Cross Keys

by Ally Shields

  Fortunately in a mine this small there were very few side passages where they could get off track. Within twenty minutes they reached the excavated area where the majority of the mining had been done. It still contained the remains of broken pick axes and a wooden mining cart minus its wheels.

  Rhyden found the second tunnel that headed deeper into the mountains.

  “Not yet.” Kam stopped him before he entered. She slid the knife from her wrist sheath into her hand and plucked the other dagger from her right boot. “We don’t know what we’re going to find or how soon. We’d better have our weapons ready in case of an attack.”

  “Excellent idea.” Seth stepped up beside her, drawing his bow. “The bowman should be in the lead.”

  “I beg to differ.” Rhyden held up his sword. “In such close quarters, the sword could clear the path more quickly, with the bow and knives providing a second line of defense.”

  Before it turned into an argument, Kam intervened. “I guess this is where I assert rank. Much as I’d like to disagree and take the lead, I think Rhyden’s correct. He goes first, I come second, and Seth follows me.”

  Seth scowled at her. “This is no time to let personal—”

  “Don’t you dare go there.” Her temper flared, and she cut off his protest. “You can shoot over us. With Rhyden and I behind you, we’d be useless in a direct attack.”

  He met and held her look for a moment. “Of course, you’re right. Let’s go.” He fell back behind her.

  Kam turned to Rhyden and gestured toward the tunnel. “After you. And remember, we’d prefer taking prisoners.”

  After maintaining hyper-vigilance for the next fifteen minutes, Kam’s thoughts strayed toward Seth’s accusation. Why had he made this so personal? She’d thought they were doing OK, but sometimes he seemed angry with her for no particular reason. Maybe he was irritated by the sexual tension. She couldn’t deny the attraction was still there, hanging unspoken between them. It had to get better when this was over.

  What would her life be like afterward? If the portals reopened, would she ask for a transfer back to Elvenrude—or return to New Orleans? Build a new life there? Heaven knew she no longer had a future with Caleb. Lost in thought, she nearly bumped into Rhyden when he came to an abrupt stop.

  “I hear horses coming,” he whispered.

  Seth grabbed her sleeve. “Back this way. We just passed some side tunnels. We’ll hide there.”

  They retreated down the main path. The jiggling of harness was becoming more distinct. Seth stepped into a crevice, pulled Kam in after him, and Rhyden continued another ten feet before disappearing into an opening on the opposite side.

  She closed her eyes for a moment, listening to the horses’ hoofs on the rocky floor and trying to quiet the loud beating of her heart. Being held tightly against Seth’s chest was doing nothing toward slowing her pulse. She wiggled in his arms, and he loosened his hold, enough for her to turn, ready to face the enemy. His breath blew softly against her hair, but she did her best to ignore it.

  The sounds in the passage drew closer, then a man’s face appeared even with them. They let him pass, waiting to see if there were others. Then three pack mules. One of them flicked an eye toward Kam and Seth, making her heart pound, but the animal kept walking. A second man appeared. Kam tensed her muscles to spring on him, but a third figure spoke from just out of sight.

  “Can’t you hurry those beasts up?”

  His face appeared and Kam lunged forward, knocking him to the ground with a knife handle to the chin and holding the sharp end to his throat. She grabbed her flexicuffs. Seth went after the second man, and she heard Rhyden confronting the one in the lead. Then the mules panicked, attempting to bolt. They backed into Seth, knocking him and his man to the ground.

  Leaving her captor in cuffs, Kam grabbed the head harness and sought to control the mules before they trampled anyone. The lead mule broke loose, charged into Rhyden and took off down the tunnel in the direction of the entrance.

  “Damn!” Cursing the creature at the top of his lungs, Rhyden started after the mule.

  “Just let him go,” Kam urged, “and help me with these two.”

  He grabbed a halter, and they brought the plunging mules to a halt. By that time Seth and his prisoner were on their feet. Kam’s prisoner was trussed up behind them on the tunnel floor.

  “What happened to him?” Seth asked, nodding toward Rhyden’s opponent, who was crumpled at the side of the tunnel.

