Have Artifact, Will Travel (The Immortality Curse Book 5)

by Peter Glenn

  Anyway, it was far better that she just didn’t have to attempt it in the first place. One less thing that could go wrong and all.

  The back area of the museum was far different from the front part. Everything appeared to be covered in a fine layer of dust, and even in the low light of Isaiah’s orb, I could see cobwebs on the ceiling.

  It looked like the curators didn’t care much for the area back here, which I found odd and not at all comforting, because they should take even greater care for the area that held the actual artifacts and not the display pieces.

  But who was I to judge? I left rotting food sitting out in my bedroom. I couldn’t really speak out much about how clean other people kept their areas.

  I turned my attention back to the room. Rows and rows of boxes lined both sides of the room on sturdy metal shelves. It was like something out of an Indiana Jones movie. There were four rows of boxes on each side of the room, each with at least a hundred boxes on them.

  Great. Finding that ball was going to be harder than I’d thought, and I hadn’t planned on it being easy.

  “Well, we might as well get started,” I told Isaiah.

  He shrugged. “Guess so. Any tips?”

  “Look for labels. If it’s not Olmec, it probably won’t have our ball in it.”

  Isaiah nodded. “Makes sense. You go right, I’ll go left?”

  “As good a plan as any I guess.”

  With that, we got started. Isaiah started moving down his side of the room, and I mine. A short way in, he conjured another of his little glowing balls that started following me around somehow so I would have plenty of light to see with. Nice gesture on his part.

  Most of the boxes I was able to discard easily enough. A surprising number of them weren’t even of Mexican origin. The museum must have a lot of stuff from some traveling exhibit at the moment or something.

  After what felt like an hour, I finally came across a box that looked promising. The label definitely said “Olmec” at least. I tore open the tape on the box with reckless abandon. I was starting to feel like our time was becoming limited, though I wasn’t quite sure why.

  My fingers and my shoulders ached from searching through all the boxes, and I felt like I was on the verge of sneezing from all the dust, but I fought through it all. I was almost done.

  I flung open the lid of the box and nudged the light orb next to me so it could shine down into the inside. To my surprise, the orb wasn’t the least bit hot, even up close. Truly remarkable.

  I peered into the box. There was something jade-colored at the top of it, but it wasn’t the jaguar or anything. Just another human mask. Still, it was promising. If there was one Olmec artifact in this box, there might be others.

  Gingerly, I removed the jade mask from the box and placed it on the floor next to me. I didn’t need it, but I didn’t want to ruin it, either. I didn’t want breaking priceless artifacts on my conscience.

  There was some packing material under the mask, so I dug that out, too, and looked at what was underneath it. There, near the bottom of the box, was my prize. I was sure of it. It was a little bigger than my hand and all black, like it was made of solid rubber. And sure enough, there were markings imprinted on the side of the ball. Small Olmec letters, I surmised.

  My greedy little hands lifted the object out of the box. It was heavier than it looked, but not too bad. But then, I was used to basketballs and such that had air in the middle. This sucker was solid. I wondered if it would bounce. Probably not that well, honestly.

  “Found it!” I yelled to Isaiah, forgetting the need for secrecy for just a second.

  Isaiah spun and looked at me holding the little Olmec ball aloft. His lips curled upward. “Nice!” he yelled back. “Now, let’s get out of here!”

  “Indeed.”

  We both started making the long walk back toward the door to the chamber. We were nearly at the end of it by the time I’d found the ball. I tucked the little thing under one arm. I couldn’t get it to fit very well, and I thought it might slip, but with effort, I got it to stick there. Sadly, it was too big to fit in my fanny pack. We both kept walking.

  A low growl from behind me was the first thing that alerted me to the fact that we suddenly had company. My blood froze, and my movement screeched to a halt.

  Had I been too noisy in my elation earlier? Or had something else caused it? Maybe there was a trap on the ball itself? But why trap one lonely little artifact?

