The Arkana Mysteries Boxed Set

by N. S. Wikarski

  “What are you gonna do with all that free time on your hands?” the pythia teased. “Maybe you’ll have a chance to catch up on some TV shows. Go out on the town once in a while.”

  “Oh, I will find a way to keep busy.” Iker chuckled. Abruptly, he turned his head to listen. “What was that?”

  “I thought I heard it too.” Erik rose from a crouching position. “It sounded to me like it came from deeper inside the cave. Is there another way to get in here?”

  Iker shook his head. “No. This tunnel ends not far from here. There is no other way in or out.” He shifted his attention to the entrance. “Sometimes there are echoes in the cave. It is hard to know which direction the noise came from or how far away it is. Perhaps Erik and I should both investigate. I will go down the trail to keep watch in case any tourists are on their way up.”

  “And I’ll climb up a little higher,” Erik volunteered. “Maybe I can get a bird’s eye view of anybody lurking around.”

  “With all the mist and drizzle outside, you two will be lucky to see anything,” Cassie said. “If we weren’t in such a hurry to get this planted, I would have taken a pass on climbing up here at all on a day like this.”

  “The fog means Mari is with us,” Iker replied. “Whenever the mist rests on Anboto, Mari has come home.”

  “Let’s hope she takes a favorable view of our proceedings,” Griffin said. “She isn’t the sort of deity I’d care to offend.”

  Iker nodded his agreement and left silently.

  The security coordinator hoisted his pack over his shoulder. “While I check things out, you two need to make this spot look like it hasn’t been disturbed for centuries.”

  “Aye, aye, sir.” Cassie gave him a mock salute.

  She and Griffin turned their attention to smoothing out the artifact’s resting place. They worked quietly at their task for several minutes until Cassie sat back on her heels to regard her teammate. He was still intent on flattening the gravel on the cavern floor.

  “Your beard doesn’t look any better, you know. How long have you been trying to grow that thing out now?”

  “About two weeks,” he replied, not looking up.

  “It’s still pretty mangy. Makes you look like a homeless guy.”

  The scrivener sighed. “If it doesn’t improve by the end of the week, I’ll declare it a lost cause.” He dusted off his hands and stood to admire his handiwork. “There, that’s better.”

  Cassie rose beside him to assess the effect. “Do you think the bad guys will notice anything out of place?”

  “I’m more worried that they’ll miss the spot entirely,” Griffin countered. “It’s very dark in here, even during the middle of the day.”

  They packed their tools and were about to start forward to the mouth of the cave when they heard voices approaching.

  “Shhh,” Griffin warned in a whisper.

  “Maybe it’s Iker and Erik,” Cassie said hopefully.

  They both strained to hear.

  To Cassie’s horror, she recognized one of the voices.

  “Like I told you, boy, next time we gotta do some climbing, you get one of your flunkies to come with you. I ain’t doin’ nothin’ like this again! Prob’ly threw my back out!”

  “Bollocks!” Griffin cursed under his breath. “What’s become of our sentinel?”

  “And where the hell is Erik?” Cassie added. “We need to hide.” She picked up their gear, and the pair scrambled off into the darkness.

  They’d gone about twenty feet when Cassie grabbed Griffin by the sleeve and pulled him toward a deep crevice in the cavern wall.

  “We’re trapped. There’s nothing up ahead but a wall of rock. This is the only hiding place we’re likely to find. We need to wedge ourselves in here and keep quiet.” She shuffled backward as far as the niche would allow, pulling Griffin along in with her. They had to squeeze in sideways. Seconds later, they could hear footsteps crunching on the gravel at the entrance to the cave.

  “Well, well, ain’t this pretty.” Hunt’s voice reached them across the dark interior. “Another dang hole in a rock. What we lookin’ for again?”

  They could hear him turn to speak to a companion who was apparently standing behind him.

  “The lily symbol, Mr. Hunt, the lily symbol,” came the impatient reply.

  Cassie recognized that voice as well. Daniel.

  “How you expect to find anything in here is a wonder to me,” Hunt grumbled.

