Cold Moon Rising (38 page)

Sue started screaming to get the attention of the staff as we raced up the main flight of stairs. “FLOOD!

The sea’s coming in!”

One guard turned to see two snakes and a wolf carrying a bleeding woman with a sword. But that didn’t panic him nearly as much as the sound of roaring water under his feet. He poked his head into the stairwell and then slammed the door and locked it.

He reached onto the wall and yanked down the fire alarm. Lights began to blink and a siren screamed as people began to yell and dive for the exit.

We made it out just as the seawater reached the main level and raced for the cover of darkness on the beach where we could patch up our wounds and decide what to do next.

It was going to be awhile before the Quetzalcoatl reopened, since the casino was now an oceanfront hotel of a whole new kind.

I hoped the snakes didn’t know how to swim.

Chapter Twenty

I STOOD IN the tropical heat, sweating bullets. Ahmad looked annoyingly content under the sweltering sun. “Think we should do this together?”

He shook his head. “No. My father started this by removing the book from the resting place where it lay for millennia. Since I can’t imagine that anyone other than us survived that flood, it should be safe to return it where it belongs.”

He stepped inside the cave and I felt a twinge in my head. Then there was another stab. I decided to sit down so I didn’t fall down. The girls were back in the car about a mile back, and I couldn’t blame them. Sue was still in a cast and Tuli had seen enough of this place.

A wind passed over me, a cool breeze that eased some of the heat. Then I was in the darkness, walking down a long path. The book in my hands began to throb, a steady pulse that was increasing as I walked. It wasn’t hard to find the small open spot and the hole in the wall. I had no snakeskin to cover the book as before. But better it should eventually rot anyway. It was too dangerous to exist.

Still, there was no harm in testing the wol . . . Tony’s theory. It would be difficult to get used to calling him by name, but he had earned the right, as had so many of the Wolven agents before him.

I shoved the book into the hole and felt a shock that ran through my body like flame. Every hair stood on end and my heart began to pound so hard it was painful. Then there were two hearts pounding. Then three, and four.

I turned and found Tony standing there and could see myself through his eyes. I looked panicked, and well I should be. He shrugged and I could feel each of his muscles move, felt the brush of cloth against skin. Was this what had happened to him? When he said he’d been there during my time with Tuli? Yes, it was definitely time to end this odd union.

“It seemed a good idea to follow.” And both of our mouths opened to expel the words.

I closed my eyes and shook my head, pulling with effort out of Ahmad’s brain and looked up to the ceiling. “Okay, you’ve got your book back. Now make this end!”

It felt like strings had been cut above me. I fell to my knees and suddenly could barely breathe. Stars filled my vision, threatening to make me black out. Ahmad was on his knees, his hands around his throat, his eyes showing too much white. He pulled and clawed at his neck, trying to remove an evertightening binding that didn’t really exist. I just tried to hold my breath and take tiny sips of air so I didn’t panic. After a moment of staring at the floor with hands outstretched, trying not to puke, I looked up.

A little monkey was sitting in the doorway to the small room. He chattered at us and then spread his lips to bare his teeth before turning and racing off.

I realized my head was silent. It was just me inside. But there was also a closed kitchen door with a light in the window in the distance. Just like there should be.

I looked over at Ahmad, who was still staring at where the monkey had been with an expression of disbelief. “You okay?”

He nodded and rubbed his throat as he got his feet under him. He seemed a little at a loss for words. Yeah, welcome to my world.

“I believe so.” As we walked up the steep path, I nearly squished a scorpion. Then there was a beetle trying to crawl up my boot. A bat dive-bombed us, heading deeper into the darkness.

“So,” I asked as we exited, to find a near procession of life speeding into the cave, “still want to destroy it?”

Sue and Tuli had come after all. They must have felt the choking panic we experienced. They were waiting outside along with all the other life, watching us return the cave to the owners.

The Taurus holstered on Sue’s belt was just about the right height to rest her cast on. I tried to tell her that she couldn’t draw it out with a broken arm. She didn’t mind learning to shoot with her left for the moment, but she insisted on a cross-draw rig so it could stay on the right side of her belt. Said she carried her purse on the left.

Women.

She looked happier than I’d ever known her to be and would probably be happier still when I finally told her that Lucas had approved her to handle some limited assignments . . . with a partner.

Me.

Seems she had the sponsorship of a certain snake in front of the council.

Sue held up a cell phone and raised her brows. “Finally got hold of Carmine, Tony. He wouldn’t budge. He wants what he wants.”

Shit. I was afraid of that. Not only had the knife left with Nasil, but I hadn’t made a “messy” kill of the type that he wanted. I’m sure he’s already had Scotty describe the blade, and while the kid can confirm the kill of the guy in the airport lot, everything else that happened was pretty low-key, press-wise.

“What’d you tell him?”

She shrugged. “What else could I tell him? That you would keep looking for the blade and those responsible. That’s what you said, right?”

Ahmad gave me a look that said he’d probably oppose that action. But it went higher than that. It was Charles who gave the word, not him. “Those responsible . . . remember? And I’m on leave right now. Charles’s orders.”

He let out a small hiss of annoyance. “For a job well done. Yessss, how well I remember. As though Tuli and I weren’t there.”

I shrugged. “Hey, I told the truth. I didn’t leave out a word. And I got you to come here. Sort of worth it, wasn’t it?”

“Come now, Ahmad.” Tuli slipped her hand through his crooked arm and smiled, pulling an imaginary leaf from his hair. “Was that so terrible?”

He sighed in a very exaggerated fashion. Yeah, he’d probably bitch about her at the next council meeting. I doubted he could help himself. But for now, there was no denying the scent of oranges and cinnamon that blended with the honey and creosote flowers on the breeze. “It probably will be later.”

It was an inside joke.

Since I’d been inside, I couldn’t help but laugh.