The Illuminati Endgame (The Relic Hunters 7)

by David Leadbeater

  *

  An hour later, they were back on the move.

  Nimrod led a large force of Hoods and mercenaries onto a plane. Thirty minutes into the flight, Heidi’s blindfold was removed, and she looked out over ice-capped mountains and stared at a cabin full of men and women priming their weapons.

  “They’re going for the crucible,” Lucie said. “They must be.”

  “Head count?” Heidi asked.

  “At least twenty five that I can see.”

  Heidi fought a wave of hopelessness. “Just be ready. The good news is—they’re taking us along. A chance always presents itself.”

  Lucie tried hard to nod, to agree, but the sheer dejection in her eyes told Heidi just how cowed she was feeling.

  The cabin was a noisy place, full of testosterone and barely concealed violence. The women took part in card games and arm-wrestling matches with as much vicious gusto as the men, and not one person looked upon Heidi and Lucie with even an ounce of compassion.

  Nimrod passed close to them. “We are going to the crucible,” he said. “You are most fortunate. The Grand Master has bestowed upon you this last gift before the ceremony. You are truly honored.”

  “We’re not dead yet,” Heidi gritted.

  “You cling to hope?” Nimrod seemed surprised.

  “Isn’t that what you did when you were on the streets?” Heidi guessed, remembering the story of Baltasar, the first Hood they’d encountered during the Statue of Zeus mission. “Did that work out for you?”

  Nimrod pursed his lips. “I didn’t know what hope was. All I knew, was what I knew. Pain. Humiliation. Shame. Hatred. Until the age of thirteen, that was the sum of my life.”

  “I feel sorry for you,” Lucie said.

  “Don’t. My master saw my potential and gave me a future. Through hardship, we find solace and take it in whatever guise we can.”

  “What can we expect at the crucible?” Heidi asked.

  “Not your friends. We hold all the samples they worked so hard to get. Even if they found the crucible, what could they do?”

  “Destroy it,” Heidi said with a smug smile. “I’d love to see your face if that happened.”

  Nimrod blinked as if the very idea of such sacrilege had never occurred to him. But why would it? These people were fanatics that believed reshaping the world to match their views and needs was all that mattered.

  “The Great Dragon would never let that happen,” Nimrod said with blind faith. “He would intervene. And our High Minervals here would act quickly.”

  Heidi turned in her seat to see two large men seated about three rows back. Lucie seemed to recognize them and said: “Discord and Cronos.”

  “Yes. Grand Master Bacchus has put you in their custody. It is they who have full autonomy over you. Do you understand?” Nimrod bent to grin in their faces. “Anything you need, you will ask their permission first. Whatever they need, they take. I am looking forward to reaching Hades.”

  Heidi watched as Discord’s face broke out into a twisted grin. She turned away when he bent his head to whisper in Cronos’ ear.

  “Hold on,” she murmured to Lucie. “Just hold on a while longer.”

  “I’m trying.”

  The large jet plowed on through the night, traveling east from whatever icy mountain range it had originated. Heidi saw the sun rise; she saw it pass over them and then witnessed a crimson sunset before they came into land. She had no idea where they were, but the Far East felt like a safe bet.

  After disembarking from the plane, they were secured in the third of eight jeeps. Then, the vehicles drove away from a small airstrip and started along a remote mountain route. Heidi couldn’t see much in the dark, but she did recognize one landmark feature.

  The Great Wall of China.

  CHAPTER THIRTY

  Bodie sat in silence with his back to a stone coffin. Darkness, dust and grime surrounded him, the unclean soil of ages disturbed for the first time in millennia. To his left and right, the other members of his team were poised in a similar manner up and down the long line of tombs, taking advantage of the darkness. Cassidy and Pang were lying flat out on top of two. In this formation, using the advantage of surprise, they could decimate the Illuminati forces with their first attack.

  Bodie listened, using the darkness to focus his senses. The scrambling of boots, coughs and low chatter; the sound of guns brushing past stone; the low, stern voices issuing orders—it all crept closer and closer.

