Scoundrel - The Blades Of The Rose Part 32

"What do we do?" London asked.

"Go forward."

"But we don't know how far this goes, or if there's any air."

He wished he could tell her to turn back, but that choice wasn't available. "Stay with the fish. Athena said it would be all right."

There wasn't time to discuss it further. The fish, and its glow, headed away from them. They each took a final inhalation-maybe their last-before swimming in pursuit.

The cave stretched and twisted forward, its jagged walls lit only by the light radiating from the fish. Visibility was limited to a few feet. Everything else was utterly black. The water cooled as the cavern wound deeper into solid rock. He felt as though he were swimming into the underworld, shadows thick on every side, nowhere to surface.

Bennett swam as quickly as he could, but always careful to stay with London. She wasn't far behind, her strength having grown over the weeks, and though the closeness of the cavern walls seemed to intimidate her a little, she never hesitated moving forward.

Soon, his lungs burned. He felt the roof of the cavern for even the smallest pocket of air. Nothing. London struggled. He fought, but it was undeniable. They could hold their breath no longer.

His mouth opened. Seawater flooded his mouth and down his throat. He choked, gagged, and then- Breathed.

Incredible. Unbelievable. But true. He felt the water in him, even in his lungs, but breathed easy as if standing on the sh.o.r.e rather than swimming deep below the surface of the sea.

The same for London. Dawning awareness and amazement filled her face as she, too, discovered she could breathe underwater.

They shared smiles of commingled wonder and excitement. He never believed he could play the role of merman, and yet, here he was, and London, as well, both swimming, both breathing. And they had Athena's magic to thank for it.

But not for long. The glow of the fish dimmed as the creature swam ahead. They would have to keep pace, otherwise they'd both drown. And even if they stayed with the fish, Athena said the spell had a short duration. It might not last long enough to see them find air.

Onward they pressed. The cavern narrowed so that they could no longer swim side by side. His arms began to tire. Would they never see the end of this d.a.m.ned cave?

Then the cavern abruptly widened. An overhead surface appeared, its flat expanse a blessed relief. The glow from the fish illuminated what looked like a small rise.

Bennett broke the surface, London immediately after. He found the bottom of the cavern and stood. Before either he or London could look around, they both bent over, retching up salt.w.a.ter, until their bodies were empty.

"All right?" he gasped when he could speak.

"Don't feel good good, exactly," she choked, "but I'll get by."

He rubbed her back as she coughed up a bit more water. She soon straightened and glanced around, the s.p.a.ce weakly illuminated by the fish swimming in the waters of the grotto.

"What is this place?" she asked, voice hushed and raw.

"The Black Temple."

The light from the fish winked out, thrusting them into complete darkness.

London froze. She heard Bennett rustling through his pack, then small metallic chiming. After what felt like hours of blindness, he activated one of Catullus Graves's illuminating devices. Bennett took her hand, and together they waded out of the water. Both dressed quickly in the chill of the cavern. He strapped on his revolver while she wrung out her hair. Each of them brandished the illuminating devices to a.s.sess their surroundings, moving slowly deeper into the cave.

"Stay close," Bennett cautioned. His voice echoed hollowly in the arches of the cavern. "Nothing the ancients love more than b.o.o.by traps."

She nodded, glancing around apprehensively.

In the greenish glow, the large cavern was numinous, chthonian, dissolving into shadows. London half-believed she and Bennett had swam to the very entrance of Hades. A temple had been carved directly from the cave's black rocks-a mixture of cla.s.sical Greek columns and older, rawer shapes suggesting creatures emerging from the inky stone.

None of this unsettled her as much as the palpable power charging the air. Even though they were deep within the heart of the island, the atmosphere of the cavern danced with energy. It infused her body, the filaments of her mind, until she thought she might fly apart. Or grow to the size of a giant and conquer the globe. No wonder men killed for such magic. Untempered, the power could engulf and overwhelm, seduce the unwary.

"It's here," she said. "The Source." She shuddered.