  I turned my head slightly so I could see behind me. Two little pinpricks of light in the distance let me know something was back there.

  “Maybe we should…” I started. But I never got to finish.

  The two pinpricks quickly became four, then they started advancing. A sharp howl echoed throughout the room as I heard the thunderous sound of metal grating on concrete, and the ground started to shake.

  Our time was up. We needed to run.

  Isaiah, and I both bolted, running toward the far door. It was maybe forty feet away. Not too far. But the creatures behind us were getting closer.

  Whomp, whomp, whomp, the noise came, filling my ears. I caught the slightest hint of an oily smell along with it, and I glanced behind me again. The pinpricks of light had resolved into eyes—two sets of them, set about chest level on the heads of what I could only describe as a pair of metal guard dogs.

  “Crap!”

  I ran faster, but I knew it was no use. They were going to catch us.

  “Here!” I yelled to Isaiah. I shoved the little Olmec ball into his hands and turned to face the creatures head-on, pulling Grax’thor free with my other hand in the same motion.

  The first metal dog growled and gnashed its sharp fangs as it pounced for me. I held my blade in front of me, trying to ward it off, and waited for the blow to come. Metal clashed against metal in the air as the beast slammed into my blade head on.

  The force of the blow knocked me to the ground, and Grax’thor went clattering to the side, lost in the sea of boxes. She’d come back to me, I knew it, but in the meantime, I had a dog to contend with.

  Metal Dog raised one of its mechanical paws up above my head, poised to strike. I tried to dodge out of the way by rolling to the side, but it was so fast. The dog’s claws tore through the sleeve of my shirt and into the skin of my arm, sending pain lancing up the poor appendage as fresh blood leaked everywhere.

  I hissed in pain and tried to punch the thing, but instantly regretted it. Metal didn’t have the same give as flesh, and I ended up bruising my hand.

  Next, two things happened at the same time. I reached for Grax’thor, and she came sailing back into my hand just in time to block another paw strike from Metal Dog, and a bolt of lightning flashed through my vision as it struck the beast head-on.

  Metal Dog thrashed and started to smoke as I climbed out from under it and got back up shakily to my feet. Isaiah was there next to me, channeling lightning into the beast.

  The other guard dog was hanging back, not wanting to get caught in the blast. I couldn’t blame it.

  “Take that!” Isaiah cried as more lightning poured from his fingers.

  A moment later, the lightning died down and Metal Dog fell smoking to the ground.

  “Nice one,” I told Isaiah. “Great timing, too.”

  “Let’s get out of here.”

  “Great idea.”

  We renewed our run. It was only another thirty feet to the door.

  But the second metal dog came after us now that the coast was clear. I hoped Isaiah would fry that thing, too, but he didn’t. Maybe the lightning took too much out of him. Maybe he could only do it once. I didn’t really know the rules of magic.

  So I ran as hard as I could, my lungs burning as I dashed forward on shaky legs. We had to make it to that door in one piece.

  Dog Two jumped and leaped over our heads, landing in between us and the portal to safety.

  “Well, hell.”

  With a sigh, I readied Grax’thor once more.

&nbs
p; Dog Two lunged forward, and my blade clashed with its powerful front legs. The beast was stronger than I was, and he forced my weapon to the side, but at least I was able to block most of the blow.

  I came at it with a quick swipe to the wires on the back of its head and managed to sever something. Sparks flew through the air as the beast growled and turned on me again. Still, it looked a little slower this time.

  Dog Two pounced for me again, but a quick burst of air slammed into it from the side, sending the creature hurtling into one of the boxes. I heard a loud crash as other boxes fell on top of it, stunning it momentarily.

  I didn’t wait to see if it would recover. Isaiah and I left it there, speeding for the door that was now unblocked. We made it in a few strides, and I flung the door open, then raced into the room beyond.

  A loud siren noise burst through the air, almost shattering my eardrums as I piled into the museum proper.