  “Damn mule knocked into us, impaled him on my sword. He’s dead.” Rhyden shook his head. “There wasn’t anything I could do.”

  For an instant they stared at the body. Elves weren’t used to taking lives. It hadn’t been part of their culture for a long time. It was sobering.

  Seth broke the silence by dragging Kam’s prisoner to his feet. “Now we need to get some questions answered. Starting with who you’re working for.”

  Neither of the captives answered. Kam’s annoyance grew as she looked them over. Brown hair, brown eyes. More crossbreeds. But who was the keyholder behind this?

  “Do you need the question repeated?” She placed her dagger under the nose of the cuffed man. “One of you is already dead.”

  “We only need one left alive to talk,” Seth added. “Which one will it be?”

  Kam’s prisoner shifted his feet, and she figured they’d found their weak link. “Rhyden would you take this other guy for a walk? If he happens to fall on your sword, don’t worry about it.”

  “My pleasure.” Rhyden waved his blade. “March. And be very careful. Don’t even twitch suspiciously.”

  It was a good idea Rhyden avoided looking at her or Seth. She’d seen his lips twitch once, and she’d hate for him to laugh and ruin all their tough talk.

  She turned back to the remaining prisoner. “Let’s try this again. Who is your boss? And if you don’t answer me this time, I’m through asking.”

  His eyes flickered nervously. “Yerole Lantrey.”

  “Who’s that?”

  “He’s a crossbreed.” Seth supplied the information. “Are you working with one of the guilds—Petros or Trevain?” When the prisoner hesitated, Seth grabbed him by the shoulders. “Answer me or I’ll let her use that knife.”

  “I work for Petros sometimes, but not all of us do.” His eyes sought out Kam. “Are you going to kill me now?”

  “Not if you continue to answer our questions.”

  “Do you promise?” His voice was almost pleading.

  Kam sighed. “Yes, I promise.” The crossbreed was young, maybe nineteen or twenty, unsophisticated. Didn’t he realize if she’d planned to kill him, she wouldn’t be likely to tell him so?

  “OK, but you can’t let them near me. They swore to kill anyone who talked.”

  “No one can hurt you if they’re in custody. All you need to do is help us.” She softened her voice. “What’s your name?”

  “They call me Ganby.” He took a deep breath. “I was recruited from Petros. Brody,” he rolled his eyes toward the dead body, “had been working for Trevain. I don’t know about the other guy. Sieom doesn’t talk much.”

  “So who does Lantrey work for?” Seth prodded.

  “His day job was with Petros, but I’m not sure about this mining gig. We don’t take the goods to Petros.”

  “By the goods, you mean the uranium,” Kam said.

  Ganby eyes darted in fear. “How’d you—? Yeah. We had our own portal for that.”

  “Who’s the keyholder?” Seth’s voice bristled, and Ganby drew back.

  Kam held her breath, but the young elf shook his head.

  “Don’t know. The portal was always open by the time we got there. Never saw him, but somebody important.”

  They grilled him for fifteen minutes. He was a low level day laborer and had very little information. By the time they finished questioning him, Rhyden had tired of babysitting the other prisoner and returned. They grilled Sieom too. He even talked some, now they
had the basics from Ganby, but he too was a marginal employee. He denied any knowledge of the contents of the crates, where they were stored now, the keyholder involved, or the long-term plans of those in charge. No, he hadn’t even heard rumors. Neither Ganby nor Sieom had worked in the mines; they merely brought in supplies.

  “The miners live down here. But I’ve never seen anyone except the two or three who help us unload.” Sieom wiggled in Rhyden’s grasp. “I admit the deal seemed hinky, but I wasn’t doing nothing wrong, just delivering stuff. Nothing illegal.”

  Kam raised an eyebrow. “Then why aren’t you more cooperative? And why didn’t you go to the authorities?”

  Sieom set his jaw and looked at his feet.

  “Yeah, and get locked up for our trouble,” Ganby grumbled. “I reckon we all knew something wasn’t right. All the secrecy, but they paid us a lot.”

  Seth shifted, conveying his growing impatient. “Where exactly is this mine?”

  Sieom pointed back the way they’d come. Although they were vague on directions, the two men were agreed it was thirty to forty minutes ahead.

