Attie peered closer and gasped when Brendan’s face came into light. He sat gagged in a chair with his hands and feet bound by thick ropes. He looked bruised and battered, but alive. His eyes were full of fire when he looked at her, as relieved to see her as she was him. Attie fought the emotion building in her chest.
“Brendan,” she called, taking a step toward him, her heart swelling with relief.
Carlos stopped her with a hand on her arm.
“Not yet, there’s more.”
More light filtered into the room and Attie waited stiffly.
Slowly, another form came into view. The floor tilted beneath her feet. A second figure sat a few feet away from Brendan, trussed to a chair in the same manner. The figure sat motionless and had a bandage covering the right side of his head. He met her eyes and she felt the emotional punch clear to her toes. She stumbled back a step and shook her head. It couldn’t be.
“Noah,” she whispered.
Emotions she couldn’t control bubbled beneath the surface. Relief, fear, love and a need so great she thought she would choke. Tears swam in her eyes and she clamped a hand over her mouth to prevent a sob from escaping.
Carlos watched her closely, his lips thinned. “The sight of your lover has shocked you,” he said. “You thought he was dead, didn’t you?”
Attie couldn’t respond. She turned away and attempted to get a hold on her emotions. She sucked in deep, gulping breaths of air and tried to stop her trembling as her heart thumped in her chest.
Noah was alive. Carlos hadn’t killed him.
“This is so unlike you, Atalanta. Time to perform. This may be the most important test to date. You have to choose, mi amor,” Carlos said softly.
Attie looked at him, dread filling her. “What do you mean?”
Carlos cupped her cheek, staring down at her with adoration. “Seeing you over the past couple days has filled me with many emotions. I can’t begin to tell you how pleased I am that you survived. You are a strong woman. One I would be proud to have at my side. Together, we can conquer the world. I can make your every fantasy come true. Give you everything you’ve ever wanted.”
Attie waited, frozen with dread.
“I want you. Forever at my side. I am offering you a chance to become my partner. If you so choose.”
Her stomach lurched. But, she waited, forcing Carlos to say it.
“Choose. Will you become mine forever and see your brother and lover walk free? Or will you deny me this and die with them? You see the hourglass in the corner of the cage?”
Attie forced herself to turn around and look. The hourglass was big enough to allow maybe three minutes of time. “I see it,” she managed past the lump in her throat.
“In the other corner is a caged tiger. When the hourglass empties, the tiger will be released and I must warn you, my pet has been trained to tear a person to shreds. She will do her part.”
Attie watched the agitated tiger stalk her cage, looking for a way out. Carlos spoke the truth. He trained his pets to perform for him, in whatever way necessary. In the same sick way she was one of his pets.
“If you choose to deny me, you will have three minutes to save yourselves. Will you gamble with the lives of your brother and lover before the cat is released? Which one will you choose?”
“You bastard,” Attie whispered, glaring at him. She wanted to put him in that cage. She hated him more than she’d ever hated anyone in her life. No way out of this. Carlos would let the tiger tear both men to shreds if she made the wrong decision.
How the hell could he make her choose? The choice was obvious, but the most painful one she’d ever had to make. She’d lost Noah once and she was going to lose him again. But he would be safe. That familiar pain settled heavy on her shoulders and she almost crumpled beneath its weight. This was too much. How was she going to get through this?
God help her.
Attie looked at Noah.
Tears welled in her eyes when he shook his head. When she looked at her brother, he did the same thing. They believed she had time to cut them loose and get out before that tiger was released. She knew Carlos well enough to know he’d rigged it so that would never happen. Death was the only option if she chose herself over them.
She couldn’t sacrifice her brother or another agent. Too much blood had been shed already.
Tears filled her eyes again and she angrily blinked them away.
She would never get the chance to tell Noah she was wrong. Apologize for all the things she done and said to him. She’d never get to tell him she had fallen in love with him. Or that she may be carrying his child. Because once she made this choice, it was over. She would belong to Carlos. He would hold the lives of Noah and her brother over her head to make her stay for the rest of her life.
