“Bullshit.” Craig snapped. “No one would leave diamonds behind. You just want to keep them all for yourself.”
“I have no need for shiny pebbles. I do not know what possible good they will do you, either. Lucy will defeat you soon and you will be dead. This seems a senseless way to use your remaining time.”
Lucy winced at bit, as Craig and Taffi both glowered at him. “Thanks for the vote of confidence, sweetie, but it’s really not helping.”
“I only speak the truth. You will win the Ardin. It is foretold.” He arched a brow. “Now are you sure this is the way to the cavern, goddess?”
From his tone, it seemed pretty obvious that this wasn’t the way to the cavern. The real diamond cave must have been flooded as the island sank. Lucy didn’t care.
“Yes.” She said firmly. “This is the way. It’s by the river.”
“As you wish.” Rhawn stopped arguing and headed back towards the valley.
Craig shot Taffi a fuming look, still certain that Rhawn was after his new fortune. “As soon as we find the diamonds, shoot him in the head, will you? No. On second thought, I want to be the one to shoot him in the…fuck!” His words ended with a violent curse and he lifted his foot to frown down at his ankle. “A gerbil just bit me.” He was dressed in cargo shorts and flip-flops, so it was easy to see the red bite mark on his skin. “You assholes have man-eating gerbils here, for Christ’s sake? Are they rabid?”
Lucy’s eyebrows climbed, automatically scanning the forest floor for the rodent culprit. Small creatures were still skittering about in a frenzy, including those incredible dangerous hamster things. That was probably bad. Lucy’s eyes flicked to Rhawn for a prognosis, already knowing what he was going to say.
“You stepped on a boga.” Rhawn told Craig, without much sympathy. “The venom is deadly, unless you are very lucky. …You do not seem like a man with much luck.”
Craig did not take that news well. “What the fuck do you mean it’s deadly?!” He screeched, very close to crying again. “It was just a goddamn gerbil!”
“It was a hamster.” Rhawn corrected. “And they bring nothing but death.”
The puncture on Craig’s ankle was already swelling. Lucy could see the poison beginning to take hold and attack his body. Craig’s skin was turning a sickly green color. She remembered it from when Rhawn was so sick in the dream and her heartbeat sped up.
God, no wonder the caveman was so twitchy about those icky little vermin. These Ice Age hamsters had almost killed him with their icky little Ice Age hamster fangs. Lucy gave a shudder and bent down to tuck her pant legs into her socks. Animal lover or not, she’d never liked mice. Now she felt totally justified in calling the exterminator on them back home.
Craig’s leg was bloating, as the venom raced through his body. It was as if one whole side of him was being inflated, the flesh expanding to a horrific and impossible size. “Do something!” He screamed at no one in particular. His throat began to distend and he wheezed in alarm. “Do something! Do something! Do something!”
Taffi did something.
She shot him.
Lucy cried out as Taffi put a bullet right through Craig’s skull. “Oh my God!” She gaped down at him for a beat, unable to process what she had just seen. “Oh my God! You killed Craig! Jesus! You just killed him, Taffi! How could you do that?”
“If you’d ever slept with the guy, you wouldn’t have to ask.” Taffi assured her, not the least bit repentant. “Most boring two minutes of my life. And anyway, what else could I do? Nurse him back to frigging health?” She rolled her eyes. “Please. You said yourself we’re on a schedule here. He was just going to slow us down with his whining.”
Lucy stared at her, unable to comprehend her blasé attitude about murdering their classmate. “You just killed Craig!” She repeated at a roar, since the prom queen was still not getting it. “You sat next to him in homeroom for three years!”
“Oh whatever.” Taffi scoffed in the exact same tone she’d used in high school when she forgot her homework. “Like anyone’s going to miss that loser, besides his bookie. He wasn’t special. You’re not special. I’m the one who’s special. This is my. special. fucking. day,” she spaced out each word, enunciating them with hard jabs of the gun, “and no one is spoiling it. I’m getting my diamonds and then I’m catching the last boat off of this turd pile.”
Lucy very nearly punched her, right in her surgically straightened nose.
