The Soul Stealer

by Alex Archer

Bob frowned. “How’d you know that?”

  Yuri shook his head. “There is nothing that money cannot buy. And we happen to have a very powerful boss. Someone with a lot of money who can make telephone calls and get whatever information we need.”

  “So, that makes you—what? More spies?” Annja asked.

  “We work for the Georgian mafiya,” Oleg said.

  “For a man by the name of Viktor Prezchenko.”

  “I know that name,” Bob said. “He’s a power broker in the natural gas and oil industries here in Russia.”

  Yuri nodded. “Yes. He is a man who knows how to get whatever he wants, by any means necessary.”

  “I suppose that means killing, maiming, torture and all the rest of that kind of stuff,” Annja said.

  “It means by any means necessary,” Oleg replied.

  “And those AKs are for what?” Bob asked.

  “For you, if necessary,” Yuri said. “But I honestly hope we do not have to use them. I dislike wasting ammunition on people.”

  “If you’re here at the behest of Prezchenko,” Bob said, “then that means you must be up to something highly illegal.”

  “Legalities do not bother us very much,” Oleg admitted.

  “So what’s Prezchenko doing sending his henchmen out into Siberia? Is he looking for more coppers in his chest?” Bob asked.

  Yuri smiled. “Stalin thought the richest region of Russia was Siberia and he was right,” Yuri said. “This area in particular has a pool of oil that could turn Russia into one of the biggest producers in the world. Our own dependence on oil imports would be zero. And Prezchenko could set himself up as the man in charge of exploiting these resources.”

  “What happens to the people who live here now?” Bob asked.

  “They’re in the way,” Oleg said. “We need the land they own right now. That is why we are here.”

  Bob pointed. “So, it was you two.”

  Yuri frowned. “Us?”

  “Who unleashed the story of Khosadam on these poor people. You tried to use the legends to your own advantage by scaring them away. And when they refused to leave, you took it one step further and started murdering people like the poor villager we found mutilated on the trail. You two are utterly barbaric,” Bob said.

  Oleg eyed Yuri and then looked at Bob. “We haven’t killed anyone,” he said flatly.

  “Yet,” Yuri added. “Although we might make an exception with you.”

  “You’re lying,” Bob said. “We found the body. You didn’t hide it well enough.”

  Annja pursed her lips. “Bob.”

  He looked at her. “Don’t stop me now, Annja. I’ve dealt with people like these guys before. I know how they operate. I was on a dig in Indonesia that some lumber magnate wanted for his own. So he sent in thugs and beat all the men in a single village to death. The rest of the village fled and he got what he wanted. They think they’re above the law and it really disgusts me.”

  Annja wanted to grab him, but Oleg’s rifle was still aimed right at her. “Bob, there’s something you’re forgetting.”

  “What?”

  “Yuri and Oleg were with us inside the inn last night.”

  “So?”

  “So, there’s no way they could have killed that poor man.”

  Bob stopped. Then he frowned. “Damn, you’re right.”

  Yuri smiled at Annja. “I should say thank you for clearing our names.”

  “But you won’t. And don’t bother, anyway. You and Oleg there are still two nasty pieces of work,” Annja muttered.

  “Perhaps.”

  “Perhaps nothing. Even if you haven’t killed anyone yet, as you say, it still doesn’t make you guys saints. Especially since you’re looking to rape the land in this area.”

  Bob glanced at Gregor. “Is what they said about you true?”

  Gregor smiled. “I am supposed to deny it, of course. That is standard procedure.”

  “So it is true,” Bob said, stunned.

  Gregor nodded. “For what it’s worth, I think you are a noble man.”

  “But not so noble that you wouldn’t consider not recruiting me.”

  Gregor shrugged. “I have a job to do. The needs of my country outweigh my personal desires.”

  Yuri laughed. “You are a fool, Gregor. You could have come and worked with us when we offered you a job. But you turned us down. You turned down very good money. And that is why we know who you really are. No one turns down the kind of money we offer unless they are already working for someone else.”