  “One of us should take the prisoners back, explain everything to Captain Brunic, and bring help.” Seth looked at Kam and Rhyden. “Any volunteers? I’m staying to locate the mine and keep watch until reinforcements arrive.”

  Both men looked at her. “Oh, I’ll go.” Kam’s voice held resignation. Being the only one trained in transporting prisoners, she was the logical choice. “We’ll take the horses, and hopefully I can be back in an hour. Don’t get captured or killed.”

  “Watch your back,” Seth said, all seriousness. “I don’t like the fact that one of the mules got loose. If it wanders home, someone could come looking.” He turned to the prisoners. “Where did the mules come from?”

  Ganby spoke up. “They’re Sieom’s. He lives outside of town.”

  “Then maybe it’s OK.” Seth still looked troubled.

  “I’ll stay alert.”

  “Do that.” His eyes held hers, until heat rose to her face and she looked away.

  Kam hustled her prisoners back through the tunnel, thinking about the very real concern she’d seen on Seth’s face. If only this were a different time or place.

  Sieom stumbled over a rock on the path, bringing her thoughts back to the job. “Watch your step up there, but hurry.”

  “We’d move faster if you’d cut our hands loose,” Sieom grumbled. “It’s hard to keep my balance.” He stumbled again as they exited the mine, and that bought him a second chance at life.

  The rifle shot hit the rocks next to where his head had been a second before.

  “Back inside!” Kam shoved Ganby behind her and grabbed Sieom’s foot, dragging him out of the line of fire. Bullets continued to pepper the entrance. She readied her bow and peeked around the opening. There was movement from several locations. The shots paused, and a man broke into the open running directly toward her. She let an arrow fly, hardly feeling a qualm when he clutched his leg and went down with a yelp. Two men dragged him behind the trees; two or maybe three other figures were on the opposite side. Counting the cloaked man on horseback under the trees, that made six, but the rider was the only one who’d displayed a gun. Still, if they rushed the tunnel together, she’d never get them all in time.

  She reached behind her with her dagger and cut the restraints on both men. “We’re trapped by at least six of your so-called friends. You can stay and try to reason with them if you want to or you can come with me. Do what you can to save yourselves.” She narrowed her eyes. “But don’t make the mistake of giving me trouble or I’ll drop you.”

  Sieom jutted out his jaw. “Then get out of my way. I’m getting out of here.” He pushed past her. “Hey, over here. It’s me. Sieom.”

  Kam glanced at Ganby.

  “I’m staying.”

  Sieom was still yelling outside. She poked her head around to see what was happening. He was jogging toward the trees waving his hands. The rider spurred his horse forward, a black cloak flapped around him, his face hidden by the hood. He straightened in the saddle, raised a rifle from the folds of his cloak, and shot Sieom in the face. When he pulled the trigger, a large ruby ring winked in the sunlight.

  Someone yelled, “Get the rest of them!”

  Kam didn’t wait any longer. She turned to find Ganby’s ashen face staring at her, and she said, “Run.”

  He whirled and sprinted back the way they’d come. Kam quickly caught him, and they set a grueling pace. Although gasping for breath, Ganby kept up, obviously spurred on by fear. They ran for ten minutes before reaching the place where they’d parted from Seth and Rhyden.

  “Keep going,” she ordered. “We have to warn my friends before we’re all trapped between the workers at the mine and the guys chasing us.” She hoped to find Seth and Rhyden soon. They’d had no reason to hurry, believing she wouldn’t be back for another hour or more.

  After another ten minutes at their deadly pace, even Kam was getting winded and Ganby was gasping loudly. They rounded a series of curves, and the passage suddenly narrowed, forcing them to run single file. Kam took the lead, hoping that a second wind would kick in soon.

  A hard body slammed into her, and she clawed at the strong arms pinning her until he exclaimed, “Kam? What’s happening?”

  She sagged against him, and Seth supported her, while she fought to catch her breath. Rhyden had simply tripped Ganby, who was sprawled on the floor, dragging in ragged gulps of air.

  “Five men, one with a rifle,” she gasped, pushing upright. “Just behind us.”