“Lucy.” Rhawn said quietly, seeing her intentions. “Do not. You will not win through anger. Continue with whatever it is you’re doing. Wait until you know it is time for your victory.”
“She’s not going to win at all, Mowgli.” Taffi taunted. “Now move.” She gave Lucy a shove.
Rhawn shot Taffi a glare. “You are a terrible queen.” He informed her seriously and led them through the woods, back towards the river.
They were way, way, way too close to Uooloa now. Projectiles the size of old-fashion TV sets were being expelled from the volcano’s crater and launched hundreds of feet in the air. Radiant red, they shot out like bombs, crashing to the ground and flattening everything in their path. It still wasn’t enough to ease the massive buildup of pressure, though. The sides of the mountain were straining to contain the explosive forces of the volcano and, any moment, they would give way entirely.
“The cave is up ahead.” Lucy pointed to the almost invisible opening in the rock behind a vivid blue waterfall. “I saw it earlier.”
Rhawn flashed her a baffled look and helped her over the rocks. “Are you sure about this?” He asked, still remarkably composed, given the disasters looming on all fronts, positive that the Savior would do something amazing to rescue him. He wouldn’t be nearly so confident if he understood his “Savior” was just Lucy Meadowcroft, from Clovis New York.
Lucy swallowed hard, hoping that she could get them of this mess. “I’m sure.”
“There had better be a lot of diamond in here.” Taffi warned them. “Like Marilyn Monroe amounts. Otherwise, you two are going to be really sorry you messed with me.”
“Don’t worry. There are plenty of stones inside. But they’re in the walls, so we’ll have to pry them out.” Lucy had no idea how diamonds were mined, but she’d seen Snow White when she was kid. Hopefully, “Hi-Ho” was the extent of Taffi’s knowledge, too. “We might need pickaxes for the big ones. Does the Clan have pickaxes, Rhawn?
“I am unfamiliar with the word…”
“Are those the small diamonds, then?” Taffi interrupted, pointed at the strands looped around Lucy’s neck. “Holy crap, I’m going to be soooo rich I can just buy myself a film career! And get a boob job and hire Brad Pitt as my sexy butler. Finally, I’m going to get what I deserve.” She squeezed her way across a narrow path to the cave entrance, dragged Lucy through the frigid water of the torrential falls. “And I’m getting rid of that stupid, smelly dog and finally buying a pony!”
Lucy took one step into the cave and knew her plan was going to work.
Instead of billions in of shiny carbon, there were bones. The dirt floor was littered with skulls, femurs, ribs, and vertebra, indicating this cave was used as a predator’s lair. A big predator. Probably lots of big predators. She slowly smiled.
“Lucy, there are no shiny rocks in this cave.” Rhawn said in a quiet voice.
“I know.”
“Where the hell are the diamonds?” Taffi demanded, heading for the walls to search for the telltale sparkle of gems. “It’s supposed to look like Harry Winston’s wet dream in here. Why am I not seeing any diamonds? Huh?” She headed deeper into the cavern, not exactly ready to whistle while she worked. “Where did you hide them?!”
Lucy had a brief flash of guilt. Maybe she should try and stop this. “Taffi, don’t go back there.” She blurted out, before she could reconsider. “Please.”
“Shut up and help me look!”
Sanity returned. It was no use trying to save the lunatic planning to kill them. If
Taffi had her way, Lucy and Rhawn would join Craig in whatever afterlife this island led to. Besides, that bitch had threatened Rhawn and Lucy was taking that personally.
The prom queen was on her own.
Lucy grabbed hold of Rhawn’s arm, preventing him from going any farther into the cave. “Back up.” She hissed. “Very slowly.” Her shoes were crunching on archeological evidence that would prove her entire thesis true and she didn’t even care. “You know how you said I’d know when it was time for victory? Well, it’s time.”
“You will win the Ardin, now?” He guessed hopefully, like a kid all ready for WrestleMania to start. “Can we do that by retreating?”
“We can when we’re standing in a sabretooth den.”
Rhawn glanced around in surprise, as Lucy edged them both towards the door. “I have never seen a long-tooth den. They are very private animals.” He sounded interested. “Are you sure?”