  Oh yeah. The laser trip wires. In my haste to escape the metal guard dogs, I’d forgotten about them. I slammed the door shut behind us and started making my way through the room. I could only hope the trip lasers didn’t do anything spectacular.

  But that hope, too, would be short lived. I heard a creaking noise from in front of us like something ancient was coming to life. Something ancient and gigantic. An ear-splitting growl erupted from the dinosaur fossil in the middle of the room as its head turned slowly around to face us, the eye sockets glowing a deep red.

  My face paled as all the blood drained from my body. That’s right, kids. A giant dinosaur fossil was coming to kill me.

  “Run for it!” I urged Isaiah. “Escape with the ball!”

  Thankfully, he was a better man than I, and he didn’t abandon me. Though we both did make a break for it at the same time.

  I ran as hard and fast as I could, hoping to outpace the giant dino and reach the entrance in one piece. Being dinosaur food just didn’t sound like a fun way to go.

  Dino’s jaws reached for me, moving with surprising speed. His massive mouth snapped, closing all around me, but the thing was big enough that it managed to miss everything in the process.

  I thanked my lucky stars and pounded on one of its teeth with Grax’thor, hoping to open up a hole in its mouth that I could escape from.

  A flash of heat and light eclipsed my vision for a moment, then a loud crashing noise erupted as concrete dust flew everywhere, and I was forced back against the side of Dino’s jaw.

  When my vision finally cleared, I could see an opening in Dino’s mouth that hadn’t been there before. It looked to be just about big enough to squeeze through.

  Dino roared again, and the noise was deafening with me inside its mouth. I sprang for the hole. I made it through and spilled out onto the floor, falling a few feet. I landed hard enough to knock the wind out of my lungs. It was all I could do to catch my breath as I tried to force myself upward and out of Dino’s warpath.

  Isaiah was there a moment later. He offered me his hand, and I took it. Dang, he was a good guy.

  Just as I got back to my feet, one of Dino’s claws came hurtling toward the both of us. Isaiah dodged to one side, and I made a dash for the other. Its massive talons missed Isaiah, but one of them raked into my chest, right through the Duran Duran logo placed there.

  Damn. Another shirt ruined. Was there some special target on my back when I wore Duran Duran shirts or something? I supposed I could stop the practice, but I really didn’t want to. At least I’d packed extra shirts this time, even if the rest weren’t Duran Duran.

  Slightly bemoaning the shirt loss, I half-stumbled across the floor, heading for the exit.

  Dino roared and stomped after us, each footfall shaking the very ground beneath us and threatening to tear us off our feet. But somehow, we made it.

  I threw open the front door and saw the most welcoming sight I could imagine—our SUV was right in front, with Allie in the driver’s seat ready to go. In that moment, I felt like I could kiss that girl, even with all the trouble she put me through.

  Okay, not really. That would be cheating on LaLuna. But you get the drift.

  “Come on!” Allie called. “Hurry!”

  Pfft. Like she had to tell us that.

  Moments later, we reached the car, and I practically threw myself into the backseat. Isaiah piled into the front, and then Allie took off before we could even close the doors.

  I took a glance behind us at the museum as it slowly became smaller and smaller. Dino had broken through the front door by this point, and some of the metal framing was stuck in its teeth. It let out a massive roar and stomped after us, but not even Dino was faster than a car.

  My breathing came in short gasps as my heart rate started to slow. We were safe for the moment, but that had been a close one.

  7

  “Ran into a little trouble back there, did you?” Allie said while we drove away from the ruin of what used to be the museum.

  “Humph,” I muttered. “You could say that.”

  Okay, I was done thinking nice things about her now. She was being a jerk again.

  “Nothing we couldn’t handle, right Damian?” Isaiah called back to me, grinning broadly.

  “You got that right!” I reached forward with my hand, and he high fived me. “We totally had it all handled. No thanks to you.”

