The Maze (ATCOM) (24 page)

A
caged arena came into view. Steel bars stood ten feet in the air on all four
sides and across the top. No way out except for a padlocked door. Inside were
three silhouettes.

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 turned, 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. They 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.

Brendan
grabbed her arm, pulled her to her feet and started running. He stumbled and
went down on one knee as agents surrounded them.

“Get
him to the chopper,” Attie told Colin. “He’s losing blood fast. Don’t let him
talk you into letting him fight.”

The
Scot nodded and grabbed onto Brendan, who shook his head and fought to stand.
Assured Colin wouldn’t bend, Attie searched the agents. She saw Kyle Brandt,
Rogan St. Klare and his laptop, and then spotted the man she was looking for.
Gabriel MacKenzie. Bullets were flying, men were shouting as the small war
raged on.

“Where
do you think you’re going?” MacKenzie asked, kneeling beside her and pinning
her with a stare that wouldn’t allow her to lie.