“Trust me. I got an A in this.” The cavern looked exactly like the diagram in Lucy’s final paper. Her conclusion that groups of sabretooth cats lived together in caves. She’d seen the entrance when they fled from the valley and she’d known that this was the pack’s home. At the time, she’d regretted that she wouldn’t have a chance to investigate it.
Now she just wanted to get the hell out.
A low growl emanated from the dark recesses of the cavern. Then another. Then another. The menacing sounds echoed off the stone walls, making them seem like they were going on and on and on. They came from all directions at once, pitched at the perfect frequency to make all the hairs on the human body stand straight up.
“What the hell was that?” Taffi demanded. She glowered over at Lucy. “What have you done now?”
“I went to grad school.” Lucy spared a quick look towards the exit, making sure they had a clear path. The sabretooth wouldn’t attack them if they were in retreat.
Not when they could attack Taffi instead.
Taffi spun around in a circle, trying to see the threat. “Whoever’s there, better back off. I mean it! These are my diamond and I’ll fight for them. All of them.” She waved her gun, heedlessly firing into the darkness. “Stay back or else!”
Instead of scaring them away, the gun instigated the attack. It was the same way Craig had killed the sabretooth in the tar pits. The same noise. The cats had been watching from the shadows that day and now they associated the weapon with their dead pride-mate. With murder. With death. With suffering.
With enemies.
Six sabretooth seemed to move as once and the prom queen didn’t stand a chance. Lucy cringed, knowing what was about to happen. Taffi’s shouting bounced off the wall as she wildly fired at the cats.
It was no use. Even Taffi seemed to realize that. She spun the gun around, aiming it at Lucy. “You can’t do this to me!” She shrieked. “I’m supposed to be the star!”
Lucy didn’t even bother to duck. No bullets were going to hit her. Taffi had just emptied the gun. “Good-bye, Taffi.” She said softly. “I’m sorry we were enemies since kindergarten. I’m sorry there wasn’t another way.”
Fangs as long as rulers flashed, claws rending flesh. The sabretooths silenced Taffi’s enraged scream so quickly, it was like the prom queen had never been there, at all. Lucy squeezed her eyes shut, turning her face away so she wouldn’t see the carnage.
“The Destroyer is gone.” Rhawn breathed. “Just as you said.”
“Go.” Lucy whispered back. They had to make their escape while the pride was occupied or they would never get out. She couldn’t bring herself to look at Taffi’s body, but she still felt a twinge of sadness for her.
No one deserved that kind of end. Not even cheerleaders.
Rhawn didn’t seem to hear her urging. “You have won the Ardin and you used knowledge as your only weapon.” He met her gaze, looking awed. “You are the Savior, Lucy. Even you must see it.”
“You really want to start that shit now? We have to get out of here!”
“The long-tooths will not harm you. They know who you are.” He slowly shook his head. “You did not even have to strike Taffi to win, just as you did not have to touch Craig to defeat him. This island and its inhabitant protect you.”
“Well, they’re doing a piss poor job of it.” She shoved him through the waterfall and then stumbled out after him. “We can talk about your goddess kink later, okay? Right now, we have to get back to the beach, before the volcano explodes.”
…And that’s when the volcano exploded.
The stories of Krakatoa had been right. The sound nearly did rupture Lucy’s eardrums. It sent her whole head ringing, like someone had pounded on a gong with a sledgehammer. The reverberations inside her skull had her hands coming up to clutch the sides of her head in agony.
The whole top of Uooloa blew apart, spewing a geyser of lava in explosions of fire. The mountain glowed with the most beautiful and terrifying shades of red she’d ever seen. Electric, searing colors that were almost alive lit up the sky.
It was watching like the 4th of July fireworks in hell.
The force of the eruption sent trees blowing backwards all over the island. It also knocked Lucy right off her feet. She toppled into the river, the shocking cold of the water all the more shockingly cold because of the rush of volcanic heat in the air. Lucy’s head whacked against a rock below the surface. For a second, she nearly blacked out.
“Lucy!”
