away the person he'd been. He picked up his phone and typed a single message: I'm out.

Then he blocked the number, turned off the device, and started walking toward the university district where Layla was waiting. She'd told him once that everyone eventually had to choose between who they were and who they were becoming.

Somewhere between the laps, he'd finally made his choice.