"Makes my teeth feel like Roman candles."

She stopped walking. "Bennett-"

"I see it."

A pool, twenty feet across, had been carved from the rock. Set in regular intervals all around the pool's rim were eight bronze handles, wide enough to need two hands. What arrested London and Bennett's attention was not the work of man, but rather the object propped up on a mound in the center of the pool.

"The Eye of the Colossus," London breathed.

The Eye took the light of the illuminating devices, absorbing it, to cast the light out again with a potent radiance. Nearly two feet from corner to corner, almond-shaped, the Eye stared at them, unblinking, penetrative, as if seeing London and Bennett with the cutting wisdom of eternity. She felt herself diminish into almost nothing before its unyielding stare.

This was the object that men would kill to possess, men like her father and the Heirs. Empires could be forged and destroyed by harnessing its power. The knowledge sent icy fire flaring through her.

"Do you ever get used to this?" London asked, waving her hand toward the Eye.

"If I did, then I'd know I was dead."

After walking around the perimeter of the pool, she saw that the Eye was flat, hammered bronze with a slight curve, and leather straps and a bronze handle attached to its back.

"Someone could wield it like a s.h.i.+eld," Bennett murmured.

London edged to the lip of the pool, holding her illumination aloft. What she saw cheered her. Perhaps this would not be so difficult, after all. "The water isn't deep. We could wade in and grab the Eye." She moved to do just that.

He darted forward and hauled her back, his grip an iron band on her arm.

"Remember," he said, voice tight, "the ancients are always crafty b.a.s.t.a.r.ds."

Taking up a loose pebble, he dropped it into the pool. London jumped back with a gasp. The water roiled furiously around the pebble, a seething cauldron. Had she stepped into the pool, her flesh would have been scalded, falling away from her bones as she watched.

"It didn't look like it was boiling hot," she said weakly.

"The water's gone past that point." A thin smile cracked his somber face. "Too bad Catullus isn't here. He'd soil himself for a chance to study the phenomenon."

"Maybe it would be better if Graves was was here." London, still skittish from her close call, stared balefully across the pool to the unreachable Source. "He could figure out a way to get to the Eye." here." London, still skittish from her close call, stared balefully across the pool to the unreachable Source. "He could figure out a way to get to the Eye."

"The ancients already took care of that." He bent to examine one of the bronze handles at the perimeter of the pool. "These are water gates. Each handle is attached to a metal plate sunk into the ground." He pointed to the pool, where, London now saw, round holes were set into its walls. "Drains. Each gate is connected to a pipe, so that, when pulled up, the pool will drain. Clever b.u.g.g.e.rs."

It stood to reason that the drained water would have to come out somewhere. She glanced around the cavern, searching for an outlet. Best to be well out of the way, or else have super-heated water come pouring out on an unsuspecting victim. After searching the ground, she chanced to look up, and tugged on Bennett's sleeve.

At her wordless demand, he followed her gaze, and swore softly. "Clever and and cruel." cruel."

Eight openings were cut high up the cavern walls, one above each water gate. Whomever opened a gate would receive a scalding shower for their troubles-if each opening correlated to each gate. There was always the possibility, a very likely possibility, that there each opening correlated to each gate. There was always the possibility, a very likely possibility, that there was was no correlation, so that one gambled with one's life to drain the pool. no correlation, so that one gambled with one's life to drain the pool.

"How do we know which gate is the right one?" she asked.

He frowned in concentration, a.s.sessing the situation. "That's a.s.suming there's only one one gate. The Colossus said that both of us need to be in the Black Temple. Which means that it's a two-man operation." gate. The Colossus said that both of us need to be in the Black Temple. Which means that it's a two-man operation."

"One of us is a woman," London noted dryly.

His grin was sudden and warming. "Believe me, love, I know."

She tried to push aside the fluttering low in her belly. It amazed her that even in this strange place, contemplating the prospect of being boiled alive, he could call forth her desire with hardly any effort. She was now so far changed from the woman she had been weeks earlier, London barely recognized herself, but the metamorphosis delighted her, as much as the man standing close by.

