| |
“Just what the hell do you think you’re doing?” Juno pulled at
Kevin’s arm as he exited the field and stood with the elves to watch. “Did nearly dying screw with your head?”
Kevin gave Juno’s hand a long glance before he looked into his eyes. “Sara leads this quest. She knows what she’s doing.”
“You’d better damn well hope so. Because the Alliance and the Soltari would never have paired her against the one force with the strength Tarsamon has. This goes against everything...”
“Don’t you think I know it?” Kevin barked. “I don’t have to like it, but I need to follow where she’s led.”
“And what if she’s being led by a hidden dark force?” Aria said, as she leaned against a tree trunk twirling the tip of the long red mane of hair at her shoulder. “And before you say you somehow know she isn’t, just remember Tarsamon found a way into this side of the realm that had held him at bay for as long as a century.”
“I believe in her.”
“Pathetic,” Juno muttered, shaking his head. “You’re letting your feelings get in the way. That’s the very reason the Alliance didn’t want you to be part of this mission.”
Kevin grabbed Juno by the shirt. “If my feelings were in the way, she wouldn’t be out there right now.” He pulled the shirt tighter in his fist. “Back off. If you had an ounce of trust in her position on this team, you might give her the chance to show you her strength.” Kevin let his hand drop.
“It is no’ about her strength, ye understand,” Mac chimed in, stepping closer so that each man stood on either side of him. “It’s about her survival.” He tilted his head toward Kevin. “Ye’ve got faith enough to leave all that ye care for beside the one person that could end forever for both of ye. What this man is askin’ is if ye know that she’ll survive it. And because we all have a hefty stake in this, I believe the answer is deserved.”
“What if he beats the shit out of her and delivers a blow of another illness to keep her down?” Juno asked. “One the elves don’t have a remedy for.”
Kevin scanned the faces of the team members, all eyes on him waiting, and shot a look to Sara who had just selected her weapon of choice to engage in the fight. “Everything you’re thinking, all of you, has run through my head a hundred times before now.” He turned his back to Sara. “I don’t want to leave her alone. Yes, she will survive because he wouldn’t kill her. And the only faith I have that he won’t pass her an illness to keep her down is his word that they would not use anything other than weapons, no other-worldly abilities.”
“Your putting trust in our enemy’s word? That alone could kill this mission,” Juno said, shaking his head as he turned away.
“I trust her. If her energy begins to weaken, then we go forward.” She would understand, he thought, if he intervened before he no longer felt her energy. She might never speak to him again, but eventually she’d soften, maybe.
“It might be too late by then.”
“Kevin has never led us down a path that would risk any of our lives, not on any mission,” Matt added.
“He’s never trusted a single word from our nemesis, either,” Juno countered.
“I think we should trust him.”
“If Sara has a chip on her shoulder she’s begging to be knocked off by Tarsamon, why not wait until the third key is obtained?” Juno asked. “That way if she’s burdened by some evil curse nothing is lost. She will have fulfilled the mission.”
“And you would be safe,” Kevin said.
“Everyone would be safe from repercussions from the Soltari for not finishing the mission.” Juno paused. “It makes no sense that she’s out there to face him without us to protect her.”
“Maybe it does and maybe it doesn’t.” Kevin eyed Juno, daring him to challenge him. He whirled around to face Aria and Elise. “Don’t even think about creating a storm to disrupt either of their vision.” Kevin had heard their thought, without their intention of him doing so. His abilities were stronger in some areas than the members selected for the team and one reason why he was chosen to direct them.
Aria and Elise had the power to manipulate the forces of nature. Not that Ardan was considered natural in the general understanding of a wind-storm like the type one might find on earth. Ardan was a realm where there were familiar aspects of scenery to earth, like the forest or water that flowed into falls over cliffs. But the air with its ionized scent, like purified water, and the lack of birds or the sound of a breeze was just enough to remind anyone who inhabited both realms that Ardan was anything but a typical natural environment. Despite the differences, nothing would stop Aria and Elise from creating such nuances to intervene as necessary. They’d practiced such creative endeavors countless times in Ardan and even used them in other realms when the situation called for their skills. At this point, anything was on the table for consideration to get Sara out of the direct path of the Dark Lord.