  I gave her the stink eye, even though she couldn’t see it. What? It made me feel better. I mean, okay, maybe we would have been dino food if she hadn’t been there with the car right on time, but I didn’t need to give her more credit than I already had.

  “You guys got the artifact, right? The ball?”

  My heart skipped a beat. I’d given it to Isaiah, and he’d been caught up in the conflict every bit as much as I had. Had he needed to drop it somewhere along the way?

  Isaiah frowned and lowered his head.

  “Oh no,” I said. “You didn’t leave it did you?” I felt bile rise to the back of my throat as I thought about going back to that hell hole of a museum and trying to find the ball amidst the wreckage. Would the dino still be mobile? Would the guard dogs?

  “Gotcha!” Isaiah grinned at me, then raised the ball up in the air so it was visible to everyone.

  Allie gave him an appreciative nod and a chuckle. I was more reserved.

  “Yeah, yeah, good trick.” I stared down at my legs. “At least we don’t have to go back there.” A slight shiver went down my spine at the very thought.

  Allie continued to giggle. She probably thought it was cool that Isaiah had tricked me. She seemed like the type that would revel in others’ pain like that.

  “No, thank goodness for that,” she said. “You two left quite the mess behind back there. Going to be a rough morning for the poor museum owners.”

  “I’d like to see if you could do any better,” I said in a haughty tone, snubbing my nose at her. She was staring at the road so she couldn’t see that either, but it still made me feel a little better.

  Petty? Yes. But also worth it.

  Allie shrugged. “Please. I could have gotten it without destroying the place. I just wanted to make sure you two were really invested in finding the jaguar.”

  I grumbled. If there was even a half an ounce of truth in that statement, she was so going to pay for all of this later. I thought about shaking my fist at her, but again, she wouldn’t see it, so there was no point.

  “So why do we need this thing again?” I asked her, changing the subject.

  “You’ll see soon enough.”

  In the space of an hour, I’d somehow forgotten that she liked to speak in cryptic sentences. But I didn’t forget how much it irked me. “Ugh. Fine.” I crossed my arms over my chest and leaned back against my seat. “I guess we can all find out tomorrow then.”

  “And so you shall.”

  We spent that night back at the hotel. Isaiah had managed to score one more room for Allie, so no one had to sleep together. The night had been quite peaceful. I’d spent part of it texting back and for
th with LaLuna before I’d finally drifted off to sleep.

  I sure missed her. It was hard to believe it had only been two days that I’d been in Mexico and apart from her. Well, three now, I supposed. Of course, she’d been happy to hear from me, and we’d spent probably two hours catching up and making promises of what we’d do to each other the next time we were together. She’d even sent me a couple of pics that would make your cheeks burn. It was heaven.

  Now we were pulling up to the Olmec village of San Lorenzo. It was a ruin, too, of course, so it’s not like it was an actual village with bars and running water. But it was impressive in its own right.

  I’d taken the front seat next to Isaiah, letting Allie sit in the back alone. It suited her better that way, even if she was one heck of a backseat driver. I figured it was her way of trying to jockey for the front seat—be as annoying as possible in the back so I wouldn’t want her to sit there.

  It almost worked, too.

  At any rate, the ruins sprawled out in front of us. There was a long, low row of what I could only assume were ancient, interconnected houses laid out in front of us. They were all made of stone and shared the same walls, though each had its own doorway. There were no doors anymore—if there had ever been any—but it still had the distinct look of little houses. There must have been at least a half a dozen of them at the base level of the structure.

  There was another staircase next to them leading up to a top level that had one little building on it. The way it was arranged, it reminded me of a guard house. Though what it would have been guarding was anyone’s guess. There was nothing around San Lorenzo for miles.

  All of the buildings still looked surprisingly well put together, like it hadn’t been almost three millennia since it had seen any use. It was really remarkable what ancient cultures had managed to do without all our modern tools at their disposal. I could almost understand why good old Rick thought aliens had done it.