Knowing her brother and Noah were safe made it worth it. It was more important than her happiness. She had coped once with Carlos, she would do it again.
They had reached the end of the journey and once again Carlos held her soul in his hands. He’d stolen it from her once, only to give it back and take it again. He had her, and he knew it.
“Okay, Carlos, you win,” she said quietly, head bowed. “I can’t do this anymore. Let them go and I’m yours.”
* * * *
Noah saw defeat in Attie’s eyes. In her stance. She was sacrificing herself for them. Believing Santiago would hold true to his word and free them if she agreed to become his. He knew better. Santiago was not a man to be trusted. Attie of all people should know that.
He couldn’t risk Santiago disappearing with her.
Shaking his head, he fought his bonds. Shouting behind his gag for Attie to stop being a fool. Watching in horror as Santiago smiled that feral smile of his and led her away. Images of what Santiago had done to her in the past burned in his head. Powerless to stop them, Noah watched the woman he loved disappear out the door.
But not before Santiago paused to give a silent order to the two guards.
Noah went still as the door closed behind Attie and Santiago. Another sound came from the corner of the cage. He and Brendan looked over at the same time to see the door to the cat’s cage rise slowly.
The hourglass had been proverbially turned.
Chapter 23
Holding her head up had never been so hard in her life. Attie allowed Carlos to escort her out of the room. He nodded to the guards on the way out, maintaining his end of the bargain.
Drawing in a deep breath, she told herself she’d done the right thing. Knowing that her brother and Noah were being released at this very moment made this bearable.
“Can we leave this place soon?” she asked, glancing over her shoulder to see they were not being followed by any guards.
“Of course. I was thinking Paris. Maybe Italy. Where would you like to go to be wed?”
The thought sent a shudder down her spine. Wed to Carlos seemed a fate worse than hell.
“I’ve never been to Italy,” she said, looking up at the camera following them down the narrow hallway.
“Italy. Lovely. I will show you the—”
Attie dropped down, retrieved the knife from her boot and had it pressed to his carotid artery in the blink of an eye.
Turning him back toward the door they’d come in through, Attie said directly to the camera mounted above it, “Open it.”
She had the advantage. Carlos knew it. Whoever was behind that camera knew it. She would slit his throat before anyone could save him.
“You are making a mistake—”
Attie cut him off, drawing blood with the tip of her knife. “Open the door or I slit his throat.”
Digging the knife deeper into the flesh of his neck, she drew more blood.
“Do it,” Carlos said and the door slid open with barely a sound.
Attie walked him into the room, heart pounding. She wasn’t fool enough to believe Carlos had honored his word. She only hoped she wasn’t too late.
“The hourglass has been tur
ned, Atalanta. Entertain me.” Carlos knocked the knife from her hand. It clattered to the floor as she watched in horror as the door to the tiger’s cage slowly began to slide open.
* * * *
“Damn you.” Time ticked away in her head as she ran toward the guards holding the cage door open for her. Expecting her to do exactly this. She hadn’t fooled Carlos for one second.
Carlos chuckled as the door closed and locked behind her. Ignoring it, she ran to Brendan and dropped to her knees beside him. She worked the knots binding his hands, her fingers fumbling in her haste. She was aware of Noah watching her, but she didn’t dare look at him.
The knot refused to loosen. She needed her knife.
“I can’t get it,” she cried, tugging and pulling on the thick rope.
Brendan was mumbling beneath his gag and with a cry of frustration, Attie leapt to her feet and tore it out of his mouth. He winced and held her gaze.
“Relax. You can do this,” he said.
“No! We have to hurry. I can’t get the rope loose.”
Behind them the tiger cried and lunged at the door of her crate.
Attie began frantically working the knots. “How much time?” she demanded. Her hands were shaking so much she could hardly get a grip on the rope.
