Arkana Archaeology Mystery Box Set 2

by N. S. Wikarski

  “I know all about Kailash.” Erik’s tone was ominous. “Too much in fact. I arranged a retrieval in Tibet a couple of years ago and had to travel there. It’s part of the Himalayas—not the kind of place you can breeze through in a couple of days. Getting there is an ordeal all by itself. The biggest commercial airport is in Nepal, and the only way to get to Kailash is to fly to Simikot, take a chopper to the Tibetan border and then travel overland by ATV to a base camp at Darchen. From where we are now, it would take almost a week to get there, and that’s if we’re lucky. At this time of year, the weather’s unpredictable. Helicopters won’t even make the trip after the first week in October. There’s a good reason why fall isn’t tourist season in the rooftop of the world.”

  Both Cassie and Griffin regarded him with surprise.

  “Surely, you’re overstating the obstacles,” the scrivener objected. “After all, this is the twenty-first century.”

  “Last time I checked, it still snowed in the twenty-first century,” the paladin countered. “Blizzards can spring up out of nowhere around Kailash. The roads could be blocked before we even get there. Or worse, we could get to the mountain and get snowed in after we found the artifact. It might take weeks to dig our way out again.”

  His negative reaction left his teammates flummoxed.

  “What are you saying? You think we should wait until spring like the riddle says?” Cassie asked incredulously.

  Erik stood up and glanced from one to the other. “No, I’m not saying that. You should go. Both of you. I just won’t be going with you.”

  Cassie jumped to her feet. “Are you crazy? We need you to pull this off!”

  The paladin sighed with exasperation. “That’s the thing. You don’t.”

  Cassie and Griffin exchanged baffled glances.

  Erik continued. “Griffin, you’ve got the biggest brain in the Arkana. You’re the go-to-guy for figuring out puzzles. Cassie’s the pythia. She’s got the woo-woo side of the operation down cold. You need both those skills to get the job done.”

  “We still need security back-up,” the pythia insisted.

  “Remind me again who saved us all back in Africa?” the paladin asked sardonically. “That was your doing, toots. Not mine. And when we were in Spain, Griffin tackled Hunt and took a bullet while I was off somewhere spraining my ankle. I’d say you both know how to take care of yourselves.”

  “So, you’re ready to leave us high and dry because you haven’t had a chance to play action hero guy lately?” Cassie challenged.

  “I’m not gonna leave you high and dry,” Erik protested hotly. “I’ll get a security team to meet you in Kathmandu, and they can help with the retrieval the rest of the way.”

  “And just what will you be doing while we’re at Mount Kailash battling blizzards and dodging the Nephilim?” Griffin’s tone was sarcastic.

  “Something useful. Something only I can do.” The paladin abruptly turned on his heel and strode back to the hotel.

  “Where are you going?” Cassie called after him.

  He paused and looked over his shoulder. “To pack. I’ll be catching the next plane back to Chicago.”

  Too shocked to move, his teammates watched him retreat across the lawn. They made no effort to stop him.

  After he’d disappeared, Cassie spun to face Griffin. “What just happened here?”

  The scrivener pensively gazed off into the darkness. “You’ll recall our chat about Erik’s odd behavior when we were in Karachi?”

  Cassie nodded mutely.

  “Unless I’m much mistaken, we’ve just heard the sound of the other shoe dropping.”

  Chapter 28—Timing Is Everything

  Cassie tapped gently on Erik’s hotel room door. No sound came from the other side. She hesitated, wondering if he would let her in. She had a key card of her own and was about to use it when he answered.

  “I thought it might be you,” the paladin murmured. He swung the door wide to allow her to enter before retreating to the interior of the room. Clothes were heaped in the middle of the bed, waiting to be folded and packed.

  He picked up a shirt and shook out the wrinkles. “My mind’s made up, in case you came here to talk me out of going.”

  She pulled up a chair beside the bed and sat down, watching him silently as he continued rooting through his belongings. “Didn’t come here for that,” she remarked curtly.

