Arkana Archaeology Mystery Box Set 2

by N. S. Wikarski

  He hugged her for a few seconds. With a growing sense of alarm, he realized she was shaking. “Are you alright?” He held her at arm’s length to study her face. She’d changed so much during her time in the outer world. When she left, she’d been little more than a frightened child. She was still frightened but definitely no longer a child. Her short-cropped hair made her look like one of the so-called Fallen, as did the expression in her eyes. There was a keen spark of awareness which hadn’t been there before. He’d grown used to the dull submissiveness of most consecrated brides. Hannah no longer belonged among them.

  He led her to a seat on the bed and drew up a chair facing her.

  She laughed a trifle hysterically. “It feels so good to hear my own voice again. I haven’t spoken to anybody since they brought me back.”

  “Why not?” Daniel registered puzzlement.

  She dropped her voice to a whisper. “I don’t want them to know anything about the people I was with. Not about Granny Faye or Zach or Cassie.”

  “Cassie!” The scion flinched at the name. It brought back a memory of her last ominous words to him. “See you at the finish line.” He switched his attention back to Hannah. “I was told you were being sheltered by Cassie, but I didn’t believe it. How on earth did she find you?”

  “She didn’t.” Hannah shrugged simply. “I went looking for her. I thought I’d be safest staying with an enemy of the diviner.”

  Daniel smiled in spite of himself. “That was a very clever thing to do. I don’t know the Zach or Faye you mentioned. Only Cassie, Griffin and Erik.”

  The girl looked confused. “Who are they?”

  “The three people who are making it extremely hard for the diviner to get the artifacts he wants.”

  “Good!” she exclaimed decisively. Her mood shifted immediately to one of concern. “Is Cassie alright?”

  “Oh yes, quite well,” Daniel replied dryly. “I recently crossed paths with Cassie and Griffin in China. They very nearly stole the relic I was sent to retrieve. As for Erik, he stalked me at the library last week.”

  “Why would he do that?”

  Daniel patted her hand. “Because he and his friends want to get you out of here. He asked me to help.”

  Contrary to his expectations, Hannah didn’t receive the news gladly. She sank her head into her hands and began to sob.

  “Oh, my goodness, Hannah. What is it?”

  She raised her tear-stained face and smiled. “Not what you think. I’m crying because I’m so relieved. It all came out in a rush. I’ve been walking a tightrope ever since I was brought back. Not talking to anybody. Your brother Joshua coming to visit every day—trying to force me to give him information.”

  “Joshua?” Daniel’s heart sank at the name. “He’s been bothering you?”

  “He keeps questioning me, trying to break me down. He wants to know how I got out, details about the people I stayed with, all of it. I haven’t said a word though. I promise I won’t.”

  “He’ll try to find your weaknesses. Hannah, he can be relentless. I ought to know. I grew up with him. Be on your guard around him, always.”

  “I’m trying.” Tears streamed down her cheeks. “I think I can take anything knowing there are people who care about me. People who want to get me out of here.”

  “You do! Absolutely.” Daniel came to sit beside her on the bed. He placed his arm comfortingly around her shoulder. “Erik and I are putting together a plan. It won’t be more than a week. You just have to stay strong til then.”

  She nodded vehemently. “I will. I promise. Joshua can’t lay a hand on me as long as your father still thinks...” she trailed off with a grimace.

  “So long as my father still thinks you’ll share his bed again soon.” Daniel completed the thought.

  She nodded and wiped away her tears. “That’s never going to happen, but he doesn’t need to know that.”

  Daniel gave her arm a reassuring squeeze and then rose to go. “I’ll come back to see you as soon as we have our escape route finalized. Hannah, don’t ever forget. You’re not alone.”

  She flashed a grateful smile. “I’ll remember. Thank you, Daniel!”

  ***

  The scion backed out of the girl’s room as quietly as possible. He didn’t want his visits to be noted by anybody in the community. Sliding the door shut noiselessly, he turned, almost jumping out of his skin at the sight confronting him.