“This needs to be handled in the manner Sara decides is best, and right now that means letting her get close to the evil,” Kevin added.
“You must know something you aren’t sharing, something we can’t detect coming,” Juno said. “Because it also makes no sense that you’d protect her so vehemently, and yet allow her out there alone.”
“She isn’t alone. Just give her a little time. That’s all I’m asking. If it even begins to look bad, we’ve got the elves and we can be beside her in an instant.”
Juno waited, contemplating what to do. “I’ll go along with you on this, but only because Matt is right that you’ve never risked our lives on any mission. But if you’re wrong...”
“I’ll owe you the price of the sacrifice you would have had to make to the Soltari if we failed.”
“You can’t pay out that expense. You know that. Just be sure this choice is right for her, and for us.”
“Well now,” Mac said in a jovial fashion. “It looks like we’ve come to an agreement, for the time being.”
The clang of steel upon steel rang out from behind the team, drawing attention back to the field as the duel engaged. Sara had come a long way from when Kevin had taken her out to that open field near his home to test her agility, show her a few moves and more or less help her remember the fighter she was. As he watched her speed and the angles she chose now, he felt a sense of pride at the woman he loved once more in yet another lifetime. He’d grown with her time after time, year after year in every life they’d shared. With any luck, this mission would be their last and he could finally rest not having to worry for her and an eternal future together. Sure, he felt the lust to kill from Tarsamon, as he felt every sensation from any soul. There was passion in every swing from the Dark Lord, and as much in the defensive block Sara held him with. He noticed that his feet had moved a few steps in Sara’s direction without any conscious intent. Just beyond the fight and at the opposite border of the field, Eldor stood with his arms folded. His eyes moved past the fight to meet Kevin’s. But there was no thought shared. All was quiet, as it should be, with the focus on the two strongest powers in the realm.
Kevin’s concentration was broken as a figure flashed beside Tarsamon. In the time it took for him to wonder what had appeared, a wall of gray slipped between Tarsamon and Sara. Jade. In all his thought about Sara, he’d forgotten about the one man who had abilities the rest of them didn’t. Jade had probably fallen asleep, and when he couldn’t find Sara or Kevin he traced to Ardan.
Sara began beating on the curtain of dark separating her from Tarsamon. “Shit,” Kevin said aloud, as he ran to catch up with Jade.
“Jade,” Kevin said arriving at his side and who now stood on the edge of the field deciding what to do next.
“Why the hell is everyone watching this?” Jade asked. “The shield won’t last long. Get her out of here.”
“Put the shield down, now.”
“Have you, has everyone lost their minds?”
“Just do it. Do it now! Explanation later,” Kevin added, sensing his friend’s confusion and indecision.
Jade raced across the field. The curtain chased after him allowing the dark and light forces to face one another again.
Kevin watched for any sign of distress from Sara, relaxing a fraction of a second when he noticed she’d wasted no time reaching a hand toward the neck of her enemy, and before he could shift from a man to his invisible energy hidden inside the cloak as black as his soul. As her fingers clutched his throat, his head lifted but his eyes remained fixed in a deadly stare with hers. A promise, Kevin thought, for Tarsamon to return the challenge. But only if she wasn’t powerful enough to kill him. Even so, would she?
The energy that flowed through her veins in white-blue streaks exited her fingertips and raced down Tarsamon’s neck and across his chest, illuminating him from beneath the black sweater he wore. The powerful demon held firm in her grasp as he shook from the energy. What sort of strength must it take to command the forces of darkness and light to hold a demon with a poison as potent as Tarsamon’s at bay? They’d hardly begun to fight. An instant, one as quick as the blink of an eye, was all she’d needed to...
“How is she doing that?” A voice asked behind him, interrupting his contemplation and focus on the very same wonderment.