  Until, finally, the intruders entered the cavern.

  Bodie heard gasps of delight, of wonder and then growls of caution. He stuck his head around the side of the coffin. At the entrance, some way off across the uneven ground, a group of dark figures gathered. Most carried powerful flashlights. Bodie could see in the sweep of their beams that most also carried impressive weapons.

  He fought hard to identify people, but it was hard, like trying to pick out a figure in a crowd by a spotlight endlessly sweeping over them.

  “I see Nimrod.” Cassidy was in a far better position than he was. “And those other two High Minervals that were there when Bacchus tortured us. Looks like they sent the whole gang. Make sure Adelaide’s trussed up properly.”

  Bodie glanced further into the shadows behind the stone coffins. They’d left the redhead tightly bound in a niche where the bowed walls met the floor. Pang had also left her with a promise: “If we die, they’ll never find you.”

  Bodie understood it was fight or die now. These were the end times, and not just for the Illuminati. The whole world had a vested interest in this outcome.

  Sweat trickled down Bodie’s back as he waited. Footfalls started across the cavern. He counted at least twenty figures, brushed by flashlight beams.

  Cassidy’s next sentence lit a fire in his heart. “They have Lucie and Heidi with them.”

  He clenched a fist, elated that they were alive.

  “Are they hurt?” Jemma asked.

  “They look fine.”

  “Keep the chatter to a minimum,” Pang said. “And brace for attack.”

  “Wait,” Bodie and Jemma said at the same time. “Wait. We must let them complete their ritual, or whatever they do. We have to.”

  “Why?” Pang whispered. “Surely destroying the crucible would be better.”

  “Because then it would leave a cataclysmic weapon somewhere in the world,” Jemma murmured, “just waiting to be found.”

  Pang was silent for a few seconds.

  Cassidy’s voice cut through: “That decision may have just been ripped from our hands. They’ve found the death pit.”

  Bodie watched from afar. Of course, there was no telling when the death pit had been triggered, but combining that with the recent ground collapse at the base of the Great Wall would undoubtedly raise concerns.

  “Final head count, twenty eight including our two,” Cassidy said.

  Bodie was aware that, if the fighting started, Lucie and Heidi were luckless targets. Hopefully, Heidi would rush them to safety.

  “Heads down,” Pang said.

  Flashlights swept their hiding places, probing the stone coffins and the spaces in between.

  Bodie drew back and held his breath, mostly so that he could hear better. At this distance, though, all he could discern was muffled commands.

  A beam cut through the darkness between his coffin and the next. Dust motes danced in the whitish shaft of light. The steady glow bounced as the person holding it walked forward.

  Bodie rolled his shoulders and flexed his fingers before taking firm hold of his gun. He was never ready to kill but, often, there were no good choices.

  There was nothing more from Cassidy and Pang, who would be keeping their heads down, with any luck concealed by the height and size of the coffins. Bodie counted the seconds as their enemies approached.

  There was a shout, a sound of victory as one of the Illuminati no doubt raced toward the crucible. Bodie drew a breath. The beams of the flashlights flooded the darkness
all around him. They’d be firing blind. He wondered if he should hit the roof of the cavern first to give Lucie and Heidi some warning.

  Four seconds, he thought. Three, two...

  A scream, a tortured wail, cut through the darkness like a scythe. Shouts went up in the direction of the crucible and the flashlight beams disappeared, leaving Bodie and his team once again in darkness.

  Perfect.

  It was practically a psychic link between well-trained agents. The CIA killers stepped out of cover. Pang must have raised his head. Before Bodie could act, they opened fire into the backs of their opponents.

  Bodie ran from behind the coffin. A Hood spun toward him, gun in hand. Bodie shot him in the leg.

  Men were collapsing, groaning to left and right.

  Bodie hurried forward, emerging from the line of coffins, and assessed the situation ahead while doing his best to ignore the fire expanding from his knee.

  One Illuminati Hood lay before the crucible, his body broken. Clearly, he’d triggered some kind of trap on approach, something that involved being felled by heavy rubble from overhead.

