She sighed at the pun. ‘Although Andreas still gave you one last chance to turn around and leave. All along he kept saying that only Alexander’s equal is worthy of immortality… but also that nobody is Alexander’s equal. Even his own coffin had a clue. It said that Andreas was humble, and so was everyone else compared to Alexander.’
Banna nodded. ‘“Remember this if you seek to take what I had denied him.” He meant the water from the spring.’
‘But the statue itself basically said, “If you think you’re as great as Alexander, then step right up and claim your prize.” It contradicted everything Andreas had said before. And that’s when I realised it was a trap,’ Nina told them. ‘You have to be smart and resourceful and dangerous to reach the spring — and then arrogant enough to ignore what Andreas said over and over by claiming it. That proves you’re as much a potential tyrant as an immortal Alexander would have been. And it gets you killed.’
‘There was still a load of water in the pool, though,’ Eddie pointed out. ‘Andreas was taking a gamble that someone wouldn’t just drop buckets on ropes.’
‘The whole place was designed to channel people right to the statue,’ Nina countered. ‘Even if I hadn’t pointed Kroll there, he would have gone to it anyway. How could he resist? And like I said, it targeted arrogance, hubris. No self-respecting Alexander wannabe would waste time lowering buckets when they can literally wrest control of the Spring of Immortality from his hands. And Andreas knew that.’ She looked up at the arch. ‘For good or bad, there’s only one man of Alexander the Great’s stature in all of history — and Andreas wanted to make sure that remained the case. He and his followers built the whole place to honour him and his achievements… while at the same time eliminating anyone who might become the next Alexander.’
‘The question is,’ Zane said, ‘what do we do now? About the spring, I mean. The cave has collapsed, but the water’s still down there. We stopped the Nazis from getting it, but I don’t want the Iranians to have it either.’
‘We leave it down there,’ Nina said firmly. ‘Close the secret door and bury it. If anyone finds it again, they won’t realise its significance — it’ll just be an archaeological curiosity.’
‘But what if somebody comes looking for the Nazis?’ asked Banna.
‘Like who?’ hooted Eddie. ‘The Revolutionary Guard won’t give a crap what happened to them. They took their money and left. If they think about ’em at all, it’ll be like they disappeared in the Bermuda Triangle.’
‘A new legend — thirty men come into the forest searching for the Spring of Immortality, and are never seen again,’ said Nina. ‘The Last Nazis. I quite like the sound of that.’
Zane gave her an approving smile. ‘It has a nice finality to it. Hopefully it’ll be the CSU’s last ever operation.’
Eddie stood and went to the entrance. ‘Come on, then. We’ve got some digging to do.’
They dragged the bodies of the Nazi sentries into the inner tunnel, then pushed the hidden door closed and shovelled soil back into the excavated opening. When the arch was finally covered again, they set off down the hill, leaving behind the secret of the Kingdom of Darkness.
Epilogue
‘I’m not sure I can do this,’ Nina whispered.
‘You’ll be okay,’ Eddie assured her as they approached the casket following the service. The line of mourners in the chapel was long; Macy had been a popular and sociable young woman, while her parents were wealthy and well connected in Miami and beyond. ‘I’m sure the funeral people made her look… good.’
‘No, I don’t mean seeing her in — in the coffin.’ Grief clenched Nina’s throat at the thought of saying her last goodbye. ‘I meant… her mom and dad.’ She glanced ahead, to where Amir and Isabel Sharif were waiting. ‘How can I face them after this? After what I—’
‘You didn’t do it,’ he said, gently but firmly. ‘They know that. They’ve been told what happened.’
‘But what if they blame me? What if they think I got their daughter killed?’
‘Then they’re wrong.’ But he had no more advice to offer, his own heart as heavy as hers.
They reached the casket. It took all of Nina’s will to raise her gaze to the figure inside it. Macy lay with her eyes closed as if in a serene sleep. Eddie had been right about the work of the funeral directors: they had made her as beautiful as she had been in life. ‘I’m so sorry,’ she whispered, eyes filling with tears. ‘Oh God, I’m sorry…’
Her husband stood by her in stoical silence, though his own shimmering eyes revealed his true feelings. Both looked at their friend for the last time, then reluctantly moved on.
Nina took Eddie’s hand and squeezed it tightly as they approached Macy’s parents. Isabel regarded them uncertainly before recognition sparked in her eyes. ‘You’re Nina, aren’t you? Nina Wilde?’
‘Yes, I am,’ Nina replied. ‘I am so, so sorry about Macy. She was… she had so much energy, she helped me see things in new ways. She was — she was my friend. I’m sorry,’ she repeated, bracing herself for the worst; despite Eddie’s attempts to convince her otherwise, she still felt responsible. Macy’s mother and father could well blame her too…
But there was no explosion of fury or outrage. ‘Macy told me so much about you. She… she idolised you,’ Isabel said, her emotions clear despite her soft, controlled voice. ‘She said you helped her decide what she wanted to do with her life.’
Amir was more open with his feelings, anger underlying his grief. ‘A man from the United Nations, Oswald Seretse, gave us the official report on what happened to Macy,’ he said. ‘But that didn’t tell us what we wanted — what we needed to know.’ He fixed Nina with an intense gaze. ‘Our daughter — did she… suffer?’
Nina was silent for a long moment. ‘No,’ she finally said, shaking her head. ‘No, it was very quick. I don’t think she did.’ She closed her eyes, seeing Macy’s fear-filled face looking back at her, and tried not to sob.
The reply was what the Sharifs had wanted to hear, though. ‘Thank you,’ whispered Amir. Isabel clutched his hand, tears rolling down her cheeks. ‘Thank you.’
‘If there’s anything we can do…’ said Nina.
‘That’s very kind, but… no, thank you.’ He put his arms around his wife and held her close.
‘I’m so sorry for your loss,’ Eddie told them. The line of mourners was building up behind; as much as he wanted to say more, he did not want to monopolise Macy’s parents. He accepted their silent thanks and ushered Nina on.
Many of those who had already paid their respects were still milling in the chapel, talking quietly. One visitor, however, had drawn attention even from those who didn’t know him personally; for once, Grant Thorn was uncomfortable with that situation. He appeared almost relieved to see Eddie and Nina, and gestured them to join him and his companion, Marvin Bronze. The Hollywood star wore a black silk suit, his normally gelled hair for once combed flat. ‘Grant, hi,’ Nina said, giving him a brief embrace. ‘Are you okay?’
‘Yeah,’ he replied, tight-lipped, then: ‘No. Not really. This is all… you know? Too much.’
Eddie nodded. ‘I’m sorry.’
‘Me too, man. It’s… it’s not fair.’ He sighed. ‘She coulda been a star, you know? She really had something. The first time I met her, when I helped you with that thing in New York? I thought she was just some—’ He glanced towards Macy’s parents, then lowered his voice. ‘Just some bimbo. But she wasn’t. She was way more than that.’ He sniffed. ‘We had so much fun together. And now she’s — she’s gone…’