“Plenty. Is my chair bolted down?” Brendan asked. “If not, I can work on Noah’s ropes.”
Yes, good idea. Attie glanced down at the chair legs and cursed when she saw they were bolted to the floor. Of course, Carlos would think of everything, cover every angle. He wouldn’t make this easy for her.
“No good,” she said, trying not to think the worst.
She worked faster, her hands shaking. By some small miracle she felt the rope give beneath her fingers and latched onto it. It loosened in her hands.
“I got it,” she cried, leaping to her feet.
“Good girl,” Brendan said and bent over to start working on the ropes binding his feet.
“Go free Noah,” he said. “I got these.”
Heart pounding and sweat running down her back, Attie glanced at the hourglass. Half full. She ran to Noah’s side, knelt behind him and began working the knots the same as she had Brendan’s, her fingers fumbling in her haste. Another glance at the hourglass drew a choked cry from her lips. It was almost out.
She reached up and ripped the gag out of his mouth and went back to her task. She wanted to say so much, but couldn’t.
“Attie, go now. There’s no time,” Noah said quietly.
“Shut up, Kincaid. All of us are leaving here alive.”
The cat cried as the door of its pen inched upward.
“Attie, hurry,” Brendan urged.
The rope loosened in her hands. In slow motion the last grain of sand emptied into the bottom of the hourglass and the door of the enclosure lifted. Attie shouted at Brendan moments before the tiger bumped against the cage.
She heard the sound of wood splintering behind her, and fumbled with the ropes on Noah’s hands. She pulled the last of the knot as Brendan knelt in front of Noah, free of his ropes and holding a piece of his chair in hand. He began working on the ropes at Noah’s feet while Attie finished freeing his hands.
“Time’s up,” Attie said, jumping back and tossing the rope aside. She spun around, stared at the remnants of Brendan’s chair and found a splintered piece to use as a weapon. Noah kicked off the ropes. She watched him destroy his chair with one swift kick and pick up a sharp piece.
Brendan and Noah formed a wall in front of her and faced the tiger stalking out of its cage. One of them was going to die. Carlos demanded it, and she felt a moment’s fury that he would sacrifice an animal for his pleasure.
She dug in her pocket for the key Noah had risked his life for.
Not today. An innocent animal would not die today. And neither would they.
The cat pounced and knocked Brendan back into her. She stumbled and fell over the chair remains, landing hard and driving a splinter into her palm. She ignored the pain and looked up in time to see the tiger swipe a paw across Brendan’s chest.
“No!” Attie leapt to her feet as blood seeped through Brendan’s shirt and the cat turned on Noah. “Don’t kill it,” she shouted to Noah. “I have the key.” She fell to her knees at Brendan’s side, pressing her hands to the gaping wound on his chest. His shirt had been shredded and there were three angry red gouges from shoulder to ribs.
“I’m fine,” Brendan muttered. “Open the door before it’s too late.”
“Put pressure on this,” Attie ordered. She watched the bright red blood seep between her fingers and felt an answering tug on her heart. He could bleed to death if they didn’t get him some help, and soon. She pushed thoughts of losing him away and glanced over her shoulder at Noah, who was slowly leading the cat away from them.
“The key, Attie,” he said calmly as the cat swiped a giant paw at him. He jumped back, narrowly missing being clawed.
“On it.” She knew Carlos well enough to know this wasn’t how he wanted her to die. Not at the paw of an animal. He would want her death by his own hand.
“Press here,” she told Brendan.
“I got it. Go.”
While he took over stanching the flow of blood, Attie leapt up and ran for the door, hearing the cat growl a warning behind her. With shaking hands she worked the lock, breathing a sigh of relief when it opened. She didn’t allow herself to think about what waited for them outside.
Running back to her brother’s side, she met his eyes. “I’m sorry,” she murmured, needing him to know she’d never intended this to involve him.