“I’m not sure,” he heard himself reply in a distant voice, his eyes fixed upon her. He couldn’t feel the usual energy from her, what defined her mood, her personality, or if she felt well. And that in and of itself was putting him on edge. If he felt her fatigue, a slip of the strength in her hand, anything, he could be beside her in a heartbeat. But he’d made a promise to her. Besides, from this angle she was doing quite well.
He wondered if the effect was a potion to remedy the evil, if it could. He didn’t know what the outcome would be if Tarsamon continued to receive what looked to be so painful. Would it kill him? At the thought, he swore he saw her fingers tighten.
Kevin watched in awe as the Dark Lord caved to her mercy. The words do it flitted through his head. He wanted her to be the one to bring the Tarsamon’s rule and consummation of energy to an end by killing him. If she did, the Soltari would have no reason to call upon them, unless another powerful entity swung the balance into an uneven kilter on the side of evil. The souls of Ardan could live in peace, as they once had for countless millennia. And the worlds they protected could have their lives play out as they were intended, without the need for rescue.
Tarsamon’s struggle for breath had him turning color, as his head angled back in distress, turning from one side to the other. The eyes that had been dark, changed to red, an indication of his mood and obvious fight for breath in the human form. He struggled against the apparent agony as her fingertips indeed sank deeper into his flesh, dispensing a constant flow of energy into him.
A rustle from the large foliage at the edge of where they fought had Kevin’s attention shifting. The flick of his eyes to the border told him the elves had shifted, angling their bows on a target he couldn’t see. It was no more than a long blink before the sensation of the evil that was present was rushing him as though a torrent of water was about to unearth his footing and sweep him away. He turned from the elves to see the dark angel had appeared like a flash nightmare out of the darkness. Her tail wrapped around Sara’s legs
“No!” Mac shouted. A look of desperation plastered his face. “They could kill her.”
They? Kevin thought.
“The elves. Call off the strike,” Mac shouted. “Not while the energy is exiting her.” He ran toward the elves, his palm extended upward as if he, alone, would stop them. “She could be killed by the very energy she carries.”
The elves held their target in sight while the energy continued to flow from Sara into Tarsamon, as if it were its only purpose.
The dark angel scooped Sara from her stable footing on the ground, causing the firm grip she held to be ripped away from the throat of the man she held captive. A long shriek of pain tore from Tarsamon’s bare throat and carried into the darkness. That scream was followed by another from Sara. She’d let him help her now, right? Kevin thought. It was a far cry from what he’d hoped to hear in the passionate embrace of his lover only minutes earlier. Everything was unpredictable, and that was expected at this stage of the quest. Sara hanging from the tail of the enemy was not. The bows went flying in perfect unison, aiming past Sara and straight into the gathering of shadows and faceless, flesh-colored demons that had congregated behind the dark angel, who had assumed command in Tarsamon’s place. All that were struck by an arrow lost their form and shifted into a black fog that spun in an upward cloud before disappearing into the sky.
Free of Sara’s grip and the energy that had kept him locked in her grasp, Tarsamon collapsed in a pool of black as he returned to his shadowed form to regain energy. The blue-white light that had flowed through Sara’s veins into him retracted. Matt waved an arm over his head indicating the rest of the team move forward into the fight. Juno was already steps ahead of them while Kevin raced for Sara, who had begun to fold herself over to grasp the tail of her assailant, but couldn’t manage with the slight movements the angel made to keep her well out of reach.
Seconds and I can have her to safety, he thought. His body slammed into the emptiness of air as an invisible wall severed his path to Sara. The dark angel had blocked his attempt to get to her and was now pulling her tail close to her body. He sensed the intention of the creature, and hoped he was wrong. The tail whipped out, sending Sara hurling into the trees that lined the border of the field. Kevin struggled to find the opening that would allow him past the wall that held him at bay, his hands frantically searching for a break in the barrier. Jade.
“Jade,” Kevin called. “Get me to her.”
“I can’t break through the force,” he replied.
Maybe the elves will pull her to safety. But as he ran along the perimeter, he could see ahead that even they didn’t have access beyond the shield that kept them separated.
