Inca Kings

CHAPTER FORTY

Dantanion’s scream: “Kill the newcomers! Kill them all!” ripped the air to shreds. Hayden saw the man see the SPEAR team almost instantaneously; saw the recognition and the incredibly swift intellect assess the situation; saw the certainty that this was about to become the bloodiest of all fights to the death.

She was part of a group lining up to leave the hall, the effects of the drug already wearing off. When Smyth stepped through the door she saw him and ran the possibilities, but not as fast as Dantanion, it seemed. Within seconds though, a plan came to her. A plan centered around the survival of the innocents, because there was no way her saviors could know all the bad from the good.

“Stick with me.” She grabbed Fay’s hand and beckoned to the others. “Now!”

They ran; most complaining that their fingers were really starting to hurt. Hayden ignored the gunfire and pushed bodies aside, rushing at her friends. Already they were fanning out, taking aim and waiting for the attack. Hayden ran in first, dragging Fay along.

“Three with me!” she cried. “We have to secure the caves and protect some of these kids.”

Kinimaka, Smyth and Yorgi peeled away, joining her group. Running away from the hall was easy; it was the team she worried about and what she now saw were quite a few of the villagers. She struggled with elation and fear, trying to maintain focus. Kinimaka handed her, her comms back, and she smiled, relieved to see the concern on all their faces, but especially his.

“I’m fine,” she said over the comms. “Just a scratch.”

“So long as you didn’t give ’em a helping hand,” Alicia quipped darkly, “or end up in hot water.”

“Good to hear they weren’t nasty bastards then,” Kenzie said surprisingly, then added, “Did they butter you up instead?”

Hayden grunted angrily. “Stay alert, fools. There’s a hundred sets of teeth in there with your fucking names on ’em. Chew on that.”

Down they went, reaching the caves and bracing against the cold. Hayden met a guard blow for blow, then took a punch to the face as Smyth squeezed by to engage a second. Her head jerked back, just giving Mano enough room to plant his enormous fist into the guard’s nose. Not even a whimper escaped him as he slithered into jelly. Smyth shot the next point blank.

“No fucking around,” he said. “No more.”

Hayden pulled him back. “I found the cave entrance,” she said, “but couldn’t get inside. We have to get down there. It’s below the house, not a part of it. If the others fail, we can defend it.”

Kinimaka looked shocked. “Fail?”

“Worst case scenario,” Hayden said. “But I have to entertain it. Oh, and the Inca treasure is down there too.”

“Ah.”

She engaged the next guard, and took him down in a headlock. He struggled wildly until she increased the pressure on his jugular. “Where’s the key?” she whispered. “The key to the caves?”

“Fu… fu… fu—”

“No, no, no. Do you wanna die, or run?”

Straight into the SPEAR team.

“Run,” he choked. “Please run.”

“Just tell me.”

He balked. Kinimaka dragged over another, more pliant individual. The scrawny guard looked like a toothpick in the Hawaiian’s grip.

“Over there.” He waved. “Office. Safe code is seven-oh-nine.”

Hayden hadn’t noticed an office on her previous reccy, but put it down to anxiety and lack of time. Smyth bounded away and soon returned, the gleaming key grasped firmly in one hand.

“C’mon, guys. Let’s see what’s down there.”

“You really think treasure still lies down in cave system?” Yorgi asked. “And not above somewhere?”

“Nah, he kept it extremely hard to find,” Hayden said. “The man’s a loner. Trusts nobody. I bet he went down there alone and brought each piece back separately. One of the reasons he took so long about it. Wouldn’t want his family torn apart by greed. I bet it’s a warren.”

“Traps?” Smyth asked worriedly.

“Only if Dantanion made them,” Hayden said. “I hope.”

Smyth approached the arched wooden door that barred the entrance to the caves. Hayden heard cries all around and turned swiftly as Fay began to shout and point. Behind them, filling the corridor and the entrance to the caves, came a surge of attackers, mostly guards but with some of the human-spider creatures among them.

She took a Glock offered by Kinimaka. “Thanks.”

“If what appears to have happened to you did happen, I have to say — that took some bravery, Hay.”

“I don’t want to talk about it. They’re coming.”

“Neither would I,” Kinimaka said. “But I know damn well you didn’t do it for yourself.”

Hayden pushed Fay behind her. “Just shut the hell up and start shooting.”

Kinimaka smiled. Hayden couldn’t figure out why, and then the attackers were rushing down upon them, brandishing sharp weapons and clubs, axes and hammers, their cries making her blood curdle.

The attack on the chateau had come early, too early. Many would live or die today depending on the skills of the team and the villagers they’d brought along. Innocents were at risk, but wasn’t that always the case?

She stepped forward to defend them with all she had.