  Intrigued, he paused to gaze at her. “So, what did you come here for?”

  She shrugged. “I’ve got a theory. I thought I’d run it past you.”

  He placed a shirt into his duffel bag and then picked up a crumpled pair of jeans. “I’m all ears,” he said, smoothing out the pants legs before folding them.

  She slid back in her chair, staring up at the ceiling as she gathered her thoughts. “I’ve been feeling this coming for a while now. I knew something was bothering you, but I didn’t know what.”

  He opened his mouth to speak, but she cut him off. “I’m not interested in whatever name you have for it. I’m not even going to ask what you think you can do back at the vault that’s more important than this. None of that matters.” She paused. “What really interests me is the timing of it all.”

  He stopped sorting and peered at her. “Timing?”

  “Yeah,” she continued conversationally. “Why have a meltdown tonight instead of last week or the week before that?”

  “I already told you,” he muttered. “Twiddling my thumbs while we wait out a blizzard is a bad use of Arkana resources. My skills on this mission are replaceable. Yours aren’t. I can do more good back at the vault.”

  Cassie nodded. “That’s a good reason. And it sounds really noble too when you say it out loud, but that’s not why you’re leaving.”

  He impatiently stuffed a half-folded tee shirt into his bag. “Then what else would it be?”

  “Fear,” she answered softly, turning to stare him full in the face.

  His expression went blank. “Fear?” he repeated skeptically. “Of what?”

  “Of us,” she replied simply. “Oh, you’re not afraid of any of the usual things—flying bullets, steep cliffs, armed smugglers. You could shrug all that off and never break stride. No. What really has you scared is the idea of being shut up at close quarters with me for a couple of weeks.”

  “Griffin would be there too,” he countered.

  “Not twenty-four-seven he wouldn’t. In the wee hours, it would be just you and me. No distractions. No planes, trains, or automobiles for a quick getaway.” She rose and wandered aimlessly around the room. “So, here’s my theory. Over the past six months, we’ve gotten close. So close that I might actually slip over that ginormous wall you built around your heart. That’s why the very thought of us being stuck together for who-knows-how-long gives you a raging case of cabin fever. Up til now, you’ve always been able to dodge your demons by hopping a plane before you got in too deep. But not this time.”

  He stared at her, still incredulous. “Are you out of your mind?”

  “Obviously,” she replied matter-of-factly. “All part of the pythia gig, dude. Jumping out of my mind and into other people’s heads. Tonight, I got a grand tour of the inside of yours. I especially liked that secret room in the sub-basement of your brain with a padlocked door and a big sign that says, ‘KEEP OUT.’”

  Erik snorted in disgust. “This is unbelievable. You’ve managed to turn this whole thing around so it’s all about you.” He hastily stuffed the rest of his crumpled clothes into the bag. “If that’s what you need to tell yourself, toots, go ahead! Be my guest.”

  She rounded on him. “It’s not about me or what I need to tell myself. I checked my ego at the door when I walked in here. This is about what’s true.”

  “Stop making this harder than it already is!” he shot back.

  She raised her hands in an attitude of surrender. “I’m not telling you all this to try to keep you here. I already know th
ere’s no point because twenty-twenty won’t kick in until you’ve put seven thousand miles between us. Maybe from half a world away, some of what I’m saying will make sense.”

  He didn’t reply. Instead, he grabbed his gear and headed for the door. “The last airport shuttle leaves in fifteen minutes. I need to be on it.”

  Cassie stood motionless in the middle of the room.

  He paused with his hand on the doorknob. Without turning to face her, he said, “Cass, I’ll always have your back. No matter where I am. In the long run, that ought to count for more than anything that happened in the bedroom.”

  She took one involuntary step forward before fiercely resisting the urge to run to him. Instead, she blinked back the tears that were forming in her eyes. “On some level, I already know you’d put your life on the line for me if it ever came to that.” Her lips twisted into a bitter smile. “Your life but not your heart. Looks like only one of us is brave enough to do that.”

  He stepped into the hallway without turning around. “See you around, toots.”