With the dark angel free of Sara and any chance of death to her from the energy Sara carried, the elves fired their arrows high and low, to no avail. The spears hit the invisible wall and fell to the ground like stunned soldiers.
Kevin spotted Sara, crumpled at the base of two trees, motionless. A fine line of the energy encircled her form. Was it protecting her or was it still seeking a negative force to feed into? From what he could see, a trickle of blood ran a path down the side of her face and neck. He shifted his attention across to Tarsamon whose form was being lifted by the dark angel. The demon dogs snarled, ravenous for the fight as the rest of the team stood blocked from defending Sara’s lifeless form. A few of the dogs broke from the pack and cautiously approached her body. Kevin clawed at the boundary, stopping at the sound of electricity crackling and in time to see the dog closest take a charge for the effort, as the white-blue light lunged from the circle and struck the dog. It collapsed, unmoving. The other two beasts ran back to the pack. The dark angel cradled Tarsamon’s black form as the army of darkness began moving in retreat.
They must not know how to stop the power of the energy Sara carries.
With his heart in his throat and the pulse driving him forward, Kevin fought to gain access to where Sara lay, until he noticed one of the elves emerging from one end of the forest. His hands were folded in front of him as he chanted into the darkness. Kevin felt a gentle pull at his arm from another elf, as an indication to stand back. He waited, but only for a couple of seconds, as the drive to get to her continued to pull at him.
A soft glow began to light in the hands of the murmuring elf. Steps from where Sara lay in a heap, jade green eyes beamed in the darkness, like two polished gems under a jeweler’s magnifying lamp. The sound of several footsteps behind him had him turning to see the team giving up the search for a way in to join him.
“Can you take down this wall?” Kevin said turning his attention to the elf that had pulled him back.
“It will be done. Like picking a lock, it requires just the right element of magic to penetrate the strength of what holds this energy in place.”
The green eyes grew larger as they approached Sara. The body that owned those eyes could not be seen, as it was black as the night that cloaked its form. Kevin sensed no evil, even though all other darkness had fully retreated to the depths of Ardan from which it had come. He knew nothing should be trusted anymore. The dark forces might be retreating for the time being, but they’d be back as soon as they figured out how to dismantle the energy that protected her. They weren’t going to give up. Too much was at stake for them.
Was the dark angel also not immune, like Tarsamon, to the energy Sara carries?
“You’re probably right,” Jade said, listening to Kevin’s thoughts. “The dark angel used an invisible force, just like she did with that barrier, to immobilize her in the barn. She never touched Sara.” He let out a breath. “But that demon creature is made with the intent to find ways into the most defensive of places, even the power of the keys. Won’t take them long to figure out how, now that they’ve felt the power of the energy from Sara.”
“Maybe that angel is already figuring it out. She lifted Sara with her tail, but never actually touched her skin.”
The green eyes approaching in the dark had stopped moving closer. It won’t hurt her.
“The beast is of good energy,” the elf said, confirming Kevin’s thought.
“Can we be sure?” Juno asked, staring deep into the forest.
“Yes,” Jade said. “It’s Topetine.”
“We thought she might be dead,” Juno said, looking at Matt. “Sara’s memory...we saw the vision she had of her being carried off, limp as a ragdoll, by the serpent king.”
“Is she just a spirit or does she exist in flesh and blood?” Aria asked.
“Her energy is...”
“Sh,” Kevin interrupted. “You’ll break his concentration.” Kevin angled his head toward the elf still chanting.
“In the flesh,” Jade said.
Sara moved from her crumpled position on her side to flat on her back with the help of the enormous black paw that had pressed upon one shoulder. Mac stepped beside Kevin. Sara’s left arm was twisted back in a most unnatural position.
How much longer? Kevin twitched to get to her.
Impatient for the chanting to stop and the barrier to be removed, he reached for the elf, but hesitated before yanking his hand back. The sound of crackling followed by orange sparks fell in a linear pattern from high above. The barrier began to dissolve, at the fracture of the spell that held the invisible wall in place.