  Oleg nodded. “So, we found out who you worked for.”

  “And lucky me,” Gregor said. “I happen to run into you two again last night. Imagine my surprise.”

  Yuri chuckled. “I suppose you had that old stomach lurch when you saw us, eh?”

  “Something like that.”

  “Maybe you hoped we wouldn’t remember you?”

  “I’m not that naive,” Gregor said. “I knew my cover was blown. But for the sake of all of us, I kept it up.”

  Annja looked at Gregor. “You weren’t planning to tell us?”

  Gregor shrugged. “My plan was to take care of things without you or Bob knowing about it. I prefer things nice and clean. Without a whole lot of explanations. Surely you understand that.”

  “So everything you told us, the old tales and folklore and your stories about military maneuvers—that was all a bunch of lies?” Annja asked.

  Gregor shook his head. “No. It was the truth.”

  “How can we believe you?”

  “I’m not asking you to. But you should know better than most that a good lie is always based on the truth. So even though I was not honest about my real identity, the stories to support my identity are true. Take it for whatever you feel it is worth. I’m not interested in impressing you with my honesty.”

  “Oh, no,” Bob said. “He’s interested in exploiting me for his country’s gain.”

  “We still have a problem, then,” Yuri said.

  “What’s that?” Annja asked.

  “If neither you nor us created Khosadam, then who did?”

  Annja looked at Bob and then at Gregor. Could Gregor have fabricated the tale to get closer to Bob? Annja supposed it was possible, but didn’t think it fit Gregor’s professed modus operandi of choosing simple tactics to produce results.

  Could Yuri and Oleg be lying to them? Sure, she reasoned, but did that make any sense? They had the guns, after all. And it didn’t look as if they had any interest in lying about who they were now that everything was out in the open.

  She could hear the drips of condensation echoing throughout the cave. The air was cold and everyone’s breath came out as steam. Annja shivered slightly as she thought about the corpse they’d found earlier. What a grisly way to go. It didn’t seem like something any of the three Russians would do.

  “I don’t know who is behind the story,” Annja said.

  “But I’d like to find out.”

  “Maybe there’s no one behind it,” Bob said. “Maybe Khosadam is real.”

  Yuri laughed. “Ridiculous. One of the villagers has no doubt figured out that there are too many strangers in town lately. They are trying to drive us away. But we will get to the bottom of things and show them that they are the ones who should be frightened.”

  “Yeah, that should go well,” Annja said. She glanced at Gregor. “Are you sure this creature isn’t something your superiors cooked up to help you in your mission?”

  “Yes,” Gregor said. “In fact, I haven’t had contact with my superiors for almost a week now.”

  “Is that normal?” Bob asked. “I thought you spies checked in every twenty-four hours or else they send the cavalry in.”

  Oleg laughed now. “There will be no cavalry for Gregor. Our intelligence services are virtually bankrupt. Manpower is limited. Most of the higher-ups are corrupt and on someone’s payroll.”

  “This is true,” Gregor said. “I am one of a few still commit
ted to my job.”

  “So where does this leave us?” Annja asked. “If no one is able to come up with a reasonable explanation about where Khosadam is or how it was created, we’re not left with much.”

  “Except for what Bob said,” Gregor suggested.

  Annja sighed. “You’re going along with that, too?”

  “Why not?”

  She shrugged. “Just seems a little too, I don’t know, old-fashioned for the likes of a superspy.”

  “I am not a superspy. Not by any stretch of the imagination.”

  Annja grinned. “You might be right. Your English is a lot better now than it was before.”

  “You see?” Gregor smiled at her and in spite of herself, Annja smiled back.

  Yuri yawned and the groan seemed to bounce off the cave walls. “Well, this is all well and good, but I’m afraid Oleg and I have much work to do before we head back to the village.”

  “What kind of work?”

  Yuri looked at Annja. “Tidying-up work.”

  “They’re going to kill us,” Gregor said. “And then they will most likely dispose of our bodies where we won’t be found until nature has had a chance to do its work on us.”