  “The other path.” Seth spun her around and shoved her ahead of him. “The fork is only a couple of minutes behind us. We’ll take the second tunnel. Rhyden, get him on his feet. Quick, before they reach us.”

  Spurred by adrenaline, they raced through the tunnel and reached the fork without incident, turning down the second path.

  A minute into the passage, Ganby suddenly dropped to a walk. “I can’t do it. I can’t keep this up.”

  “Yes, you can.” Rhyden shoved on his back, urging him forward. “If you don’t, they’ll kill you. Now move!”

  Ganby started moving again, but Seth slowed the pace to a jog. “I see another branch ahead. We’ll take the left.”

  Kam’s second wind was belatedly kicking in, and the jog allowed her to get her breathing under control. On the other hand, Ganby’s labored gasps hadn’t improved much, and she knew he’d have to take a break soon. She wouldn’t be sorry when they stopped.

  Seth looked back at Ganby, and came to a halt. “We’ll take a breather here.” He stepped off to one side. The beam from his flashlight disappeared for a moment, then reappeared. “There’s a small cave we can get inside. If they find us, at least we should be able to defend the entrance for a while. They’d have to starve us out.”

  “Now isn’t that a cheery thought. Thanks, Seth. I’m really glad you added that.” Rhyden waited until Kam and Ganby followed Seth, then he joined them just inside the cave entrance, keeping an eye on the tunnel.

  Ganby sank to the floor, stretching out on his back with his eyes shut. “Man, I’m beat.”

  Kam sat down and leaned against a wall, relieved to be doing nothing for just a few moments.

  Seth settled down beside her. When he spoke, his voice was barely above a whisper. “If we’re quiet, we should be safe here for a while.” His voice softened. “What happened?”

  She quickly summarized. The rifle shot at the entrance, Sieom getting shot by a cloaked man on horseback.

  Seth swore.

  Ganby groaned from his prone position. “I knew they’d killed him when I heard the shot.”

  “Uh, Ganby, is there something you forgot to mention? You don’t seem surprised they had a gun.” Rhyden was staring at him suspiciously.

  “I wasn’t.” Ganby kept his eyes closed. “We’d all heard the rumors. But you didn’t ask about that.”

  “We’re asking now.” Seth sounded like
he wanted to strangle him. “Tell us what you know about the damned guns.”

  Ganby sat up, a worried frown on his face. He’d obviously figured out that Seth and Rhyden weren’t happy with him. He appealed to Kam. “I don’t know any more. Honest. I figured it must be true when I heard the King’s Guard was looking for contraband, but I never seen no guns.”

  “You don’t know where they’ve stored two or three loads of crates?”

  “No, I just bring the supplies. Are there more guns?”

  “We don’t know.” Kam kept it vague. The less Ganby knew, the less he could repeat.

  She turned to Seth and dropped her voice. “They probably have our horses now, and my pouch, including the contents we were going to use for a test.”

  Seth lifted a brow, telling her he understood they might have her Glock.

  “One magazine?” he mouthed.

  She nodded.

  “That minimizes the risk.” He raised his voice. “Hey, Rhyden. Kam says they probably have our horses and anything we left tied to their trappings.”

  “Is that right?” Rhyden looked puzzled for a moment. “Oh!” He covered quickly. “That was my favorite horse.”

  “We’ll get him back, but right now we should figure out what to do next. They know we’re here, so they aren’t likely to just go away.”

  They stepped outside, away from Ganby, and discussed the situation. The three of them were well armed with elfish weapons. The other side had a rifle, possibly Kam’s Glock, and numerous conventional weapons. Kam hadn’t seen any other handguns, so the location of those that had come through the portal was unknown. As for the rifle, Kam didn’t think the shooter would enter the mine.

  “He won’t dirty his hands,” she predicted. “I’m sure it was our keyholder. No crossbreed would display that aristocratic arrogance, sitting up there on his horse, being all high and mighty. Letting the others take the risks, then playing judge and executioner with Sieom. I wish I’d gotten a good look at him, so I could identify him later.” She’d been sifting the loose pebbles under her hand, picked one up and tossed it against the opposite wall. “The way he shot that man… He’s nothing but a cold-blooded killer.”