Sara’s eyes flew open and her head lifted inches from the ground, but there was no sign of intentional movement from her. Kevin leaped over what was remaining of the orangey electric current that outlined the wall and caught himself before falling onto Sara. The jaguar warned against further continuance with a fierce growl as though to protect her quarry.
“What’s wrong with you?” Kevin asked. “I need to know if she’s alive, if she’s okay.” The reply was met with another growl and a step over Sara, forcing Kevin to angle backward. Sara’s energy was undetectable, which had him nervous. There had never been a time when he couldn’t sense her, or feel everything that she did, until now. And yet, something other than the animal’s energy pulsed close to him.
“I don’t think she wants you near her,” Juno said.
“I’m sure as hell not leaving here without her.”
Another loud growl, followed by one more and a fine set of sharp teeth had Kevin reconsidering.
“Damn cat,” Kevin said under his breath.
“She knows what’s best for Sara,” Mac added.
A grunt of dissatisfaction erupted from Kevin’s throat.
“That man behind her, just over there,” he pointed diagonally over Topetine’s shoulder, “should be of some comfort to you.” Jade patted Kevin’s shoulder.
Kevin lifted his head. A J-man. His face was painted in black, red and white. He wore the plumed headdress signifying his connection to the serpent king. In one hand he held a feather. The other palm was open, face up with smoke rising from it. He lifted that palm and blew across in Kevin’s direction, creating a white veil that held fast in front of Kevin, as he drew the feather through it. Kevin had no idea what it meant or what he was supposed to do. All he knew was he needed to get to Sara. Frustration began to fill him and he lifted a hand to clear the air and move again towards the woman he was to watch over. The J-man spoke in tongues that had the effect of locking Kevin’s feet in place as the smoke twisted and turned into an image of a scroll. As it unrolled in front of him in the mist of white, he could see a series of equations he recognized as algorithms. Below the smoke was Topetine, resting beside Sara. Kevin took one step back, then another, further away from the jaguar and Sara until he bumped into Mac.
“What is it?” Mac said. “What’s got ye scared?”
“Not scared,” Kevin mumbled. “Forgotten something. I’ve got to get back. We have to leave the jungle. All of us.”
What happened to a body in dream state, while the spirit was in Ardan, carried over to earth. Kevin wasn’t sure if Sara would be responsive when he woke next to her. And Topetine had not been with Sara in that cave when he’d sidled up beside her to sleep, and ultimately join her in Ardan. There was the very good chance she still wasn’t with her now. Any one of the immortals could be found in Ardan so long as they were also asleep on earth. Jade was the exception to the rule, however. As someone who could trace or track another’s energy, he could move between worlds without sleeping. Kevin had to get back, to wake up from Ardan. The misty scroll, meant only for his eyes, was a number of steps that would be used to unlock passages. It was also a reminder of certain algorithms that needed to be passed to Sara to move forward in the next phase of the mission. That couldn’t be done as long as they were in the jungle.
“You’re not worried about her then?” Mac asked.
“She’s in good hands.” The knowledge and assurance of the fact had come to him as clear as seeing Sara lying on the ground. From behind the dissipating white smoke and further still behind the J-man, the image of a snake with colored feathers on the top of its head, trailing down the length of the visible body, lifted high above. “He’s free. The serpent king. We’ve completed this quest. Got to move on.”
“The man has put him in a trance,” Juno said. “He’s not thinking straight. Do we rush them? Matt and I can hold Topetine.”
“No,” Mac said. “He’s been given an order to follow from the J-man, a messenger of the serpent king.” A low growl in approval came from the jaguar beside Sara.
“How the hell are we getting out of the Mayan jungle?” Elise asked, watching as Kevin disappeared from beside her.
A slight wrinkle between Jade’s brows was the only sign that he’d taken notice of Kevin leaving the realm. “Sara is protected by that.” He pointed to the ring provided by the elves. “It will conceal her energy, but not yours.” He pointed an index finger across the group. “As far as we know, my army isn’t being targeted, yet. That means all of you will need to stay with my men to help you escape. There’s a better chance of dispersing your energy and distracting our enemy if you’re with a group that isn’t being tracked. Sara, Kevin, and I will arrive at the realm exit ahead of you.”