  “Please turn on your flashlight and help me look.” Daniel’s reply was sharp. “Pay attention to the walls on both sides.”

  They spent several minutes combing the rock face at the entrance. Inch by inch, they moved deeper into the cave and closer to where the pair were hiding. Cassie could hear the men pause in their search. They had to be close to the artifact by now. She felt conflicting emotions at their approach. She wanted them to find the relic as much as she wanted them not to find the people who put it there.

  “What’s that?” It was Hunt’s voice.

  “Where?” Daniel asked absently. He must have been looking at the opposite wall.

  “There, boy. Right there. Don’t it look like some kind of flower to you?”

  Silence for a few seconds while Daniel came to scrutinize Hunt’s find.

  “It does, Mr. Hunt, it does indeed.” There was wonder in Daniel’s voice. “I believe you’ve found it.”

  “Hot damn!” Hunt exclaimed eagerly. “Now where’s the doodad?”

  There was a pause in conversation as the two men swept the walls and floor with their flashlights.

  “There!” Daniel said. “Look at the floor directly below the lily symbol.”

  Hunt let out a low whistle. “That’s gotta be it.”

  Cassie could hear scuffling as the two men dropped to their knees. Then the sound of fingers scratching at dirt and rock.

  “Hold on. This’ll help.”

  There was the sound of something metallic hacking away at the ground.

  “You brought a hunting knife with you on this expedition?” Daniel sounded appalled.

  “And why not? We’re huntin’ relics, ain’t we?”

  “Yes, but I don’t expect you’ll have any occasion to skin them,” Daniel protested.

  “You do things your way, and I’ll do things mine. Now help me with this goddam box!”

  Next came the sound of the container being lifted out of the ground and the cover being pried off.

  “Jiminy Christmas!” Hunt’s voice was jubilant. “Will you look at that!”

  “It’s remarkable.” Daniel’s voice held a note of reverence.

  “What you figure somethin’ like that’d be worth?”

  “It’s priceless.”

  “Yeah, yeah, but what’s it worth?”

  “Considering its antiquity, millions of dollars, I suppose.”

  “Yep, that’s what I thought too.”

  There was a pause. Then Hunt sprang to his feet. “You smell that?”

  Another pause before Daniel replied. “Smell what?”

  “Some kind of perfume. You ain’t wearin’ any and I ain’t wearin’ any.”

  The blood in Cassie’s veins congealed. Hunt must have the instincts of a wild predator. Griffin’s sweater carried the scent of fabric softener, but it was so faint that she could barely smell it and her face was pressed up against his shoulder.

  “And that ain’t all.” Hunt seemed to be shifting his weight from one foot to the other. “I hear breathin’.”

  “It’s probably just an animal,” Daniel replied dismissively.

  “Uh huh.” Hunt’s voice was dripping with contempt. “Probably one of them perfume-wearin’ bears like we got back home. It’s plain as day you ain’t no hunter, boy. Somethin’ ain’t right here. I can feel it.”

  Although she might be imagining things, Cassie thought she heard the squeak of leather as if Hunt were drawing a gun out of a holste
r.

  The sound of footsteps advanced closer. “Fee-fi-fo-fum.”

  She heard the crunch of gravel as Hunt came within a few feet of their hiding place.

  Without warning, Griffin yelled and launched himself directly at Hunt. The Brit tackled him around the waist, sending Leroy’s flashlight spinning through the air and crashing against the rocks.

  Cassie was so shocked that it took her a few seconds to react. Before she could wriggle out of her hiding place to help Griffin, a shot rang out and echoed off the cave walls.

  “Mr. Hunt, what’s happened?” Daniel’s voice demanded from farther forward in the cave.

  His voice was joined by the sound of others—one speaker or possibly more shouting something in Spanish. They were somewhere outside, but their voices carried into the interior of the cave making it impossible to tell how far or near they were.

  “Mr. Hunt!” Daniel ran toward his bodyguard.

  Cassie could hear the sound of Hunt struggling to sit up and throw Griffin’s motionless body off of him. Daniel flew to the mercenary’s assistance, dragging the scrivener away a few feet.