  “Well, that or Khosadam,” Oleg said. “Either way works fine with us. We are not picky in that regard.”

  Yuri smiled. “It has been nice conversing with you all again.”

  Oleg ratcheted the slide on his AK. “Your time is up.”

  16

  As soon as Annja saw Oleg rack the slide on his AK, she closed her eyes. Her sword was still out of reach. The cave was simply too confined to pull it out.

  But she didn’t care. If she couldn’t use the sword, she’d use something else.

  In the next split second, she launched herself from her seat and drove a heel-stomp kick right into Oleg’s rifle. The gun slammed into his midsection and Annja thought she heard his ribs crack as the steel met bone.

  Good, she thought. The sooner I put these guys down the better.

  Oleg moaned and doubled over momentarily. Behind her, Annja sensed movement and she hoped that Gregor and Bob were taking care of Yuri.

  A gunshot rang out. Then another. The rounds echoed off the cave walls, and Annja ducked instinctively as a ricocheting bullet flew past her ear.

  “Dammit!”

  Annja pivoted and saw Gregor and Yuri fighting it out. Gregor was on top of Yuri, but Annja couldn’t see the assault rifle. It must have been between them.

  “Bob! Help Gregor,” she shouted.

  She turned back and found Oleg on his feet without his weapon. Annja spotted it on the ground a few feet away. She’d broken part of the assembly with her kick, and the gun was useless. But she had a more immediate problem. Oleg held a wicked-looking knife in his hand. And judging by the way he held it, he knew exactly how best to use it.

  “Shooting you would have been kind,” Oleg said.

  “Now I will cut you open instead.”

  Annja frowned. I can’t believe we actually drank with these guys last night not knowing they were killers. So much for her intuition. Maybe the alcohol had dulled her ability to perceive danger. She didn’t know.

  “Lucky me,” Annja replied. She kept her eyes locked on Oleg. Rather than fixate on the knife as she knew many untrained people tended to do, she focused her eyes softly on Oleg’s shoulders and hips. They would tell her where Oleg’s attack would come from. One area or the other would telegraph any movement he made, and Annja would know immediately how to respond.

  Oleg punched in with the knife aimed at her midsection.

  Annja barely had time to react. She dropped her hips and jerked her body out of the way. Oleg’s blade flew past her, but before she could punch down on the top of his arm, Oleg had already brought the blade in front of him. “I am not so easy to disarm,” he said, sneering.

  Annja kept breathing, trying to keep her vision from tunneling. She was aware of a frantic battle going on behind her. But all she could do was hope that between Bob and Gregor, they could contain Yuri.

  Oleg kept the blade dancing in front of him. He kept his other arm positioned over his chest.

  He’s used to fighting other people armed with knives, Annja thought. She recognized the classic knife-fighting posture one of her old military buddies had once taught her.

  But Annja didn’t have a knife handy.

  Oleg stabbed in at her again. He wasn’t wasting time with a slash. He could have toyed with her if he’d wanted to but he wanted her dead. At least that was a small measure of respect, she thought. Oleg considered her too dangerous to toy with.

  She knew she had to do something fast if she had any hope of surviving this fight.

  Oleg’s shoulders twitched and this time, as he stabbed in, Annja chopped down on his arm, directly into the vital point on top of his forearm muscle. She heard him grunt and then heard the blade clatter away.

  But Annja was already following the chop with a backhand strike to Oleg’s Adam’s apple. Her hand sliced into his neck hard, and instantly Oleg’s hands flew to his throat. He gagged and his knees buckled.

  Annja watched him try to get air down his shattered trachea, but nothing would come. His gag reflex also seemed to be hyperactive. Nothing was getting in or out.

  Before she knew it, Oleg slumped over onto the floor of the cave, facedown.

  Annja took a breath and steadied herself.

  She turned. In the midst of dealing with Oleg, she’d been unaware that the other fight had ended.

  She could see two bodies on the floor of the cave. She rushed over.

  “Bob!”

