The central hall was dark except for the light from numerous torches burning along the walls and on stands near the pillars. Shadows danced along the cut stone walls. The bleachers were filled with hooded figures watching expectantly for the ceremony to begin. From somewhere distant came the sound of a ram’s horn and the curtain at the back of the platform parted.
Danny Mac escorted Kenann onto the platform holding her hand out in front of them. They made a dazzling pair. Pierre was not concerned. It would make his triumph all the sweeter in the end. As leader of the Society, he intoned the beginning of their annual gathering. He reminded them that this was a very special event in that the Night of the Lion only occurred every five hundred years. He introduced Kenann and Danny Mac, who sat on raised platforms like royalty, as if it was the most natural thing in the world to have a reincarnated goddess and her high priest in residence. Just then Blade was brought in by two guards and placed face down at Danny Mac’s feet. His hands were tied behind his back. It took great restraint for both Danny Mac and Kenann to remain impassive.
Danny Mac noticed there was no one else on the dais with them. The guards had retreated to stand just off the side on ground level. He could barely make out the forms of Katerina and Angelo sitting in a small boxed area just off to his right. All other participants were several feet away. The room had grown eerily silent. Something was off. Pierre was altering the planned ceremony. He nodded to someone in the shadows and then came the rich melodious sound of a gong.
Danny Mac started as Kenann rose from her chair. She glided to the front of the platform and stood erect and motionless for several seconds. He waited and wondered if she had suddenly had an idea to initiate their escape.
When she spoke, her voice had a strange ethereal quality. “Sojourners and brethren. I come to you from across the centuries. I have come many times but have not been known. Now is the time. The fulfillment of the prophecies will begin tonight. You will all know your part when the time comes. You have done well to name Pierre as your leader. He has now been chosen to fulfill the prophecy.” There was a murmur in the crowd.
“Pierre,” she turned and held out her hand to him. He stepped forward and came to her side. “I claim you as my consort. The gods have chosen you.”
Pierre smiled and bowed slightly to Kenann. Danny Mac didn’t like this. He wished he could see Kenann’s face. If this were part of some plan she had hatched, he wanted to know what was next. She made no sign of communicating with him at all. Blade still trussed at his feet looked up with a question on his face. Danny Mac made an imperceptible lift of his shoulder. He was as much in the dark as Blade.
Pierre spoke in a commanding voice, “It is time for our future to be sanctioned with blood. The Fates have sent us whom they have chosen. Let it begin.” He led Kenann to the back of the platform. Her face was still in shadow. She did not glance at Danny Mac as she passed. Danny Mac slowly rose to his feet. According to the ritual instructions he had memorized, he raised his arms and recited the required incantation. Then bending, he lifted Blade into his arms and walked toward the sacrificial altar. He was not aware when Pierre guided Kenann through the curtains at their back. Katerina slipped out of her seat as well. Angelo lifted a quizzical eyebrow, but she waved him aside as she followed Pierre from a distance.
Danny Mac laid Blade down on his back and releasing his bonds placed his hands in front of him. He recited the remainder of the recitation. He laid his hands on Blade as in a final blessing, making sure everything was in place. They had practiced this several times over the last two days. Danny Mac’s hands were rock steady as he raised the razor-sharp dagger. As it was held suspended over his head, he heard a muffled cry.
Kenann! Angelo heard it too. He was on his feet. No one else had been close enough to distinguish the sound. Danny Mac stood frozen. He looked down at Blade. He whispered, “Hey, kid, can you handle things out here by yourself?” He had no idea where the others were at this moment. Blade would be on his own.
“Go for it.”
Danny Mac plunged the dagger into Blade’s chest. He used sufficient force to puncture the taut plastic bag filled with a red concoction they designed without stabbing Blade. It was tricky. Blade squeezed the makeshift pumping mechanism they had devised for maximum effect. Blood squirted from the boy’s chest. The crowd gasped, and Danny Mac ran from the stage. The crowd sat stunned, unsure what was happening. No one moved for several seconds and then murmurs began. Blade had an idea.
He leaped to his feet to the horror of the crowd. He began swaying and chanting unintelligible sounds. He pointed at various sections of the spectators and suppressed a smile when they shrank back as one. He wasn’t sure how long he could keep this up.
His heart sank when he saw a group of the hooded figures step out of the crowd and make their way slowly toward him.
* * *
Danny Mac and Angelo made it to the back area and were confronted by Katerina standing at the base of the spiral stairs holding a semi-automatic weapon cradled in her arms. The sound of a fierce struggle emanated from the room above. Angelo looked at Danny Mac. “May I?”
Danny Mac responded, “Please.”
Moving with lightening speed Angelo punched Katerina square in the face and snatched her weapon as she dropped to the floor. Danny Mac was already running up the stairs and entering the room above.
Roaring in rage, Danny Mac grabbed Pierre who was attempting to pin Kenann beneath him on the bed. He shook him like a rat and tossed him head first into the stone wall. He ran to him and began pounding his face with his fists. The red haze faded slowly from his eyes and he stopped. Pierre lay as lifeless as a rag doll, his neck obviously broken. Danny Mac ran to Kenann. Her gown was torn in shreds as if clawed by a wild animal. He took her in his arms and they held on to each other as if their life depended on it.
