Ives drove another piton into the rock above the ledge, holding onto the attached rope to keep them from being swept past their landing site. Together, the two men pulled against the current until they were finally able to secure the raft against the rock. Huffing, Ives got out and gestured with a grim face to Sydney.
"Up front where we can see you," he said.
Now that there was more space to run they'd be keeping a close eye on her.
Sydney looked around. The last time she was here she hadn't noticed much of her surroundings. Their focus had been on survival. Now she saw the intricate patterns the mineral veins made on the walls. It was beautiful, a dense weave of color that dropped off and picked up as they moved along.
Carved into the wall on her left were more Old Norse runic inscriptions engraved into the rock. Gjoll she translated to herself. It was the Freezing River of Knives from Mikkel's story.
She kept her eyes peeled for more runes, but there was none. There was only the halo of light projecting around them from their lamps. Past that circle, there was only darkness and their intrusion in this underground wonderland.
"Lead the way," Ives barked.
When Zack was with her, he had taken the lead without a moment of doubt, and she had followed without hesitation. 'Sometimes the only way to go is forward,' Zack had told her. She smiled at the memory.
"This way," she said, knowing only that they'd moved away from the river.
They walked along the smooth rock. The cold was starting to work its way through her jacket, creeping into her collar and sinking into her bones.
To her right was an opening. Was this the way they'd come? She bit her bottom lip trying to remember or at least see something that looked familiar. Nothing did, it all seemed the same.
She hadn't counted these steps, and it felt as if they'd been walking a lot longer than the first time. If there had been an opening before the one they took, Zack would have noticed it and explored. He was like that, eager to explore even when things were miserable.
"Through here," she said, trying to sound confident. The men turned to follow her without hesitation.
They walked through a tunnel that twisted and turned more than she remembered. It was colder as well. Did she make a mistake? When the tunnel floor started to slope down, she stopped. The downward slopes hadn't come until after they'd found the hidden settlement the last time.
"Uhm..." She stopped and turned to look at the men behind her. Was she going to tell them she'd made a mistake? No doubt Ives would kill her right now if he could.
Ives' eyes darted over her shoulder, looking at what lay ahead. "What's the problem?" His voice was hard and clipped.
No. She wouldn't tell them. Not yet.
"Can we rest for a minute?"
Ives rolled his eyes. "We're not on a sightseeing tour. Keep moving."
She kept walking, leading them down the tunnel. It narrowed around them and got darker. The farther they went, the colder it became. The walls changed too. Where they were smooth before they were jagged now, filled with holes and pockets. Tiny caves only half formed. Natural or man-made? It was hard to tell the difference. The Norsemen were skilled. They worked with the land, not against it.
"I don't like this," Waterson said.
"Maybe not, but you'll like the cash that comes afterward," Ives told him.
Sydney glanced over her shoulder. She was still able to walk upright, but the two men had to hunch under the low ceiling. They squeezed next to each other, forming a human wall between her and the way back. She kept walking, gaining distance from them, keeping her eyes open for a way out. She needed to find something soon.
The pockets on either side grew deeper, with smaller openings. The farther they moved the darker it became, ominous almost as they were descending into the bowels of the earth. A flashlight beam danced around the tunnel, making her shadow bounce around in front of her, but she was near the beam's limit.
Just ahead, the tunnel took a sharp turn left. Sydney rounded the corner and squeezed into one of the deep pockets in the wall.
Waterson and Ives turned the corner after her, and their flashlights streamed into the empty tunnel.
"Where is she?" Ives shouted.
They started running down the passage in unison. As soon as they were a few yards away, Sydney squeezed out of the pocket and set off in the opposite direction at a dead run.
It didn't take long for Waterson and Ives to realize they'd been tricked. Soon their voices followed close behind, echoing off the tunnel walls.
"Catch her!" one of them shouted, and the anger in the voice spurred her on to run faster.
She ran for dear life.
She could hear the pounding of their boots. In the closed shaft, she was sure the impact made the floor tremble underneath their feet. At least she'd gotten a head start. Would it be enough?
The shaft straightened, and the walls were smooth again. How far did she have left? She should reach the cave that leads to the hot springs soon. How long had they been walking?
The tunnel opened up a short distance ahead. She didn't dare look back. She was going to make it.
A hand closed on her shoulder, yanking her backward. She spun around like a wildcat and launched herself at her assailant, fingernails clawing at his face, her knee trying to make contact with a vulnerable place.
"Owww...!" Ives cried out. With one arm, he managed to push her back against the rock wall, and he drew his fist back.
"No, don't!" Waterson yelled, and then the world went black.
A moment or two later, voices brought her back.
"You didn't have to hit her," Waterson said.
"You idiot," Ives said. "I was supposed to let her claw my eyes out?"
"You already stopped her from getting away," Waterson said.
"And now she knows not to pull a stunt like that again. She'll be fine."
When she opened her eyes the world around her was spinning.
"See? She's waking up already," Ives said. "Get up, let's go."
She sat up.