  There was silence for a few seconds. Daniel seemed to be checking for vital signs. Finally, he announced, “I can’t find a heartbeat. This man is dead.”

  Cassie could hear Leroy stand and dust off his jacket. “Well, good. Don’t wanna risk firin’ another bullet to finish the job. We made enough of a ruckus already.”

  Cassie felt a blind urge to launch herself at Hunt’s throat, but she reined herself in. If Griffin really was dead, then she couldn’t help him by revealing her presence now. In fact, all chance of recovering the rest of the relics in secrecy would be lost. The entire Arkana organization would be put at risk of discovery and attack. So many other lives hung in the balance besides her friend’s. She blinked back tears at the thought that Griffin might really be gone. All she could do was wait helplessly and hope it wasn’t true.

  For a second, Cassie saw the beam of a flashlight shining on the wall opposite her hiding place. The beam found its way to Griffin’s face.

  “Lord help us!” Daniel yelped. “It’s one of the Fallen from Karfi!”

  There was a pause while Hunt studied his victim. “You are plumb loco, boy, if you think that guy looks anything like them dead folks from Karfi. Besides which, they’re already dead! Looks like a bum to me. Maybe some cave squatter.”

  “I tell you it’s one of the Fallen!” The scion persisted. “I’m going to check his wallet to see if he has any identification.”

  The number of shouting voices outside was growing. It now sounded as if an entire mob was attempting to storm the mountain top.

  Cassie heard Hunt hoist Daniel to his feet and shove him toward the entrance. “Ain’t no time to play detective. The last thing we need is somebody catchin’ us in here with a dead body. We still got a chance to get shed of this ‘cause of the fog. Now you do like I tell you! Grab that doodad and let’s haul ass.”

  Cassie remained frozen in place until the enemy had retreated. The Spanish voices were getting much closer. Somebody must be coming up the mountain to help. She squirmed out of the rock crevice and rushed to kneel beside her fallen teammate.

  At that moment another scraping noise caught her attention coming from the cave entrance. Cassie feared the two thieves had returned until she caught sight of Erik. He was limping and out of breath.

  “Where the hell were you?” Cassie challenged.

  Erik dropped to the ground beside her, not even asking what had happened to Griffin. He set down his flashlight, rummaged through his backpack for bandages and mechanically began applying first aid measures to stop the bleeding. “I was on the other side of the summit when I heard the gunshot. From where I was standing, it sounded more like a canon. I started back here at a run which turned out to be a really bad idea since I couldn’t see the trail through the fog. I hit a sink hole and wrenched my ankle, probably tore a ligament since it hurts like hell. I crawled to a rock outcropping just above the cave entrance in time to see Leroy and Daniel making their getaway. They disappeared into the fog so fast I couldn’t tell which trail they took.”

  Erik wrapped up his jacket and wedged it under Griffin’s head. “How’s his heart rate?”

  Cassie reached for Griffin’s wrist. She’d deliberately postponed the inevitable moment when she would know for sure. A pulse was still faintly detectable. She dashed away tears of relief. “He isn’t dead. Daniel was wrong.”

  Erik shook his head worriedly. “He’s losing blood fast. If somebody doesn’t help us get him to a hospital, he won’t be alive for long.”

  Chapter 44 – Hard Time

  Cassie sat on the edge of her cot, head sunk into her hands. This was a nightmare. It had to be. Nothing as bizarre as this could be real. She looked up at the cinderblock walls of her cell. It was impossible. Twelve hours ago, she and Griffin had just finished placing the false relic into the ground, and a few minutes after that all hell broke loose.

  She replayed the sequence of events in surreal slow motion. Griffin rushing to tackle Leroy Hunt. The sound of a gunshot. Blood staining the floor of the cavern. Voices bouncing off the limestone walls as bodies filled the entrance to the cave. Everyone speaking at once in Basque and Spanish, asking for explanations.