  Despite that, more Illuminati were streaming toward the crucible, Nimrod among them.

  Lucie and Heidi were crouched close to the lip of the death pit, but still in clear view. Around them more Hoods and mercenaries either lay or crouched, weapons aimed.

  Bodie ducked as a bullet struck the side of his coffin. He fired back, tagging a merc who dropped his gun. Bodie then took it on himself to target the mercs close to Lucie and Heidi. Maybe, if he shot one, Heidi could pick up his weapon.

  A blast of bullets skimmed past him. Although five enemy combatants were down, several more were standing close by.

  CIA agents ran toward them, guns blasting. Bodie saw an agent take a round to the neck and fall, gasping, gushing blood. He saw another engage with a Hood, both grappling with guns in their hands.

  Above, Cassidy had crept to the edge of her coffin. Now, she targeted the mercs gathered in the center of the cavern.

  Bodie spotted Nimrod and his two High Minervals converging on the crucible.

  “Jemma,” he cried. “Whatever you do, just make sure you film what the hell they do next!”

  It wouldn’t be easy—it was a deadly request at best—but Jemma responded positively.

  Bodie stayed close to the coffin and targeted the mercs. A man fell past him, shot in the leg, his gun clattering to the floor. Bodie kicked it into the shadows before kicking the man in the face.

  Gunfire filled the cavern. Chunks of masonry fell from above and fragmented off stone surfaces. Bodie dived and rolled, taking out another merc close to Heidi. She didn’t see the dying man; she was too busy keeping low and trying to protect Lucie and, although Bodie’s shot struck home, the pain ricocheting from his knee to his brain made him temporarily freeze in agony. He sat back, gasping, and waited for the worst to pass, then risked a look.

  Near the crucible, he caught glimpses of Discord and Cronos first laying a heavy backpack on the stone steps and then withdrawing ten plastic containers. Hoods and mercs covered them in a six-strong line, their weapons aimed outward but not yet engaging. Maybe they’d been told not to draw fire until the ritual was complete.

  Bodie watched Discord and Cronos climb the stone steps until they stood before the crucible.

  A Hood rushed at him from the side. Cassidy tried to shoot him but had to duck when a bullet perforated her jacket, passing less than an inch from her ribcage. Bodie elbowed the Hood in the face, saw him stagger and kicked him in the stomach. The Hood grimaced but stayed on his feet and poked a gun at Bodie.

  Bodie stared, suddenly pinned. No way could he save himself.

  The bullet took him off his feet. He landed hard, agony exploding in both knee and chest. It wasn’t the impact that worried him, it was the devastating pain that would come after. The impact had been absorbed by the bulletproof vest; the pain would confound all his reactions.

  Bodie fired blindly. He saw the Hood fall back, arms pinwheeling. Something like an elephant’s leg bore down on his chest for half a minute, and then the pain subsided. Bodie sat up, groaning.

  Two more Hoods were down. A merc had fallen into the death pit but almost managed to save himself. His hands, even now, held tight to its top edge, just a few feet from Lucie’s trailing boot.

  Cassidy leapt down from the top of her coffin and rolled, gun in hand, like a bowling ball straight into the legs of two mercs. They collapsed over her, striking the ground hard. Cassidy swiveled, shot them and rose, taking a good look around.

  Bodie pointed at Heidi. “Help them.”

  CHAPTER THIRTY ONE

  Heidi yelled out a warning as the merc who’d almost met his end by falling into the death pit surged upward in a rush of strength. One flailing hand caught hold of Lucie’s left boot and grabbed hold. His other hand thrashed at the air.

  Lucie slid backward.

  Heidi flattened herself, reached out, and grabbed Lucie’s right hand. The merc tugged harder, raising his head above the lip of the ragged hole. His face was twisted, bloody and feral. Using every ounce of his considerable strength, he used Lucie’s outstretched leg to haul himself away from certain death.

  And dragged her toward it.