  “Hello, brother.” Joshua gave a triumphant smirk.

  “Where did you come from?” Daniel demanded angrily. “You nearly scared me half to death.”

  “Only half?” the spymaster asked dryly. “You look pale as a ghost.”

  “I just went to visit Hannah,” Daniel stated the obvious.

  “So I see. I suppose it’s only natural. She was your wife before she was reassigned to our father.” He eyed his brother slyly. “I do hope you’re not asserting any conjugal rights. She isn’t your wife anymore, you know.”

  Daniel flushed angrily. “What a despicable thought!”

  Joshua shrugged. “In any case, I don’t imagine you would experience much success in gaining her favor. The girl has been uncommunicative ever since her return.”

  The scion took a moment to remind himself to keep up the pretense. “She wouldn’t talk to me either. I just wanted to make sure that she was being treated well.”

  “In my opinion, she’s being treated far better than she deserves,” Joshua commented.

  “Since she isn’t your wife any more than she is mine, her treatment remains our father’s concern.” Daniel moved away from the door. “Are you walking this way? I’m going toward the study room myself.”

  Without replying, Joshua fell in step with him. “Her silence may indicate a darker problem than simple female perversity.”

  “What are you talking about?” Daniel asked impatiently.

  “Being forcibly removed from the Fallen home may have seemed a traumatic experience to the girl. I’ve heard there’s a medical term for it.”

  “You mean post-traumatic stress disorder?”

  “Yes, that’s it. You were always so knowledgeable when it comes to trivia. I believe mutism is one of the characteristics of this condition.”

  “Your point being?” Daniel nudged the conversation forward.

  “Perhaps she requires professional help like your wife Annabeth did.”

  The scion stopped dead in his tracks and swung to face his brother. “You mean you want to have her institutionalized.”

  Joshua adopted a disingenuous expression. “It seems to me the girl needs professional care. I’m sure I could prevail upon Father to see things my way—for Hannah’s welfare, of course.”

  Daniel was speechless. A horrifying vision of history repeating itself shot through his brain. He turned and marched forward again, but his brother hung back.

  “I forgot something in my office,” Joshua explained. “I need to go the other way to retrieve it.”

  “You do that,” Daniel cast back over his shoulder. He suspected Joshua had retreated because he’d lost interest in baiting him further. Or perhaps he’d gleaned whatever inscrutable tidbit of information he’d hoped to find. As the scion walked on alone, he knew one thing for certain. Getting Hannah out of the compound had now been escalated to an immediate priority.

  Chapter 46 —One Step Beyond

  Erik and Zach skirted the side fence of the Nephilim compound. They had parked their SUV a half mile away and trudged the rest of the way on foot. They wanted the sound of their car engine to be well out of Nephilim earshot and out of the range of their bullets. To make sure they remained unseen as well as unheard, they were both dressed completely in black. Erik also wore a black sock cap to cover his light hair.

  “Are you ready, kid?”

  “Ready as I’ll ever be,” the boy replied shakily. If Erik only knew how unready Zach was despite his swagger when he’d charged into Maddie’s
office and demanded that the Arkana do exactly this—storm the gates of the compound and get Hannah back. Like Gamma once told him, “Be careful what you wish for.”

  Despite Maddie’s assurance that they would find a way to save Hannah, Zach had never dreamed he would be included in the rescue party. He was painfully aware of his inexperience, but the paladin had insisted on somebody who knew Hannah personally. That requirement made Zach the obvious choice. Nobody knew Hannah better than he did except maybe for Gamma. His thoughts strayed to a hospital bed in the vault infirmary. He immediately suppressed the image. That was one place he didn’t want to visit right now, mentally or otherwise. Instead, he shifted his focus to the object that stood between Hannah and her rescuers—a ten-foot chain link fence topped with razor wire.