  What had happened to Iker? She watched in numb horror as people swarmed around Griffin, trying to see whether he was still breathing. She heard Erik’s voice communicating in broken Spanish with the policeman who’d started asking him questions. Two medics placed Griffin’s motionless body on a stretcher. One of them had a stethoscope and was able to find a feeble heartbeat. Aside from a nasty bump on the back of his head which had knocked him unconscious, he’d been shot in the abdomen. They didn’t know if there had been organ damage. Nobody was certain if he’d still be alive by the time they got him to the hospital. Cassie made a move to follow the stretcher out of the cave but was stopped by a policeman blocking the entrance.

  “You come with us,” he said.

  She and Erik were led away in one direction and Griffin’s body in another. She looked over her shoulder as his stretcher melted into the fog. Then the long walk down the misty mountain, Erik limping in pain all the way, followed by an equally long ride in a police car. Two cops grimly silent in the front seat and she and Erik in the back. They ended up at a Basque police station in Durango. Ertzaintza—the People’s Guard—they were called. Her cell phone had been confiscated. Erik’s too. This wasn’t the USA. No rule about a single phone call. They wouldn’t be able to reach Faye or Maddie to tell them what had happened. When she demanded to speak to the American Embassy, the policeman who’d taken her phone gave a thin smile and walked away.

  She and Erik were placed in an interrogation room with an officer who spoke English. He asked how the shooting happened. They skirted the truth and said they were tourists exploring the cave and that a man wearing a cowboy hat had threatened them with a gun.

  Their description of Leroy Hunt didn’t impress him. “Nobody was seen coming down the mountain when we arrived,” he said coldly. “The only people in the cave were you two and the man who was shot. How do we know you didn’t do it?”

  “But we didn’t!” Cassie exclaimed indignantly.

  “We found a gun in your backpack,” the policeman said to Erik.

  “It was never fired,” Erik countered. “You can check.”

  “Whether it was fired or not, most tourists do not climb the mountain while carrying weapons.”

  “We’re innocent!” Cassie protested. “Ask Iker.”

  “Who is Iker?” the officer scribbled a note on a legal pad.

  “Iker Mendiluze. He’s a friend of ours,” Erik explained.

  “Did he see the shooting?”

  Erik hesitated before answering. “No, he went outside because he thought he heard a noise, but he never came back.”

  The officer looked at him skeptically. “Never came
back?” he echoed.

  “We’re really worried about him,” Cassie rushed to add. “Maybe he crossed paths with the cowboy, and he’s been hurt. Maybe even dead. Somebody should be looking for him too.”

  “Give me his description,” the policeman said. He wrote more notes on his legal pad as a formality. Tapping the page with his pen, he looked at the two suspects. “Even if we find this Iker you speak of, he won’t be able to help you. He didn’t see the shooting. It’s only your word.”

  “If Griffin’s still alive, he can tell you what happened,” Cassie insisted.

  The policeman raised an eyebrow. “Then you should pray he lives because, if he doesn’t, there is a very good chance you both will be charged with murder.”

  After receiving that terrifying news, Erik and Cassie were led off to separate cells in the jail. They’d been told they were being held for questioning by the Superintendent. He was away but would return tomorrow. In the meantime, Cassie had nothing to do but wait. The only thought that kept surfacing over and over was, “It shouldn’t have been Griffin!” She would have expected Erik to get shot in the line of duty—to get shot and shrug it off. Even if she, herself, had gotten shot, she would have been able to handle it. But Griffin? Sweet, gentle Griffin? It wasn’t fair. He didn’t deserve for that to happen to him. She felt strangely guilty.

  Another equally unpleasant thought surfaced. Cassie had never expected the world of the Arkana to collide with the surface world—the day-to-day world of policemen and judges and the legal system. The work her team was doing belonged to a different dimension of reality. Somehow, the consequences of their work had bled over, quite literally, into that mundane place where the only vision that mattered was the kind that could be checked by an optometrist. She could never explain to a lawyer or a judge what they were doing or why. She and Erik were trapped—stuck between worlds for the time being. She stared around her cold cell and tried once more to wake up from this nightmare.

  Chapter 45 – A Visit from the Reaper