Brendan shook his head and pressed a finger to her lips. “No. We’re not going there. This is not your fault. If anything, it’s mine.”
Attie opened her mouth to protest, but Noah interrupted. “Move. Now.”
She helped Brendan to his feet and they made their way out of the cage.
Noah inched his way toward the door, the cat stalking him. Suddenly he launched into action, throwing the remains of a chair at the cat to distract it. It swiped at the chair, sending it flying into the wall of the cage. Noah dove out the door, slammed it closed, and threw the lock. The cat slammed into it, crying angrily.
Not wasting a second, Noah strode past them and to the door across the room. Attie pushed her relief aside and helped Brendan to the door Noah was hotwiring. They were in survival mode.
The door slid open.
Expecting an army, they stepped out slowly and found the place empty. No guards, no noise. Carlos wasn’t going to let them just walk out of there.
They made their way through corridors with Noah hotwiring the doors to let them through. Brendan leaned more heavily on her by the time they reached the outside corridor. Attie recognized the white walls and doorways. Relief surged through her. None of them spoke as they made their way to the final doorway that would let them out of this hellhole. None of them commented on the fact they hadn’t run across a single guard.
Attie knew it was wrong, that Carlos would never let them leave, but her concern for her brother overruled her unease. He needed medical attention, and that was all that mattered. She’d come too close to losing him.
When they reached the door, Attie hesitated. Both men looked at her.
“This feels wrong,” she said. “Carlos isn’t going to let us walk out of here.”
Brendan, looking pale, said, “We can’t stay here.”
“I know, but…”
“This isn’t over, we know that, but we stand a better chance of surviving out there than we do in here,” Noah said, readjusting Brendan’s weight so that he practically carried him alone.
He was right. Inside the mountain they were at Carlos’s mercy. Outside, the odds were more in their favor. Was that what Carlos was waiting for? Why would he leave them to escape? He wouldn’t. He was changing the rules again.
“Let’s get the hell out of here,” Brendan said.
No one objected as Noah got the door open. The
y walked hesitantly outside into bright sunlight and into an army of men.
Carlos stood smiling at them a short distance away.
“Congratulations. You made it,” he called out. “And in only twenty-eight minutes. Impressive. You did well. Too bad you won’t be able to save them this time.”
* * * *
Brendan went rigid beside her. Suddenly she was sandwiched between him and Noah, each with a protective arm around her. She glared at them, but didn’t move, because God help her, she was tired of fighting and needed their support.
“You’re not getting her this time, Santiago,” Brendan said. “You’ll have to get through us first.”
“I have every intention of doing so. You see, I will never give Atalanta up. She belongs to me. She has paid the price for her betrayal and now I will have her. She gave herself to me, even if she was playing me at the time.”
Attie caught a glimpse of something in the distance. She nudged Noah and tipped her head ever so slightly in that direction. He followed her gaze and she knew he had seen it too. He gave her a small nod and she knew she was right.
ATCOM was here.
Brendan must have seen it too, because he suddenly grinned. “Prepare to meet your maker, Santiago, because I’m going to enjoy taking you down.”
All hell broke loose.
Men in camouflage toting kick-ass weapons materialized from the trees and started taking out Santiago’s men with methodical ease.
Noah and Brendan grabbed Attie and dodged for the protection of the trees before any stray bullets hit her. She was knocked to the ground and covered with two smothering bodies before she could react.
She heard Brendan shouting and Noah telling him to stay with her. Seconds later, some of the weight lifted off her and she knew Noah had joined the fight. Her heart lurched in her chest. He would go after Carlos and wouldn’t stop until he completed his mission. Noah had been sent in to kill him. Failing wasn’t an option.
Struggling out from beneath Brendan, she searched for Noah and saw him sprinting into the trees. “Noah!”
He stopped and sent her a look that made her heart melt. He mouthed the words, “Trust me,” and was gone.
The Maze (ATCOM) Page 24