  “That’s new.” Erik pointed toward the privacy slats interwoven through the links. From the outside, it looked like an AstroTurf hedge. “Score another point for us because of Metcalf’s paranoia,” the paladin remarked. “The slats were added so nobody on the outside could look in. It also means nobody on the inside can see what we’re doing out here.”

  Zach studied the wall of fake pine needles doubtfully. “How are we supposed to get over that?”

  “Not we,” Erik corrected. “Me.” He removed his backpack and took out a lightweight assault ladder. Fastened to one end was a metal grappling hook. The paladin extended a telescopic pole which fit into a hollow tube on the side of the grappler. He guided the hook over the top of the fence and secured it. “Once I’m up, you put together the ladder in your pack just like you saw me do this one. OK?”

  Zach nodded.

  “I’m going to swing my ladder over to the other side of the fence to climb down. I want you to set up the second ladder on this side, climb to the top and haul up my ladder. The last thing we need is for the Nephilim to notice something dangling from their fence inside the compound. After you do that, stand at the top and keep watch. When I bring Hannah back to the fence, throw my ladder back down so we can climb over. Have you got your night vision glasses?”

  “Right here.” Zach produced the binoculars.

  “Good. You keep scanning the yard and the guard tower by the front gates. If you see anything moving besides me, you send a signal. Got it?”

  “Got it,” the tyro echoed.

  They each held small two-way radios. All the boy had to do was send a call to the other unit and Erik’s radio would receive a silent alert.

  Apparently noting Zach’s worried expression, the paladin said, “Relax, kid. She’ll be back on this side of the fence before the hour is up.”

  “Thanks, man,” the tyro mumbled gratefully. “I’m gonna owe you bigtime.”

  “You can thank me now by watching my back.”

  “Absolutely. I’m on it!”

  Erik removed the contents of his pockets and crouched down to stow them in his pack which lay on the ground.

  The boy scrutinized his odd behavior. “What are you doing?”

  The paladin paused. “Rule one. On a mission like this, you never take anything with you that can connect you to the Arkana.”

  “So, you’ve done this before.” Zach chuckled nervously. “Someday you’ll have to tell me about your adventures.”

  “I could, but I’d have to cut out your tongue afterward.” Erik grinned sardonically.

  Zach winced. He was fairly certain the agent was kidding, but he decided not to press the matter.

  The paladin drew a pistol out of his pack and stuck it into the waistband of his pants.

  “Don’t guns have serial numbers?” the boy asked cautiously.

  “Not this one. It’s homemade. We’ve got people in the Arkana who specialize in making weapons—serial-number-free and completely legal.”

  Erik clamped the two-way radio to his belt.

  “What about that. Isn’t that traceable?”

  The paladin gave an exasperated sigh. “If things head south, I’ll ditch the radio where the Nephilim won’t find it. Now hand me the rug.”

  Zach pulled a small piece of carpet out of his backpack and gave it to his colleague. He had no idea why the paladin had told him to bring it but was reluctant to test the senior agent’s patience by asking for an explanation.

  Erik stood up and walked toward the fence. After climbing the ladder, he scanned the grounds on the other side. Apparently satisfied that all was quiet, he folded the carpet in half and threw it over the barbed wire before straddling the top of the barrier. Pulling the ladder up after him, he reversed the grappling hook so it hugged the opposite side. As he stepped onto the ladder, he threw the carpet back down to Zach. Then he lowered himself into the compound.

  Zach immediately assembled his own set of stairs and clambered up to the top. He hoisted Erik’s ladder back outside the fence and then adjusted the range of his binoculars to check the guard tower at the front of the property. Its floor-to-ceiling windows made it easy to see what its occupants were doing. There were two men seated in front of surveillance consoles. Two others were standing and talking. Each of them carried assault rifles slung over their shoulders. Zach gulped. He scanned the woods at the back of the property but couldn’t detect anything moving, not even Erik. The tyro sighed, hoping that Daniel and Hannah would be able to slip out unnoticed. He knew the next ten minutes were going to be the longest of his life.