She could hear Rhawn’s voice bellowing her name and it brought her around. Lucy swam back to the surface, trying to reach him, but the current was too strong. She cursed in frustration. Goddamn it, they didn’t have time for this. Lava was pouring down the side of the volcano, melted rock covering the island like a shroud. They had to get to the boat.
Except she couldn’t fight her way back to shore.
“Lucy!” Rhawn raced along the riverbank and then waded into the torrent after her. “Lucy, give me your hand!”
Lucy reached out to him and missed. She wanted to tell him to go without her and save himself, but she knew he wouldn’t, so there was no sense in wasting the oxygen. Air was suddenly a precious commodity. The only way she was going to save Rhawn was to save herself, so she needed to focus on survival. Lucy’s feet touched the bottom of the river and she kicked off the rocks, propelling herself towards shore.
Rhawn grabbed her, his fingers sealing around her wrist like a vice. Nothing would’ve been able to pry her free of his grasp. “Are you, alright?” He demanded, dragging her against his chest. “Are you hurt?”
Lucy shook her head, coughing up water. “This island is not trying to save me, Rhawn.” She got out. “I think that’s pretty fucking clear.”
“You’re still alive, aren’t you? Seems like the work of the gods to me, seeing as how difficult you can be.” The river dragged him forward too, sending the both of them hurdling downstream and towards a large lake. “I have never seen one woman land herself into trouble so often.”
“I love you, too.” She kissed the side of his jaw and his mouth curved. If a guy could smile at you in the middle of drowning and during a volcanic eruption, you knew he was a keeper. “Hey, if we survive this, you want to get married?” She asked, because what the hell better time was there to propose than a natural disaster?
“I am unfamiliar with the word ‘married.’”
“It’s a ceremony that makes you my mate, for better or worse.”
Rhawn shot her an incredulous look. “Why would I want that? I am your mate. I do not need a ceremony to give me what I already possess.”
“Well, too bad. We’re having one. …If we survive this, anyhow.” Lucy held onto his neck, as the current dragged them out to the middle of the lake. The water was deep and cold, but that was the least of her worries. Her eyes stayed on the volcano. The force of the explosion had ripped long, jagged fissures in the ground. It really might tear the whole island apart and sink it beneath their feet. “Rhawn, I seriously do not know how we’re going to survive this.�
�� She whispered.
“You are the Savior. You will save us.”
It would be a shame to spend their last moments alive hitting the man she loved, but she was sorely tempted to bop Rhawn on his pretty head. “Would you stop with that crap and just be logical for a moment? You’re supposed to be the practical, reasonable, scientific genius in this partnership, so act like it.” She looked around, trying to come up with a plan. It seemed like an earthquake had opened up a passage in the lakeshore that connected it to the ocean. Maybe they could get out that way. “Do you think we could swim fast enough to catch up with Warren and the…?” She trailed off, her eyes falling on a strange glow beneath the water.
Something blue and swirling.
And familiar.
Staring at it, Lucy recalled falling off the deck of the Arden. Below here, had been a whirlpool of blue that glowed with an identical unnatural light. It was exactly the same glowing whirlpool that Rhawn had drawn on his cave wall. Images from his earliest dreams. How many glowing blue whirlpools could there be? It was all the same phenomena and Lucy suddenly knew what it was:
A portal home.
“Rhawn, take us underwater!” She shouted.
“You would prefer drowning to roasting alive, then? I think we should try to reach the beach and…”
Lucy cut off his complaint. “I found your blue whirlpool. Get us down to it. I think it’s our ticket to Earth.”
Rhawn glanced at the whirlpool, jolting to see it right there in front of them. “I have been to this lake may times. That was never here before.”
“Who cares? It’s here now. I think it’s going to lead us home.”
“We do not know that it will take us to Newyork. If it is a magical passageway, it could go anywhere.”
“Luckily ‘anywhere’ is a hell of a lot better than here, at the moment.” She leaned up to give him a smacking kiss. “Besides, so long as I’m with you, Rhawn, I don’t think it matters where we end up.”
He grinned at that logic and held her tight. “Hold your breath.” He instructed and dunked them under the water.
Once Upon a Caveman Page 25