The whole cave around her tipped to the side, and her cheek ached, and one of her eyes would only open part way. She looked up. Ives was leaning against the bedrock wall, his arms folded across his chest, two fresh bloody scratches ran down the left side of his face. She smiled with a rush of grim satisfaction.
Waterson knelt in front of her on the rock floor.
"You okay?"
"Yes," she said.
"It wasn't the best idea to go running off like that," he told her.
She wanted to answer, Well you're going to kill me anyway, so what's the difference? But instead, she said, "I took a wrong turn."
"What do you mean?" Ives narrowed his eyes at her.
"This is all wrong. I don't recognize this. I think this is the wrong way."
"So what, you decided to make a run for it?" Ives spat.
"I thought I saw something."
"Like a rock?"
"No. Something that moved."
"You were just going to run off without warning us?" Waterson asked. He looked a bit hurt.
Sydney swallowed. "Well, I wasn't sure...when the tunnel started sloping..."
"She's stalling," Ives snorted. "She's messing with us, trying to freak us out so we won't find it."
Waterson stood. "Maybe we should just get out of here," he said.
"She's playing us," Ives said. "I'm not going to fall for it." He walked over to Sydney with a slight limp.
Her smile returned. Her knee had made contact after all.
"Get up. Now. Show us the way."
She got to her feet. "I've only been down here once before, and you have to remember I was lost then too..." Her teeth started chattering. She wrapped her arms around her middle, hugging herself for warmth.
"I say we leave her right here," Ives said to Waterson. "She's nothing but trouble."
"We can't leave her here. We don't know how to find it," Waterson said, his voice rising in anger.
"She isn't helping us," Ives retorted. "She has no idea where anything is down here."
"She knows more than we do, at least. I don't know about you, but I don't want to get lost down here. Not with something alive."
"It's probably hungry too," Sydney added.
"Shut up!" Ives told her. He turned back to Waterson. "You want to crawl back out of this hole and tell Dingo that you let this little girl scare you with a monster story?"
"She didn't say monster."
"Go right ahead, Frank," Ives sneered. "Go right ahead. Meanwhile, I'll take the girl, find the treasure and split it with Dingo 'cause you won't be around anymore."
Waterson balled his hands into fists but did nothing.
Ives pulled Sydney up from the ground and gave her a shove. "Move it."
Chapter Fifty-Three
SYDNEY LED THE WAY back. As soon as they were out of range of Waterson's flashlight, he ran to catch up with them.
They followed the twists and turns in the other direction until it finally spit them back out where they started.
"You better get it right this time," Waterson said, glaring at her. Although she could hear the threat in his voice, she wasn't as nervous as she would have been if Ives said it.
Sydney began walking again, the two men following right on her heels. She kept her eyes open, looking for anything that might be familiar. Her two captors walked a few steps behind, murmuring to each other. She only caught bits and pieces of their conversation.
"Well, once this is done we can do our own thing, we'll be rich," Ives said. "Your debt to Dingo will be paid, and you can do what you want."
"I don't know about you, but when it's over I'm going somewhere warm," Waterson said.
She sighed. Warm would be amazing. She strained her ears to hear more. It distracted her from her current situation. She didn't want to think about how cold it was, or their guns that were loaded with real bullets and would most likely be aimed at her soon.
"What are we going to do with her once we get what we need?" Waterson whispered.
Sydney listened. This was the part she wanted to know, too.
"You know what we do. We get rid of her. She's caused us enough problems already."
"Just like that? Bang, and it's done?" Waterson asked.
"You want to drag her back up there just to do it in front of Dingo?"
"Yes. No. I mean, is that what Dingo wants us to do?"
"Well, Dingo isn't going to let her run around and tell everyone about all this. He has a lot more to lose than we do."
They'd said it before, but hearing it out loud again was still a punch to the gut. They were planning to kill her in cold blood. This would be her grave after all.
She struggled to breathe as if her body was doing nothing with the oxygen that was whistling into and out of her lungs. Her throat clogged and tears burned her eyes, but she fought them back. She might have a chance if she didn't lose her composure.
Trust in God, and use the brains He gave you.
She pumped her fingers open and closed, trying to get the blood to circulate as she said a silent prayer.
Chapter Fifty-Four
MIKKEL BROUGHT THE HELICOPTER down at the rescue site, and Zack was out the door before it had settled on the snow.
He walked over to the hole from which they had been rescued and was pleased to find the ropes Dingo's team had used the day before were still in place.
"These will save us some time," Zack said, checking the lines.
"Those are some expensive ropes to leave behind," Mikkel said, walking up behind Zack.
"Dingo probably didn't want to stick around and answer the Sirius Sledge Patrol's questions." Zack sat on the edge of the hole, readjusted his backpack and gripped the rope with his good hand. His left shoulder was still sore, and he only used it to stabilize himself. He started lowering himself down.
"You may need this," Mikkel said, handing him a zippered leather case.
From its size and weight, Zack knew what it was.
"You know how to use it?" Mikkel asked.
Zack unzipped the case. "A Glock 10mm auto if I'm not mistaken."
"Yep."
"How long have you had this?" Zack asked as he examined the pistol.
"I always have it with me. You know. Just in case."
"In case of what? An angry reindeer?"