  “See you, dude,” she whispered as the door slammed behind him.

  ***

  The paladin strode quickly through the lobby and out into the open air. He took up a position by the curb, waiting for the van to arrive. Off in the distance, he heard a voice calling him.

  “Erik! Over here.”

  He turned to locate the sound. Griffin emerged from the shadows at the far end of the circular driveway.

  Erik rolled his eyes. “What is this—some kind of tag team ambush? First Cassie and now you!”

  The scrivener faced him impassively. “Cassie doesn’t know I’m here. I’d like a word with you, mate.”

  “I’m not your mate,” Erik muttered though he crossed over to where Griffin stood—out of the range of the security cameras.

  “Before you even start, I already got an earful from her,” the paladin protested.

  “I’m not here to give you, as you so colorfully put it, ‘an earful,’” Griffin replied evenly. “I merely want to ask you a question.”

  Erik dropped his bags and spread his arms wide. “Then hurry up and ask it. My ride’s due any minute.”

  “How could you do this to her?”

  “What?” Erik squinted at him in the dim light.

  “How could you do this to her when you know how much she cares about you?”

  Erik felt his indignation rising. “How is any of this your business?”

  “It’s my business because she’s my colleague.” Griffin’s voice was tense with suppressed anger.

  “Your colleague.” Erik gave a short bark of a laugh. “Yeah, right. You’re getting awfully wound up about somebody who’s just a co-worker. You ought to be glad I’m leaving. The field’s wide open for you, mate.” He enunciated the last word with cruel precision.

  Griffin flinched as if he’d been struck. “You bloody wanker!” His fist came out of nowhere and clipped Erik squarely on the jaw. The unexpected blow sent the paladin sprawling onto the pavement.

  The scrivener registered shock at his own behavior. “I... I’m sorry,” he stammered. “I didn’t mean to do that.”

  Erik sat up, wiping away a trickle of blood at the corner of his mouth. Wordlessly, he rose and retrieved his bags just as the airport shuttle rolled up to the hotel entrance. He glanced back briefly at Griffin who still appeared stunned by his own actions.

  “Since I blind-sided both of you with this change of plan, I’ll cut you some slack tonight. But if you ever try a stunt like that again, they’ll be scraping you off the sidewalk for days!” He wheeled around and loped toward the van, leaving Griffin to stare after his retreating shadow.

  Chapter 29—Distress Call

  Faye jumped slightly when the cell phone buried at the bottom of her cutlery drawer rang. Its vibration set up an answering clang from the knives heaped on top of it. She’d hidden it there to avoid attracting Hannah’s attention. It was to be used only for official Arkana business, and she didn’t want the teenager asking awkward questions about why Granny Faye owned two cell phones. Of course, keeping the phone out of sight was of no help once it began making noise. It needed to be kept out of earshot as well. She made a mental note to relocate it to her upstairs bedroom at the earliest opportunity. It rang again. Faye fancied she could detect a note of urgency in the shrill summons.

  “Hello?” she asked cautiously.

  “Oh Faye, thank goddess you picked up.” The voice on the other end was Griffin’s. “I hope I didn’t wake you.”

  The old woman was taken aback by the question until she remembered that the scrivener was several time zones away in India. “No dear. It’s ten o’clock in the morning here. I’m just washing the breakfast dishes.”

  “Can you speak freely?”

  “Yes. Hannah’s gone off to school.” She shuffled over to a kitchen chair and sat down. “Now tell me what’s wrong. Your voice sounds tense.”

  He gave a deep sigh. “I wanted to make you aware of recent developments. Ordinarily, I would ring Maddie, but she’s prone to excitability in the face of unexpected events.”

  Faye felt a sense of uneasiness at his words. “Has Daniel caught up with you already? Our latest intelligence has him mired in research at the downtown library.”

  “No, it’s nothing to do with the Nephilim.”

  “Then what is it?” she urged.

  There was a long pause on the other end of the line as if he couldn’t bring himself to deliver the news. Evasiveness wasn’t part of Griffin’s nature. She waited patiently, allowing him to gather his thoughts, even though she was growing more concerned by the second.