"The trick is figuring out which two gates to open," she said, attempting to focus.

"Our friend Colossus was clear that the Solver of Secrets-me-and the Oracle's Daughter-you-had to be in the Temple. So there should be something for you to translate." He walked with deliberate strides around the cavern, studying closely all the surfaces. London followed his example, trying to find even a fragment of written words that would give her some indication as to which two water gates were the right ones to open.

"Nothing," she said with a frustrated sigh some time later. "Not even a letter or pictogram. I don't know what the Colossus wants from me, from us."

Bennett dragged a hand through his damp hair as he thought. "It said that the future of the earth is in our hands. The answer's in that, somehow."

She scoured her memory. "It also said that we must navigate the Temple together."

Bennett's sudden laugh startled her. "Of course." He rummaged through his pack and produced the Compa.s.s. Flipping the lid open, he held the Compa.s.s up. After adjusting his position, he nodded. "True north is that way," he said, pointing to one side. "Each of the water gates corresponds to a direction on a compa.s.s. So, that is the northern gate, that is south," he pointed to the gate directly opposite, "and the others follow suit." He laughed again, caught up in the excitement of discovery. She saw the joy in him that came from untangling a puzzle and felt it in herself, too.

"The direction of the future is west," London said. "The sun rises in the east, but sets in the west."

He strode over to the gate that corresponded to the west, then swore darkly, glancing down at his feet.

"What is it?" London quickly went to stand beside him, yelping in horror when she saw what so discomforted him.

Bones. Human bones. Bleached-by scalding hot water, and arranged in a posture of agony next to the western gate, precisely as if the unlucky victim had selected the wrong gate to open. Which would be Bennett, if he followed the Colossus's instructions.

London swallowed hard, but grisly images still flooded her brain.

"But this poor sod was alone," Bennett said, grim. "The answer's got to be that two gates must be opened simultaneously. The fly in the custard is figuring out which is the second gate."

A small seed of an idea planted itself in her mind and suddenly flowered. She looked up at Bennett, her heart pounding. "In the Samalian-Thracian dialect, the words for 'earth' and 'south' are the same."

"And the Colossus said that the future of the earth was in our hands."

"Which means that I must open the southern gate," London deduced.

He kissed her, brief and fierce. "I never want to be apart from you," he growled.

Her pulse sped, but she said with an attempt at lightness, "Because I saved your bottom from a scalding?"

"Because you're you. you." His words were low and vehement. "We can talk about bottoms later," he added with a quick grin and a possessive caress of her own posterior. "For now, let's get ourselves a Source."

She kissed him, then moved into position at the southern water gate. Fear, excitement, and antic.i.p.ation swirled as she bent down to grasp the bronze handle with suddenly damp hands. Would she and Bennett wind up like the cavern's other unfortunate occupant, nothing but brittle bones, a warning to all future trespa.s.sers? Would she have to watch in horror as scalding-hot water poured down on him, or would he have to hear her tortured screams?

"On my count," he said, his own voice steady and betraying none of her anxiety. "Three..." They both gripped the bronze handles. "Two..." They breathed deeply, adjusting their holds. "One. Now."

Setting her heels into the ground, London pulled. The gate's heaviness surprised her, but she tugged hard, groaning with effort. The metal groaned, as well, as it slid up from slots carved into the cavern's rock floor. No one had been foolish enough to attempt to drain the pool in a long, long while.

The gates locked into their raised position. Water quickly drained from the pool. At once, the sounds of gurgling, seething water rushed overhead, carried by unseen pipes throughout the cavern. London considered moving from her position, but nowhere guaranteed safety. Bennett held his hand up, a silent signal for patience, as they both stared up at the spouts above their heads. Nerves stretched taut. Was she calmly waiting for a terrible death?

