If that happened…when that happened…the secret would be safe forever. Tyndareus would never be able to open the gates of the Underworld.
The thought brought her a little comfort, until Tyndareus led them down into a dry ravine, which butted up against a rough extrusion of igneous rock. Faintly visible on its weathered surface was another Herculean sigil. Beside the symbol, a large section of the rock face was rougher in texture than the rest. It matched the color of the stone where Alexander’s chisel had left its mark. As she stared at it, Fiona began to see shadowy lines in the stone, like an echo of what had once been written there.
An inscription written in the Mother Tongue.
The letters became more visible, as if her awareness of them was coaxing the ancient writing out of hiding.
“It was here,” Tyndareus said, his voice a mixture of triumph and anger. He whirled around and bent toward Fiona until his visor was almost touching her face. “There was something written here. The Herculean Society removed it. What did it say?”
The letters vanished as though she had imagined them, but her memory of them was perfect. She had seen the same message before, on the walls of the Labyrinth and on the map that had belonged to Queen Hippolyte.
She felt a flicker of defiance as she stared, not at the face of the monstrous Tyndareus but at her own frail and beaten reflection. It’s almost over now.
A line from an old Star Trek movie popped into her. The usually cool, reserved Captain Picard, in a rare display of anger, defiant in the face of a Borg invasion. It was probably a quote from Shakespeare or Moby Dick, or maybe the Bible. Uncle George would know.
She straightened. “You’re right. It said, ‘This far. No further.’”
A strange noise issued from the helmeted head, then repeated with greater frequency, until Fiona recognized it as laughter. Tyndareus pulled back, rising to his full height. He began slamming his armored fist into the Herculean symbol. The pistonlike assault pulverized the distinctive sigil, but the rock itself was unyielding.
This far. No further.
That should have been the end of it, but Tyndareus abruptly broke off his temper tantrum and whirled toward the open end of the ravine, where a group of his men were advancing, escorting someone. Two someones: Gallo and Kenner.
Fiona began crying, but whether they were tears of joy or despair, she did not know.
49
Kenner was unusually quiet as they trekked across the basin. Gallo was grateful for the silence at first, but after a while it began to unnerve her. She had expected him to continue professing his sincerity, offering flimsy rationalizations for his earlier misdeeds, but he hardly spoke at all.
George was right. I shouldn’t have trusted him. She glanced over her shoulder at the harsh landscape through which they had been walking. Pierce and the others were back there somewhere, following, but there was no sign of them.
I should turn back. Right now. This was a bad idea.
Perhaps sensing her anxiety, Kenner chose that moment to break his silence. “It’s going to be all right, Augustina. We’ll get Fiona away from him.”
She scrutinized his optimistic smile. “How did you get mixed up with him in the first place, Liam?”
Kenner ducked his head in embarrassment. “What answer won’t make me sound like a complete arse? I did it for the money? Fame? The chance to discover something amazing? A little bit of all of those, I suppose.
“It didn’t seem like I was doing anything wrong at first. Just passing along information about new discoveries. And of course, keeping tabs on George. Mr. Tyndareus was always very interested in him and the Herculean Society. I never thought I would be asked to put other people in danger.” He gave her a sidelong glance. “People I care about.”
He went on before she could respond. “Now, I just want to make things right. You understand, don’t you?”
“Honestly, it won’t be easy. Not after everything you’ve done.”
“I know,” he said, and lapsed back into silence.
Nothing more was said between them, until a few minutes later, Gallo spotted the rear guard of Tyndareus’s group, about a hundred yards away. They were stationed at the edge of a slope, which descended into a ravine. She pulled Kenner behind a clump of vegetation. “Showtime,” she said. “How should we play this?”
“That depends on you, I suppose. Would you rather be my partner or my hostage?”
The question, or perhaps the way Kenner asked it, made Gallo feel uncomfortable, but it was too late to back out now.
Oblivious to her reaction, he plowed ahead. “Since your friends wouldn’t let me have a gun, it might be difficult to convince Tyndareus that you are my prisoner. However, I think it might be even harder to convince him that I won you over. Shall we say that I made threats against Fiona to ensure your compliance?”
“That sounds plausible enough,” Gallo said. “Remember, we just need to get close enough to tell Fiona what’s going on. At the first opportunity, we make a break for it.”
“Of course.” He stood up, putting himself in full view of Tyndareus’s men. He reached out and took hold of her upper arm, dragging her erect. She started to protest the unexpectedly rough treatment, but he cut her off. “Just act your part, Augustina. We have to be convincing, you know.” He raised his free hand and began waving. “Hello! Over here!”
The men in the distance immediately took note and began advancing, their guns at the ready.
“There’s something I’ve been wanting to ask,” Kenner said, without looking at her. “Be honest. Did I ever really have a chance with you?”
Her discomfort intensified into something approaching real distress. “Liam, this is hardly the time.”
He uttered a short, humorless laugh. “I suspected as much.” His grip on her arm became painfully tight, and then without any warning, he started forward, almost yanking her off her feet.
“Liam!” She tried to pull free but his hold was ferocious in its strength. She had to jog just to avoid being dragged. The warning alarms were ringing loudly in her head, but the opportunity to turn and run had already slipped away.
“Stop, Liam. Think about what you’re doing. He’s a monster. You said so yourself.”
Kenner made no reply. The two gunmen broke into a run, reaching them a few seconds later, brandishing their guns and ordering both of them to freeze and raise their hands. Kenner did so, without releasing his hold on Gallo.
“Well done, gents. Now, take me to Mr. Tyndareus. Immediately. This can’t wait.”
The two men regarded him with open suspicion, as did Gallo, but they quickly reached a mutual silent agreement, and circled around behind Kenner and Gallo, motioning for them to move.
Gallo at last managed to pull free of Kenner’s grip. She rubbed her bruised arm, refusing to look at him, though a part of her could not help but wonder if this was all part of the act. If so, Kenner deserved an Academy Award.
And if not?
Before leaving, she had promised to send a signal at the first sign of trouble. Dourado was still watching the feed from the drone, so all Gallo would have to do is start frantically waving her arms, and then Pierce and Lazarus would sweep in, guns blazing, to rescue her.