  “It’s Erik,” he finally blurted out.

  “Erik!” she exclaimed. “Has he been injured?”

  “No, he’s left.”

  Now it was Faye’s turn to pause, unable to process the message. “What do you mean he’s left?”

  “Well, we had a bit of a row earlier this evening. Erik was of the opinion that his peculiar talents could be better utilized elsewhere.”

  Each new attempt at an explanation only proliferated Faye’s confusion.

  Griffin continued. “You see, I’ve discovered that the next artifact is most probably hidden at Mount Kailash.”

  “Ahhh,” the old woman said. He didn’t need to explain to her the significance of the location. “It’s rather late in the year to start a trip to the Himalayas,” she observed.

  “That’s what our paladin said too,” Griffin replied in exasperation. “Of course, we have to try. Can’t let the Nephilim reach the artifact first but Erik was terribly concerned about being snowbound. After announcing that he would arrange a security team to meet us in Nepal, he said he was leaving. He felt his time was too precious to sacrifice to the whims of the weather.” Sotto voce, the scrivener added, “Though not Cassie’s or mine, apparently.”

  “I see,” Faye said, implying a world of comprehension in those two small words.

  Griffin hesitated. “You do?”

  “Yes. This has something to do with his relationship with Cassie, doesn’t it?”

  She could feel him fretting on the other end of the line, weighing how much personal information to disclose to her. “I’m afraid it might. Cassie seems to think he has... umm... how shall I put it?”

  “Intimacy issues?” Faye completed the thought. “I believe that’s the term you young people would use for it nowadays.”

  “Erik’s intimacy issues are only of the emotional variety,” Griffin remarked acerbically. “He seems to have no difficulty whatsoever with physical proximity.”

  Faye chuckled softly. “In my youth, we rarely delved into psychology. We referred to a person with intimacy issues as a cad and left it at that.”

  “But how did you know?”

  “My dear, I’m well aware of Erik’s reputation with the ladies. Don’t you remember our conversation before you left for Africa? You, yourse
lf, alerted me to the possibility that he and Cassie might be on the verge of a romance.”

  “Yes, and I’m sad to say it ended just as I feared it would. He’s moved on.”

  “Oh, I think not,” the old woman retorted cryptically.

  “What on earth do you mean? The evidence is incontrovertible. He has, quite literally, left.”

  There was a long silence as Faye assessed the situation mentally. “Doesn’t it occur to you that he’s gone to great lengths to separate himself from Cassie at a critical juncture, possibly compromising the success of your entire mission?”

  “Yes, of course, that’s true,” Griffin admitted. “But why should the timing matter?”

  “It matters because the very urgency of his need to distance himself, at the point when you need him most, is an indication of the level of his fear. A young man wishing to terminate a casual liaison would be unlikely to go to such extreme lengths.”

  “I hadn’t thought of that. So you believe he actually cares for her?”

  “Oh yes, very much.”

  “Then you must also believe they’ll reconcile and get back together eventually.”

  “That outcome isn’t inevitable. It doesn’t matter that you or I or Cassie can see his true feelings if he, himself, is blind to them. Remember the old adage about leading a horse to water.”

  “Or in this instance, a horse’s arse,” the scrivener muttered. Catching himself, he continued. “But surely he’ll see in time. Even Erik isn’t that great a dolt.”

  “Perhaps,” she agreed. “He may realize the truth in time, but not necessarily in time.” She accented the last two words.

  “Oh.” Griffin exhaled softly, comprehending her subtle meaning.

  Faye could tell that a number of new possibilities were jostling for space at the back of his mind. She decided to nudge them to the fore. “And what about you and Cassie? Have you told her how you feel about her?”

  “Certainly not!” His voice was filled with shock and outrage. He retreated a step. “I’m sorry, Faye. That came out a trifle stronger than I intended, but only a vile wretch would take advantage of Cassie’s present emotional vulnerability to further his own ends. It’s just bad form!”