  ***

  Hannah could hear the lock on her prison door give a small click.

  A shadowy figure slipped inside and a voice barely above a whisper announced, “It’s time.”

  She looked at the clock. Three in the morning. Well past the point when members of the congregation should have fallen asleep. Only a handful of security personnel at the main gate would be awake. She bit her lip apprehensively, scarcely believing that this was actually going to happen. It was a miracle. Although Zach and Granny Faye cared about her, she hadn’t thought they could do anything to solve her predicament. Apparently, they knew people who could. The ones Daniel called “the three thieves” clearly had some experience with Hannah’s type of problem. That Daniel had agreed to help his enemies secure her freedom was the biggest miracle of all.

  The scion, who was dressed entirely in black and wearing a baseball cap, handed a sack of clothing to Hannah. “Put these on.”

  She ducked into the bathroom to change. He had brought her jeans, a turtleneck, sneakers, and socks—all black. She almost wept with joy at the feel of normal clothing from the real world against her skin. She reached into the sack one more time to retrieve a final item. It was a black baseball cap like the one Daniel wore. The front had been fitted with two rows of what looked like small Christmas tree lights above the visor. She had been told that these battery-powered LED lights would temporarily blind the cameras. If they chanced to catch her on their surveillance feeds, the guards wouldn’t be able to identify her. The lights would create a sunburst effect around her head and shoulders even more effective than a mask. Tucking her blond hair under the cap, she studied the effect in the mirror. Not a trace of the Nephilim remained.

  “Hannah!” Daniel’s voice hissed through the door. “We must leave now.”

  She snapped out of her reverie and joined him. “I’m ready.”

  They cautiously exited her room, taking care to press themselves against the wall.

  “Keep low,” Daniel advised.

  She sank down and inched along a few feet, finally standing upright when she was slightly behind the camera which guarded her hallway.

  Daniel peeked around the wall of the intersecting corridor then motioned her to follow him. His co-conspirators had identified a way to get out of the building without being detected by the monitors. Hannah followed Daniel and mimicked his posture, first crouching, then pressing herself against the wall to stay out of the range of the cameras. After several tense minutes, they finally arrived at a service door leading to the utility buildings at the rear of the property. They slipped throu
gh soundlessly. The cool night air brought welcome relief. Hannah’s nerves were stretched to the breaking point.

  “We need to stop here,” Daniel instructed. “Erik knows the blind spots of the perimeter cameras. He’ll guide you the rest of the way.”

  They waited for five minutes, but nobody appeared.

  “Are you sure he’s coming?” she whispered.

  Daniel nodded.

  They both squinted anxiously into the darkness but saw and heard nothing.

  Hannah happened to glance toward the compound fence off in the distance directly across from her. She saw something gleam. It was an object reflected by the yard lights. The girl kept her eyes fastened to the spot. It was too far away for her to make out the shape of the object, but she knew it must be near the top of the fence. She had been told Zach would be acting as Erik’s lookout. It had to be him. His binoculars must be the glint she’d seen. She was filled with a flood of relief. She had truly thought she’d never see him again. Surely, he’d seen her as well. She wondered why he didn’t give her a signal that he was waiting to take her home. “Zachary!” she murmured. Without thinking, she took a step forward.

  “Hannah, no!” Daniel gasped. He jerked her back against the side of the building and put a hand over her mouth.

  They waited. It only took a minute before they both heard the sound of boots clattering down the metal stairs of the guard tower by the front gates.

  “You must have been caught on-camera,” the scion whispered. “They can’t see your face, but they know somebody is out here who shouldn’t be. We need to go back. If they find us here, they’ll shoot to kill.”

  Hannah remained frozen with horror at what she had done. The next thing she knew, Daniel was dragging her inside the building. She followed numbly, allowing him to guide her back to her own room and lock her inside as if nothing had happened. She prayed Zach would be alright.