With a whoosh, blistering water poured out of a spout. London jumped at the noise. Then her shoulders slumped with relief. The water gushed directly into the small bay from which they had emerged into the cave earlier.

She let out a shaky breath, exchanging exultant smiles with Bennett. Safe. They were safe. For now.

The pool now emptied, Bennett stepped into it and crossed the expanse to the Eye. For a moment, he simply looked at the Source, his chest rising and falling rapidly, his face alight with antic.i.p.ation. Light from the illuminating devices bounced off the Eye's surface, bathing Bennett with a bright, phantasmal glow. His hands hovered over the Eye, then slowly, slowly reached forward.

"Could be another b.o.o.by trap," he said over his shoulder. "Happens a lot in this situation."

London watched, clutching at the straps of her pack so that her knuckles whitened and fingers ached.

With excruciating slowness, Bennett gripped the Eye and carefully lifted it from its supporting small column of rock. He waited several moments, casting quick glances around for sign of another trap springing to life, head tilted to gather any suspicious sounds. But the cavern was entirely silent.

London did not loosen her death's hold on her pack, not even when Bennett slid the straps of the Eye onto his arm and gripped the handle. He hefted it like a s.h.i.+eld, the Eye glaring out at the cavern from where Bennett stood at the middle of the empty pool.

The earth jolted as a tremor shook the cave. Small rocks tumbled down the walls. Bennett braced himself on wide-planted legs, and London did the same. A spike of fear. From the roof of the cave, a pebble clattered to the ground. Then the shaking stopped.

A beam of daylight from above pierced the cavern, liberated by the fallen pebble. It hit directly in the center of the Eye. Bennett struggled to keep his footing as the light ricocheted off the Eye, tracing a hard beam along the wall of the cave. Arms up, London s.h.i.+elded herself from the hot intensity of the light that gleamed like a sword.

"Stop!" London cried. "I thought Blades couldn't use magic that wasn't theirs."

"I'm not doing anything," Bennett answered through gritted teeth. "It's the Source. Acting on its own. The power's tremendous."

The light sliced into the cavern wall. Like a blast of pure energy, it slammed into the stone. The wall crumbled beneath the light, rocks tumbling down. Then, in a chain reaction, more of the wall collapsed in a heap of rubble. Immediately, she felt Bennett surrounding her with his arms, s.h.i.+elding her with his body. London covered her mouth, ducking her head into his chest, but found herself choking on dust. As he held her, she felt it, too, the power emanating from the Source, engulfing them with vivid currents of elemental magic.

When the rockslide stopped, she cautiously peered out from the shelter of his body. She started. What had appeared to be a cavern wall of solid rock had been hiding a secret. A staircase of the same black stone, leading upward. Daylight poured into the cave through the stairwell. The outside beckoned at the top of the stairs. She could just make out a sc.r.a.p of blue sky.

"This is a first," Bennett murmured. "Ancients usually aren't so accommodating." He kept the Eye on one arm, and with his other hand, he led London forward, sporting his devil's smile. "Let's join the others."

"Do you ever have ordinary days?" she asked as they ascended the stairs.

"Why would I want them?"

A good point. No day with Bennett was ever dull, which suited her very well indeed.

The stairs were quite steep, so they both carefully ascended, until they heard the distinctive boom of cannon fire. Without speaking, they sprinted up the rest of the stairs. They breached the stone to find themselves on a rocky hill.

The caique was to their left, at the entrance to the sea cave. Just below where Bennett and London stood was the Heirs' s.h.i.+p, cannons turned toward the caique. The sailboat had no chance against the steams.h.i.+p's firepower. What the cannons didn't accomplish, the rakshasa rakshasa demon, loosed from the steamer and wheeling through the sky, would gladly finish. Men ma.s.sed on the steams.h.i.+p's deck, rifles blasting. demon, loosed from the steamer and wheeling through the sky, would gladly finish. Men ma.s.sed on the steams.h.i.+p's deck, rifles blasting.

There was no retreat. No escape. The time of reckoning was now.