Mikkel lowered his eyebrows. "They can be mean," he said with all seriousness.
"Thank you," Zack said. He didn't like guns but knew how to handle one. Just in case.
Mikkel gripped his shoulder and said, "Godspeed, my friend."
Zack pretended it didn't hurt and said, "Same to you, buddy." He pushed off the edge of the hole, inching down the rope, watching his friend fade from view. A touch of claustrophobia kicked in as he entered the narrow opening. The idea that there was a sheer drop to a rock ledge beneath him formed beads of sweat on his brow.
He kept going. He couldn't stop now.
Down he went, lower and lower into the growing darkness. His sore shoulder was screaming its disapproval by the time his feet hit the ground. He clicked on his flashlight and surveyed the area. He turned around in a full circle. There were three passages, but he only remembered one.
Which tunnel?
Exasperated, he tried to remember, but this part of their expedition was hazy. He'd passed out shortly after arriving and his memories of getting this far were patchy. He knew the general direction they'd come, but with a smooth rock floor, there were no tracks to follow. Sydney had the right idea, counting steps.
He growled at his indecision and tried to eliminate the less obvious choices. There were three openings. One was far too small, and he ruled it out right away. The other two looked very similar.
If he'd had a quarter, he would have flipped it, but instead, he forced himself into making a decision. He couldn't stand here all day. He chose a tunnel, stepped inside, and followed the turns and bends.
Even with the proper gear, the chill in the air bit down on him, but the speed at which he was moving made up for it. Soon he was getting warm from exertion.
He followed the tunnel for ten or fifteen minutes. Had it taken that long for them to find the cavern? He couldn't remember.
Then...he reached a rock wall. It was smooth and solid and standing right in front of him. He couldn't believe his eyes as he smacked the wall in frustration. He'd come to a dead end.
How was that even possible?
Didn't all these tunnels lead somewhere?
Could the water carve something out and then just stop? Or was this tunnel man-made? Whatever the answer was, he had to back up and start over. He didn't have time to figure out every mystery in the universe.
All that time wasted!
Chapter Fifty-Five
THE TUNNEL OF SMOOTH rock stretched on forever, at least that's how it seemed as Sydney kept walking into endless darkness. Even the glow of their lights seemed muted, compressed by the sheer pressure of the rock all around them.
The ebb and flow of adrenaline throughout the day had left Sydney's body in a deepening state of fatigue. She wasn't sure how she was still functioning. On a positive note, she mentally celebrated the fact that this time, she wasn't wet.
Markings on one of the walls caught her eye, another word she'd missed when she was with Zack.
The markings were narrow and on top of each other, and some scratches made it hard to read. Hvergelmir, she finally translated.
Roaring Kettle.
As they moved closer, it was the smell that reached her first. She pinched her nose, a pungent reminder that she was on the correct trail.
"This is disgusting," Waterson said in revulsion. He covered his mouth and nose with his glove, breathing as shallow as he could. "It smells like something died in there."
Ives said, "It's just a sulfur spring. Let's keep moving. The sooner we can get away from that stink, the better."
Sydney glanced over her shoulder one more time, feelin
g the warm steam of the water rising over her frozen body. Even though it did smell like rotten eggs, the warmth was worth the nasal assault.
They stepped through the opening she'd gone through before. The hissing seemed even louder this time. Sydney suppressed a smile when the two henchmen looked about nervously, moving cautiously with bent knees and fists ready. They were ridiculous. Grown men scared of a monster.
They reached the ventilation holes, and Sydney relished the warmth caused by the hot air blowing out of them. A few degrees could make the difference between life and death, but they weren't going to stop and take the time to warm up. Waterson and Ives weren't cold, and they were in a hurry. The promise of riches called them from ahead, and Dingo's nasty scowl chased them from behind.
"Come on, let's keep moving, we don't have all day," Ives called out to Sydney.
She sighed.
Every step she took drew them closer to the city. She had to think of a way to escape.
Chapter Fifty-Six
ZACK WAS OUT OF breath by the time he finally reached the rescue site again. He took the other tunnel without a moment's hesitation, running as fast as the narrow passage would allow. Hesitating wasn't a luxury he could afford. Time was running out.
His luck was better this time. In about ten minutes, he reached the settlement, which was just as they had left it. Almost. There was fresh debris lying on the floor, and a roof or two had sagged on the buildings.
Was there another quake?
He glanced around, formulating a plan, trying to figure out how to save Sydney when she and the two thugs arrived. He hurried toward the church, slipping inside without a sound. The church was empty and quiet but vibrated with reverence as strong as a mother's heartbeat would sound to her unborn child. For all of his scientific knowledge, he was at a complete loss to explain how a stone cold abandoned building could exude such warmth and vitality. The feeling was beyond explanation.
Settling down next to a window, Zack looked out at the city that stood in silence. It hadn't been disturbed yet. The blank faces of the houses looked sad as if their barren windows and doors had lost their purpose. He supposed they had and were waiting for the warmth of humans to fill their emptiness once again. They stood with a quiet dignity, peaceful.
The Codex (An Armour of God Thriller Book 2) Page 15