Angelo moved into the room and stood guard a discreet distance from them. Danny Mac wrapped Kenann in the sheet. He turned from her to talk to Angelo and saw Katerina poised in the doorway holding the pistol she had pulled from her ankle holster. Murderous rage distorted her face.
“Angelo, you idiot. You ruined everything. Pierre told me tonight when he bedded that thing, he was naming me his Lieutenant. I’ll kill you,” and raised the gun to fire. Angelo had no time to react. Danny Mac made a powerful leap and was propelled back against Angelo by the impact of the bullet.
For a few seconds no one moved. A guttural cry escaped Kenann. She catapulted herself at Katerina, dislodging the gun with a swift downward chop of her hand. She drove her elbow into Katerina’s windpipe and grabbing her by the hair, head butted her. Finally, she doubled up her fist and drove it into her already bruising face. The impact sent her reeling back and over the railing of the staircase.
* * *
Blade was poised to run from the figures moving menacingly toward him. One of the people raised their head and allowed the cowl to slip. It was Jake! He winked and smiled reassuringly. Blade stood his ground as the group divided and moved up the steps on either side of him. They paused on the platform.
Mrs. Gage whispered to Jake, “Get him out of here. I’ll handle this crowd and join you in a moment.”
The figures surrounded Blade and moved him toward the back of the dais. Mrs. Gage raised her arms and bowed her head as if invoking the gods. She waited a few more beats to give her friends the extra time they needed, and then she raised her face to the crowd. She greeted them in Russian, Greek and Dutch. She instructed them in English to stay in their seats until the goddess returned to give each of them a special assignment. They would be richly rewarded for their obedience. She lowered her arms and turning, forced herself to walk slowly to the back of the platform. She expected at any moment to hear a cry from one of the guards for her to halt.
Andy came through to the back area in time to see a female plummet to the stone pavement. Judy and Mrs. James outdistanced all the others to the crumpled form. Turning her over, Judy turned a quizzical gaze to Andy.
“It’s Katerina,” he said.
Judy examined her. “She’s dead.”
Blade ran over and stood by the panel that held the opening to the underground passage. He promised Danny Mac that he would get Kenann to safety no matter what. Not leaving his post he motioned to Jake.
“Hey guys, check up there.” He pointed to the room at the top of the stairs.
Andy turned to the group. “Whitaker with me.” They took the steps two at a time. Taking out their weapons, they instinctively took up positions on either side of the doorway but swiftly entered upon seeing what was being enacted before them. Angelo was cradling Danny Mac’s head in the crook of his arms. Kenann was ripping material from an already tattered garment to staunch the flow of blood from the wound on Danny Mac’s upper chest. Kenann turned at the sound at the door.
“Oh, Andy, he’s been shot.” Andy knelt beside them.
“He took a bullet for me. He stood in front of me.” Angelo appeared to be in shock.
Andy turned to Whitaker, “Get Judy up here.”
With swift efficiency she examined the wound, and applied a pressure dressing over the material already in place from Kenann’s gown.
“Nothing vital appears to be affected. The blood loss is our biggest concern. We have to keep him from going into shock. Get me that bed comforter.” Angelo continued to cradle Danny Mac with tender care. Danny Mac’s eyes fluttered once and then opened.
“Hey.” Danny Mac’s voice was weak, but he grinned.
Angelo whispered, “Why? Why did you do that?”
“What?” Danny Mac croaked.
“Why did you take that bullet for me?”
“Someone died for me,” His face grimaced with the effort to speak, “Once, a long time ago.”
They swaddled him into the comforter and using ornamental spears hanging on the wall with the rest of the bed linen, they fashioned a litter. Judy gave Kenann her brown robe to cover her tattered gown. Andy said, “Let’s get out of here.” No one questioned Angelo’s right to carry the head of the litter as they descended the stairs. Kenann didn’t look at Pierre lying crumpled near the wall, his head at an unnatural angle.
Just then Kenan saw Granny James. Granny reached up and framed her face in her work worn palms. Here was all the love and security she needed. They grinned at each other and Granny stepped back to let her pass.
The group made their way to the opening that Blade had proudly produced. Once everyone was through, he maneuvered the mechanism that closed it behind them. Kenann directed them to make their way to the bottom and turn right in the passage. A few of them carried torches to light the way but the narrow steps required careful concentration to maintain their footing. As Danny Mac had predicted, the passage led to a back entrance. After a few minutes’ perusal, the latch was discovered, and they were soon standing under the desert stars.
The band took a moment to orient themselves to the fact that they were free of the underground cavern. Andy instructed everyone to follow Leo who would lead them back to the tethered camels and their only means of escape.
Kenann pondered her rescuers as they made their way through the desert night– the adopted sheik, the government agent, the commander turned shepherd, the assassin turned minister and his enemy turned friend, the nurse, the boy, the Irish grandma and the international woman of mystery. As Kenann marveled at them and her part in it all, she tried to wrap her mind around the fact that she had killed someone tonight with her bare hands. She wasn’t sure how she felt about that but knew she would do it all over again. She walked beside the litter and watched Danny Mac’s unconscious form. His skin was pale under a sheen of sweat. He was looking worse. She cried out to the Lord in her heart to spare him and kept on walking through the night.