Chapter Thirty-Three
TALIK
“Should I come back?”
Talik had never been so happy to see Kade in his life. The hunter’s voice was loud and echoed over and over again within the cavern.
Relief surged through him, but he didn’t release Khalida from his grip—not wanting her to move, not wanting to lose what they just had, even if it had been triggered by a near-death experience.
“Kade.”
Khalida pushed at him, and he rolled away from her, giving her space. She moved to the side, picking up her swords, her attention never leaving Kade where he peered down at them from the hole in the ceiling.
Kade appeared stoic, his dark auburn hair haphazardly slicked back. His pure black eyes, without a hint of white, glowed unnaturally in the darkness. Like a damn cat.
Annoying hunters.
Something ivory colored fell from the ceiling, torpedoing into the water and disappearing into the rising abyss.
It looked like a human femur.
“Kade, tell me you have a plan.”
Kade tilted his head but hadn’t moved from his position. His gaze was entirely focused on Khalida. “Tell Khalida that I am on your side.”
Khalida slowly lowered her swords. “Only because I have no desire to drown.”
“I’m glad that has been sorted,” Talik muttered as he looked between the two of them. “Can you get us out of here?”
Kade ducked away for a second before he threw down a thick black rope, dangling it from the closest edge of the growing crater. He tugged at it, showing them it was secure.
The rope was about five meters from where they were—it was going to require them to jump. Because of course it couldn’t be easy.
Khalida slowly stood at the edge as she strapped her swords onto her back. She closed the distance between them. “Convenient that Kade appeared when he did.”
Talik snorted as he picked up the blasters. “Would you have preferred he appeared after we had drowned?”
Khalida went to move, but he grabbed her. “You don’t have to worry about Kade,” he said. “The Anki wouldn’t be able to turn him, even if they tried.”
The ancient gods would find it extremely hard to turn anyone who already considered themselves a monster.
“You trust him.”
He strapped Blanche in and answered without hesitation. “With my life.”
“I will go first.” Khalida hesitated and then nodded. “This conversation isn’t over.”
He moved to the side, giving her as much space as he could.
She took three steps back before she took off in a sprint, leaping over the water as she reached for the rope and wrapped her legs around it.
She began to climb, swinging wildly, and in seconds was crawling through the hole, disappearing into the catacombs.
Khalida was safe.
He waited until the rope stopped moving.
In the silence, he made the mistake of looking at the rising water.
And the perfect reflection of himself. There was nothing out of the ordinary.
Except for the sixth sense sending goose bumps exploding over his body as the soft sound of laughter echoed in his mind.
Ninhursag. He had hoped she had left him, or had been a vicious figment of his imagination. The voice grew stronger, and wrapped around him like a soft silk cocoon.
He looked up and ran for the rope. Grabbing it, he gritted his teeth as he slipped, the friction and the heat momentarily blinding. His blasters hit his back hard. After a second, he began the climb.
It didn’t take long for Talik to reach the top.
He hurled himself through the hole and grabbed the edge, lifting himself to his feet.
He wiped his chest and stared at the dirt smeared with his blood.
Black and silty, there was a hint of what looked like glitter but was probably broken crystals.
They were sharp enough to leave small shallow cuts that stung like a thousand paper cuts in their wake.
He looked around and was almost hit with déjà vu.
It felt like they were back in the main part of the catacombs—before the grenade had caused the cave-in.
The same tunnel, with oversized tombs on either side of them.
It should have been impossible, but he was quickly learning that with the Anki anything was possible.
He understood why the ancient Atlanteans had selected to wipe the pantheon from their collective memory and destroy any trace of their existence.
Khalida stood off to the side, half leaning against the wall, but he could feel her gaze burning into him. She had her hand on her hilt. She still didn’t trust Kade.
“You are welcome.” Kade prompted from the shadows.
He took a step out toward them as he pulled up the rope.
The matte black uniform absorbed what limited light there was, casting the rest of him in shadows.
Like Khalida, he naturally had a ‘don’t fuck with me’ aura, but with Kade, it was underlined with a darkness that most people knew to stay away from.
Talik had spent decades ignoring it and wasn’t about to stop.
Talik snorted. “Your timing is impeccable.”
Kade glanced up, looking at Khalida before he returned his attention back to him. “I didn’t think you would need help.”