“They thought Kevin was dead,” Aria said. “Now they know he isn’t. They’ll track him to get to her, won’t they?”
“It’s a risk we have to take, unless I can trace them separately. As it stands, Sara will not leave his side.”
“That’s a far cry from the woman we met at the beginning of this mission,” Matt said, “one who wanted no tie to any man.”
“The less company the three of us have the less dark energy will be drawn to us,” Jade said, glazing over Matt’s comment.
Jade turned to Reed, his first in command. “Give the order to the men that Sara’s team is to travel with them out of the realm, fifteen minutes behind us. You know where I am in the jungle. If you detect any, and I mean any dark forces, adjust the formation every seven minutes by threes with the men tracing two miles and fifteen degrees in the opposite direction. With each trace, one of Sara’s team members goes with each man. That should throw them off for a bit, and with any luck, long enough to get to the exit.” He paused before turning his attention back to the team. “I’ll track Kevin if he hasn’t returned to our hide-out,” he added.
“All agreed? If you have a better suggestion, speak now.” With no reply, he looked at Reed. “I’ll await the signal from you that everyone is ready to move. But hurry. Aria’s right. The dark forces know Kevin is alive, so they’ll set their sights on finding him next.”
When Jade awoke back at the cave, he found Kevin cradling Sara in his arms and his head tucked against her cheek.
Of course he would return.
“Hey,” he whispered, not wanting to startle him. “You awake?”
Kevin lifted his head. “Yeah.”
Jade paused, stunned by the remnants of tears that tracked down Kevin’s cheeks. He’d never seen the man, known by all in the realms as the Last Great Warrior, in so much pain. All of the warriors had suffered loss at one point or another, but most kept it to themselves. And, he supposed, Kevin had been alone. The lack of privacy so that the man he called his friend could suffer couldn’t be helped.
“I can’t wake her,” Kevin said. “And I think her arm is broken. But her pulse is steady and strong.”
Relieved, Jade let out a breath. Having Sara alive would make getting them all out of the jungle easier. Jade searched Sara’s face. The blood he’d seen trailing down her cheek and neck in Ardan were still present. For the first time, he thought, the strong-willed fighter actually looked quite weak. “We’ll set the arm and I’ll trace her with us. You can hold her.” Jade turned around to look for a stick to set the arm and to busy himself to allow his friend a moment to pull himself together. “You have to trust that they wouldn’t have her die, not the dark forces or the Soltari that guides her.”
Jade wasn’t certain if he believed the statement that rolled off his lips. He wasn’t sure he would buy it if roles were reversed. But it was all he could offer as he stood and stepped several feet beyond the cave walls to relieve himself. He waited, if only to give Kevin a couple of minutes more, until he couldn’t wait any longer.
“We’ve got to go. Tarsamon’s forces will be ordered to recover their lost package, once he has the energy to give orders that is.” Jade ripped a strip of cloth from his bag, placed the stick he’d picked up outside against Sara’s arm.
“I’ll do it,” Kevin said placing his hand over the stick. As the former head of the E.R. department at a top New York hospital, he began setting the arm and wrapping it in a makeshift splint. “Do you know the way to get out of here or where we go from here?”
“Not exactly, but I’ve got a way back to the underground cavern. From there, you can get us back to the exit, right?”
“It’ll be overrun with Tarsamon’s forces, but yeah. If Sara is protected, you and I will have to find a way through. But I’d need her awake first.” Kevin tied off the last knot for the splint.
“I gave it some thought when the J-Man had you under his spell,” Jade said. “I think Tarsamon wanted to battle with her to weaken her enough to have the dark angel get her back to their territory. Time wasn’t on his side and I don’t think he expected the power she carried to overcome him.”
“I don’t think she had planned it, either.” He paused as Sara began to awaken.
––––––––
“You okay, love?” Kevin asked. “How do you feel?”
I moved carefully. “Sore, but okay I think.”
