“Now, get out of here,” Gabriel shouted, pulling his Colt again. He aimed it at the high priest, who scuttled backward on his hands and heels. “Go.” He trained his sights on one after another of the men till they’d all faded into the darkness of the jungle. The sound of their footsteps receded as they fled.
“I feel terrible,” Noboru said, “I should never have let them—”
“Feel terrible later,” Gabriel said. “Right now I need you to keep an eye out for them, make sure they don’t come back.”
He raised one foot carefully and smashed his heel against one of the cage’s upright slats—but instead of the wood splintering as he’d hoped, the cage as a whole swung farther out over the pit. Inside, Joyce moaned.
“Careful,” Noboru said, glancing over. “That chain’s going to give.”
He was right: as the cage swung, the heavy chain shifted ominously in the narrow track that held it, and one end of the cage dipped precariously toward the flames.
There was no more time. Gabriel holstered his gun and jumped for the nearest link of the chain. It burned his palms as he caught it but he held on and pulled himself up until he was standing on the uneven upper surface of the cage. It was slanting like a barn roof and hot as hell. He could only imagine what it felt like for Joyce inside. Straining to keep his balance, he made his way to the far side—the side the cage’s door was on—and lowered himself hand-over-hand till he was level with the padlock. Letting go with one hand, he pulled his Colt and struck the padlock with its butt. The lock didn’t budge.
“Come on,” he muttered and tried again.
The cage shook and dropped some more. He could feel the fire beneath him. Through the bars, Joyce stared at him. “Oo ih,” she said, sounding exasperated. “Oo ih!”
What?
Oh. Shoot it.
Gabriel said, “Move back,” needlessly—Joyce had already sensibly crawled to the farthest corner she could reach—and took aim. The hasp of the lock flew apart as a bullet plowed through it. He yanked the remnants loose and tossed them aside, then unlatched the door and stuck an arm inside. Joyce tumbled into it and he hoisted her up onto his shoulder. The cage shifted again, dipping lower.
“Gabriel!” Noboru shouted. “The chain!”
Gabriel didn’t look to see what the chain was doing. It wouldn’t be anything good. Instead, he jumped, pushing off against the cage. They were in midair for a moment, and then there was solid ground beneath them, and they were rolling across it, Joyce beside him.
He looked back and saw the cage swinging wildly toward the trees. Above it, the chains groaned and, as the cage started swinging back, jumped their tracks. The giant wooden box came crashing down, smashing into the edge of the pit. It broke into pieces, the largest of which plunged directly into the fire; but the next largest kept going, spinning through the air toward them, its jagged edges aimed directly at Gabriel’s face. He fell forward, taking Joyce to the ground beneath him, and the deadly slab of wood passed overhead, just inches away. It caromed off the trunk of a tree seconds later.
Gabriel looked down at Joyce. She was grimacing through the gag. He tugged the filthy strip of cloth out of her mouth, and she took in a huge breath gratefully.
Gabriel rolled off her, got to his feet and helped her stand with one hand under her arm. Noboru had retrieved his knife and used it now to carefully cut through the ropes at her hands and feet. She rubbed her wrists, grimacing in pain.
“We’d better get out of here,” Noboru said. “They could come back at any time.”
But Joyce wasn’t listening. She turned to Gabriel. “How could you? How could you leave me in that cage and walk away? I could have died!”
“You still might,” Gabriel said. “Now get moving.”
Chapter 6
They made their way out of the jungle warily, but didn’t encounter any of the robed men. Gabriel led the way back into the center of the village and banged on the door of the guesthouse until a window lit up on the top floor. Merpati leaned her wizened face out to see who it was, frowning until she spied Joyce. She exclaimed then and disappeared back into her room. There was the muffled sound of footsteps racing down the stairs, and then the front door burst open.
Merpati rushed out and clamped her skinny arms around Joyce, whispering nonstop in Bidayuh. There were tears in her eyes, Gabriel saw. She seemed reluctant to release her, and even when she did, she held onto one of Joyce’s wrists as she led them inside. Joyce made a remark to her in the same language and a smile appeared on Merpati’s face. She said something and tugged Joyce into the kitchen.
“She’s going to cook something for us,” Joyce said. She eyed the small pile of vegetables and spices Merpati was assembling on the counter with a look only five days in a cage can inspire. “She says we should clean up first.”
Joyce led the way upstairs, followed by Noboru; Gabriel brought up the rear. He saw Noboru wince once as they climbed, when he brushed the banister with his right arm. The sleeve of Noboru’s shirt had been sliced open and looking closer Gabriel saw a still-wet streak of blood below.
“You’re hurt.”
“Not too bad. You should see the other guy.”
“I did,” Gabriel said. They reached the landing and turned toward Joyce’s room. “Did they teach you how to fight like that in Intelligence?”
“Surprised that a man my age can still take care of himself?”
“If you couldn’t,” Gabriel said, “you’d never have made it to your age.”
Joyce opened the door to her room. “Damn it,” she said, eyeing the mess.
“Worse than you remembered?” Gabriel said.
Noboru crossed to the bed and sat down to inspect the wound on his arm. “Do you have any bandages?”
Joyce shook her head. She picked up a white tank top from the floor and handed it to him. “Here, use this.” Noboru nodded his thanks and tied it around his arm.
“Who were those people in the jungle?” Gabriel asked her.
She squatted in the middle of the room and started pulling up one corner of the carpet. “They’re a cult, quite an old one. The Cult of Ulikummis,” she explained. “They’re mostly Georgian, Russian and Ukrainian by birth, but they’re spread out all over the world. Their presence here is actually a good sign. It means I’m close.”
“There’s nothing good about those people,” Noboru said.
“Ulikummis,” Gabriel said. “I’ve heard that name before.”
“One of the gods of the Hittite Empire,” Joyce said. “Ulikummis was the enemy of the storm god Teshub.”
Joyce folded the rug over, clearing a portion of the wooden floor beneath it. She started digging her fingernails into the floorboards. Noboru shot Gabriel a curious look.
“When the Hittite Empire collapsed in 1160 B.C.,” Joyce continued, “most of their people stayed put in what is now Turkey, but some of the religious orders fled north into what became Russia. Over the years, they gave the appearance of assimilating into the local culture, but they kept the old religion alive in secret cults. Most of these cults are gone now—all but one, really. The Cult of Ulikummis was pretty ruthless and basically they slaughtered all the others. Thousands of people were killed, many of them in ritual sacrifices like the one they were planning for me. The only reason I’m still alive is that they were waiting for the full moon before performing the sacrifice.”
“Why did they come after you in the first place?” Gabriel said.