  Lucie screamed and waved, finding no purchase other than Heidi’s hand.

  Heidi set her boots into the ground and hauled back, in effect helping the merc up out of the hole. His grip on Lucie’s leg was bone crushing.

  The man bellowed as he tried to lift his weight out of the hole with one arm. Lucie slid toward the hole, now just inches way. The merc tried to use his free hand to gain more purchase as the hand holding Lucie’s leg crept higher, grabbing hold of the back of her thigh.

  Heidi held on, seeing a chance coming.

  In that manner, strangely twisted, the three of them struggled to survive.

  Heidi flinched as a stray bullet skimmed across the cavern, passing just a few feet to her left. Ideally, she should duck, lie prone, but that would mean giving up her best hold on Lucie. It would mean that Lucie might die.

  Heidi held on.

  The merc wrenched at Lucie’s leg, fingers digging deep into the muscle. Lucie wailed, half turned, and tried to kick him in the face with her free boot.

  The merc dodged and dug his hand in harder.

  Lucie struggled to free herself while ensuring she did nothing that would break Heidi’s grip on her hand.

  Heidi felt that hand start to slip away. Sweat covered their flesh in a slight sheen. Heidi changed her position, falling over Lucie’s back and pinning her to the ground. She came face to face with the troublesome merc.

  Teeth bared, he spat a curse at her.

  Heidi didn’t waste her breath.

  The merc’s chest was over the lip of the pit and he pulled harder. Lucie’s boots were dangling over the drop. The merc reached higher, taking a firm hold of Lucie’s belt, his grip improving.

  For one dreadful moment, the merc’s face brushed Heidi’s, the two of them involved in a terrible tug of war. The merc’s second hand sought Lucie’s belt as he prepared to haul himself to safety.

  A startled wail escaped him as Lucie’s belt gave way. The abrupt lack of purchase sent the man falling backward, belt in hand, body plummeting until it struck the spikes driven into the pit’s stony foundation.

  Lucie breathed heavily into the ground.

  “Did it break?” Heidi rolled off Lucie’s back.

  “Managed to get a hand under and undo the clasp,” Lucie gasped. “His mistake.”

  Heidi, staying low, swiveled her body around until she lay head to head with Lucie. “They’re already at the crucible,” she said. “Do you have a plan?”

  “Me?”

  “You’re the historian.”

  “Exactly. Look, get us behind one of those pillars. Maybe we can watch from there.”

  Heidi didn’t stand on ceremony, she half-dragged Lucie behind her as she ducked closer toward the row
of stone pillars. The mercs and Hoods around her were preoccupied with Bodie’s team and didn’t track their progress.

  Lucie scrambled on her knees, complaining about being pulled from pillar to post. Heidi wondered if she was trying to be ironic but thought it unlikely considering they were dodging bullets.

  From behind the pillar, they had a clear view of the crucible ahead. Discord and Cronos were at the top of the stone steps, plastic containers in hand.

  Heidi could see into the slightly tilted crucible itself. The inside of the ceramic container wasn’t just a bowl.

  Narrowing her eyes to see better, Heidi made out a complicated arrangement of deep grooves—ten of them—all running toward the middle of the crucible and a round black hole. The surface was smooth and lined with black veins.

  Six well-armed soldiers guarded the two High Minervals. From here, she could see that a temporary stalemate had developed in the main battle, most of the shooting now designed to keep an enemy in cover.

  “They’re communicating.” Heidi nodded at the Hoods. “Probably gaining time until they have the location to Hades. The ceremony is their priority.”

  “I have no phone, no way of recording what they’re doing,” Lucie said unhappily.

  “Just use your eyes,” Heidi said.

  Between them, Discord and Cronos poured ground ore into the wide runnels, taking great care not to spill any. The grooves filled. Both High Minervals were fully concentrated on their task, heads bent and depending completely on their guards.

  Lucie kept up a running commentary as Heidi watched.

  “That’s six containers, seven. The ore is filling the gaps to the brim. Oh, hell, I wish we’d preserved our samples. All that bloody effort...”