Talik couldn’t work out if it was a compliment or not.
“Have you seen anything unusual?” Khalida asked.
Kade kicked something at her. Talik straightened as it went past.
An apple core.
“You have not had the pleasure of meeting the bastard. Tall and blond,” Talik muttered. He hoped Lucien drowned. “Do us a favor and shoot him when you see him. It will save us all time. Better yet, ask him for Rieka’s pendant. Then shoot him.”
Kade stared at him like he had two heads.
Talik looked at Khalida and then thought better of it. “I will explain it later. How do we get out of here?”
Khalida sighed as she walked toward him, standing close enough that they brushed up against each other. “Talik decided to see what happens when grenades are used in enclosed spaces.”
This time Kade stared at him as if he was born yesterday. Talik definitely didn’t like how the two of them were suddenly on the same side, even if it was only temporary.
“The aftershock of the explosion created a landslide in one of the main catacombs. It trapped ten tourists,” Kade answered casually, as if he was talking about the weather. “Lucky for them, Dante was able to provide a small team to support the rescue operation.”
Talik glanced at his watch and shook his head. They had only been gone less than seven hours.
As if reading his thought, Kade shook his head and repeated. “You both have been gone two days.”
“Two days?” Talik repeated slowly, racking his brain at how that was possible. Unless the Anki had fucked with their perception of time. Which was likely.
“Was there anything else down there?” Kade asked. He coiled the last of the rope and secured it to his torso.
“Yes. Interestingly, the serpopards and wayfarers are not the only minions belonging to the Anki.” Talik glanced at Khalida before continuing. “There was something else—demonic for lack of a better term. They can mimic voices, regenerate, and are damn hard to kill.”
Kade stopped. “The gallu?”
“They have a name?” Khalida asked in a dangerously low voice.
“Ninhursag’s children,” Kade explained, adding no further detail. “She must have enough power to create them, even within the catacombs.”
“You sound surprised.” Talik walked over to stand next to Khalida, close enough that he could feel her body warmth surround him.
“When the tunnels were first created, the walls were infused with liquid iron. Over the millennia, the tunnels were transformed into the Roman catacombs. It was originally designed as a prison for Ninhursag. That she could create the gallu indicates there is a crack somewhere.”
Khalida snickered. “How long has she been trapped down here?”
“For two millennia. We don’t know where she was before.” Kade walked without looking back. “If she has enough power to create the gallu, it means she can send more after you. Did you come across anything else?”
Talik nodded at Khalida. “Yes.”
This stopped Kade in his tracks.
Talik shrugged, pointing at Khalida’s backpack. “A carved wooden box.”
Kade nodded but didn’t ask any further questions. “We need to move. Stay on the path and follow me. The rest of the tunnels have been booby-trapped, and some may be a few thousand years old, but they will still work.”
Just fucking peachy.
Khalida slipped behind Kade, blending into the shadows just as effortlessly as the hunter.
Talik couldn’t get out of the catacombs fast enough. The hairs on the back of his neck rose.
Behind him, something big splashed in the water.
***
TALIK
They had been walking in silence for at least an hour, with Khalida in the lead, when Kade stopped and waited for him to walk past, motioning for him to stop.
Talik obliged, using the opportunity to check on the charge of the blasters.
Around them, the air was still and musty as if they were the first group to wander through the sacred halls in centuries.
He lowered his flashlight, careful to keep the light away from Kade’s face, lest he accidentally blinded him.
The muted yellow beam caught the edge of faded carvings on the wall, but on closer inspection, the carving appeared to be talon marks.
Khalida continued onwards, unaware that they had stopped, the gap between them increasing until she turned a corner.
Slightly shorter and leaner than Talik, Kade was a force to be reckoned with and one Talik had learned through training sessions that shouldn’t be underestimated. Hunter genetics made him faster, stronger, and more predatory than the average Atlantean.
“You miss me?” Talik asked, knowing that he wouldn’t get a response.
Kade stood in front of him, arms crossed, his eyes hidden behind his black wraparound shades.
He took a step closer, but Talik didn’t budge.
What game was Kade playing at?
They were best friends, but the Atlantean was weird on a good day.
Kade cocked his head, almost like he was sniffing the surrounding air. That was new for the hunter.
“Your scent has changed.”