“Wait,” Kevin said angling his head toward Jade. “What did you say about under the J-Man’s spell?”
“Don’t you remember? Damn, man,” he continued not waiting for an answer. “I’m taking over directing this team if you don’t...”
“Oh, God. The codes.”
“What codes?”
“Never mind. We have to get out of here,” Kevin mumbled as he stirred over Sara. “Don’t worry,” he said to her. “We’re on our way.”
Jade shook his head. “Like I was sayin’. But we’re going to have to wait for the signal from Reed, which should be coming any time now.” Jade looked at his watch. “Your team is going to join with my men and follow behind us because they’re being targeted by Tarsamon’s demons.” He took his pack and slung it over his shoulders. “My men are not on the hit list yet, so the plan is to hide your team as long as we can.”
“She needs a few minutes,” Kevin said, as Sara started to sit up, “while you wait for your signal.” His attention went back to Sara. “Is it your arm that hurts most?”
“No. Why is it in a splint?”
“It’s broken.”
“I don’t think so.”
“Of course it is. Joints don’t twist in the manner I found yours, and I felt it broken when I set the bone.”
“The J-man must have healed it.”
“Sara, it couldn’t have been more than a couple of minutes since I set it and you woke.”
“All I know is it doesn’t hurt. I kept dreaming about the J-man. Everything was black for the longest time until I opened my eyes to see Topetine and Mac standing over me. Can you take this stick off my arm, please?”
Kevin’s fingers started to work at the knots that he’d tied with every intention to hold for days rather than minutes. Frustration at his tidy work and concern whether the bones were indeed mended set in quickly. His fingers fumbled with the well-tied material, and just in time for Jade’s knife blade to flash in front of his eyes.
“Here,” Jade said, “This’ll make quick work of that constructive mess.”
“When we arrive at the cavern where Topetine hid you and your team underground, we’ll get as close as we can to the exit and send Sara through first,” Jade said to Kevin. “The dark forces shouldn’t be able to detect her. You and I can distract those guarding the exit and perhaps pass through, with my men and your team on our heels. I told my men to stay fifteen minutes behind us. That should buy us the time to make sure she gets through okay.” He angled his head in my direction.
“We won’t need to go there,” I said. “There’s another way. Topetine and Mac will meet up with us.”
“What other way?” Kevin asked.
“The J-man,” I paused, trying to recall the words I’d heard in my ear. “He said the way out would be to follow the water, the falls.” I paused. Was that right? Had it been a dream? “Yes, the falls,” I said again, more in an effort to convince myself the instruction I’d received was indeed real. My recollection was that we hadn’t seen any falls except the one that had emptied us into the cenote.
Kevin shot a look to Jade, whose eyes were searching the air as if the location would mysteriously appear. “Do you know of the area she is talking about?”
“My men and I crossed a few cliffs with several small falls when we first arrived, not too far from here.”
The sound of footsteps behind us had Jade whirling around, gun angled at the cave opening. He dropped his hands at the sight of Juno, Matt and Reed.
The demon shadows would have made no noise, but the sounds of the dogs or the faceless, flesh-colored beasts that often kept them chained would have. Jade was accustomed to taking no chances.
“We’re ready,” Reed said. “The men and the rest of her team are just over there.” He waved two fingers to indicate where they were waiting.
“Good. Set the time on my mark,” Jade said, pressing a thumb and forefinger on the two buttons on his watch. “Now.” Each of the men followed suit.
“You’re all right?” Juno asked. His brown eyes searched mine.
“Yeah. Sore, but otherwise okay. Thanks.”
He let out a breath he’d been holding.
“We’re heading toward the falls,” Jade said. With a nod in response, the men disappeared into the dark.
I turned to Kevin. “What were you saying about codes?”
“It’ll have to wait. You won’t need them to get out of here.” His eyes pinned me with the same intensity I only knew when we were keeping something from each other or smoldering against one another.
“Let’s go,” Jade said, breaking the connection as he ducked under the top of the entrance. “Time’s literally a tickin’.”
When wasn’t it?