  He lay on the ground clutching at his abdomen. His eyes looked unfocused and his face was pale. Annja knelt next to him. “What happened?”

  Gregor’s voice behind her was quiet. “He caught one of the bullets Yuri fired before I was able to kill him.”

  Annja looked at him. “Is there anything you can do?”

  Gregor just stared at her. “I’ll give you two a moment.” He walked away.

  Annja stared after him for a moment and then turned back to Bob. His hands were a deep crimson as his blood drained out of him.

  He tried to smile. “Some dig, huh?”

  Annja’s eyes felt hot. She blinked hard. “You’re going to be fine. Just hang on.”

  Bob tried to laugh, but it came out as more of a stuttering cough. “Don’t. I’ve seen enough of the Military Channel to know this is…the end.”

  Tears rolled down Annja’s face. “Don’t say that!”

  Bob shook his head. “And just two days ago, I was worried you might be close to death. Funny how fast things change, huh?”

  Annja looked off into the cave. “Gregor! Please help!”

  “There’s nothing he can do for me now. He already tried to stop the bleeding. The bullet went too deep and high. I’m shredded on the inside,” Bob said.

  “Is there anything I can do for you?” Annja asked desperately.

  Bob nodded. “When you get back, make sure they do something about this area. I’d like people to know the stories about our adventures here. It’s a small thing, but maybe someone will enjoy reading about what we did. Or what we tried to do.”

  Annja nodded. “You’ve got it.”

  “There’s a safe-deposit box at a bank in Geneva. It’s got my will in it. Can you make sure it gets to my family? My important documents are with my things back at the hotel.”

  “I promise.” Annja stripped off her jacket and laid it over him.

  Bob shivered. “Never knew how it was going to end for me. I guess I always thought…” He paused. “Well, it was never like this.”

  Bob squeezed her hand one final time, and then Annja felt it go soft. Tears flowed down her face and fell to the cave floor below.

  She felt a hand squeeze her shoulder.

  “I’m sorry, Annja,” Gregor said.

  She looked at Bob and closed his eyes. “He was a dear friend.”

  “And a good man.
Regardless of my motivations. He was a good man,” Gregor said.

  Annja saw Yuri’s corpse nearby. His neck was bent at an odd angle. “Is he dead?”

  “Very.”

  “Good.”

  She stood and bowed her head. She thought about the good times she and Bob had had in the past and prayed that he would find a wonderful home in whatever paradise he chose.

  When she lifted her head, she saw that Gregor had bowed his head, as well. “Thank you,” she whispered.

  He looked up. “For what?”

  “Helping him.”

  Gregor shook his head. “There wasn’t anything I could do to save him. The bullet—”

  “I know. But thank you anyway.”

  Gregor nodded. “We should get going. We’ll need to organize a team to get up here and recover the bodies. He shouldn’t be left like this.”

  Gregor started walking toward the front of the cave. Annja followed.

  As they reached the entrance, Gregor stopped.

  “What’s the matter?” Annja asked.

  But the sudden roar that echoed throughout the entire cave drowned out her question.

  Something was inside with them.

  17

  Gregor pulled Annja down to the floor of the cave, his hand already starting to cover her mouth. Annja felt his body heat as they huddled together behind an outcropping.

  Farther ahead, she thought she could see a shadowy form skulking through the cave. Was this the Khosadam she’d heard so much about? Was this really the supernatural demigoddess who ate people’s souls?

  She strained her eyes to look. She could hear the creature’s feet shuffling along the rocky ground. Its breathing seemed raspy, as well.

  And then as quickly as it seemed to fill the cave, the creature vanished.

  Annja and Gregor waited there a few more moments, but Gregor gradually released his hold on her. He shot her a look that told her not to make any noise.

  Slowly, Gregor peeled himself away from Annja and rose to a slight crouch. He lifted himself so he could peer over the outcropping, and Annja watched him remain almost motionless. She decided that he must be an expert at staying completely still from all of his years with Russian intelligence.

  Gregor knelt back down beside her. Annja felt his warm breath tickle her ear. “It appears to have gone.”