Drake fired, the bullets hitting their marks. Kenzie picked up a dropped Uzi and sent three guards flying into the pit, their chests pumping blood. Dahl hit men so hard they were lifted off their feet. The crowd parted all around them, terrorist leaders and decadent procurers unused to putting themselves in the line of fire, now showing fear. Drake finally approached the edge of the pit edge and found his way blocked by eight guards, Ramses and Akatash.
Shit, we’ve left it too late. God help them down there…
Despite their desperate efforts they would not make it in time.
Then, like a streak of lightning, like the Ninja she truly was, Mai Kitano came speeding out of the jungle. Leaping from a standing start she jumped up to the top of the railings that surrounded the pit, balancing on a pinhead for a second, and then launched herself through the air, over the top of the pit, and into the backs of the guards, scattering them like bowling pins.
Alicia gawped for many reasons. “Fuck. Me.” She used two sentences.
Drake leapt high, then was among the enemy punching and kicking, firing a shot. Dahl plowed through. Alicia elbowed one and kneed another in the crotch. Kinimaka bellowed with rage. Without a moment’s hesitation those four leapt over the edge of the caiman pit and followed their downed colleagues into its lethal depths.
Drake slipped feet-first down a hard-packed slope, hindered by tree roots and exposed boulders. The pit was wide even at its narrowest point and God only knew what incredible skills Mai had employed to leap clear across it. Dahl careened down only a foot to Drake’s left, unable to keep a wide grin off his face, and Drake remembered his intense disappointment at missing the caiman fight of earlier.
“You are fucking crazy!” he yelled.
Dahl only grinned even wider.
Down they went, bouncing, scraping, jolting bruises already raw from the ghost ships sliding escapade. Drake remembered what Dahl had then said: Drake made me do it, a new and not entirely adored team catchphrase.
Well, Hayden might feel bloody different about it now.
Below, huge black caimans writhed and splashed, rippling under water or breaking through the waves. Tails lashed at the sides of the pit. Some tried to crawl out whilst others simply waited with jaws apart. Smyth hit the water first, unable to control his fall, going straight under without a word. Lauren tumbled in next, across the back of a caiman. Hayden flailed last, almost halting her descent by grabbing hold of a jutting branch but screaming when it snapped clean off. The caiman she landed on broke her fall, its jaws snapping shut as if in pain.
Suddenly, the bottom of the pit became a churning, screaming mass.
Drake took a final glance upward before joining the incredible fray — above, guns were being trained down upon them and spectators lined the rim of the pit, Ramses among them. Then he flew off an outcropping, sailed through mid-air, and splashed down into the very center of the roiling waters. Underneath, it was a barely penetrable gloom. Snapping jaws passed an inch from his nose, their fury felt even in this subaquatic murk. Drake powered upward, breaking the surface and blowing water from his mouth and nose. The visage that faced him was harsh, unforgiving, and very hungry.
“Alicia,” he spluttered at her. “Move!”
A caiman darted in from the left, cutting a swathe between them. Drake had valiantly kept hold of his Glock and now fired two shots into the beast’s flank. It rolled, blood leaking out, and ducked away. Ahead, Dahl had already gained a foothold, standing upon two stones jutting out of the bank, a wriggling predator held in each hand. He struggled to hold the beast’s scaly tails, jaws gnashing close to his nose.
Drake fired at a second beast as it set upon Lauren. Smyth rolled with another. Hayden went under as a black shape landed on her shoulders, its tail whipping the waves. Dahl somehow managed to punch one adversary right in the face, then sniffed as it exhibited no reaction other than to somehow get even angrier.
Alicia swam in circles, unable to locate a foe or rescue anyone. Finally, her attention was grabbed by a set of eyes floating toward her — a caiman waiting to pounce. She reeled back as it struck, slamming Kinimaka in the process. Her pistol went off, thudding into the animal’s flesh. Drake hit the bank and pushed upward, gaining a little traction. To one side Dahl still stood, and now to the other Kinimaka climbed hard out of the water, twin waterfalls dripping from his shoulders, a huge black caiman held in his hands.
Incensed, he stared it right in the eyes.
“Try to bite me would you? Try to bite my girl? Not today, bud.”
He held its powerful jaws away and wide open. After a moment his eyes met Dahl’s. The Swede was already on the same wavelength, eager to proceed. At the same time they swung their captives. The sound of them meeting in mid-air made even Drake cringe. The twin beasts dropped back into the deluge and didn’t twitch again.
Drake fired at another caiman. Hayden fought one off with her bare hands, but would only survive moments longer without help. Kinimaka launched himself high off the ledge, a human cannonball, and came down on top of the caiman with the most enormous splash. Water exploded everywhere. Kinimaka, the caiman, and Hayden all vanished. Dahl spotted another hunting marauder and hammered down onto its flank. Alicia fired a bullet into another.
Drake eyed the steep banks of the pit. For the first time since they jumped in, it was time to look for a way out.
But high above, gun barrels bristled, lining the pit. And Ramses stood up there with one arm raised.
The single word sent chills shooting toward Drake’s heart.
“Fire!”
CHAPTER THIRTY FOUR
Like death’s shadow she slipped among the guards, a knife in each hand, corpses left lying in her wake, but the simple crush of bodies between her and the edge of the pit prevented her from reaching her friends. The journey to this part of the world had been a long one for Mai Kitano, made possible by Hayden’s provision of coordinates, but the last thing she expected when she arrived was to have to pull her teammates from deadly danger. Now, she jabbed, she thrust, she darted to and fro like smoke and magic woven together; she ignored the pain of not-so-old knife and bullet wounds, the throbbing scar across her face, putting her friends first and the rest of her life on hold. As she stalled, as she despaired of ever seeing them alive again, a stranger appeared at her side.
“Mine’s bigger than yours.”
The woman wielded a katana, given back to her by Yorgi who had been concealing the Samurai sword beneath his robes. She started to forge a path through the throng.
Guns appeared in several hands but Mai made quick work of their owners, flitting among them. As even Kenzie started to stall they neared the edge of the pit. Ramses stood only two figures removed, a crowd around him. Mai saw other guards rushing toward them and, again, felt her heart sink down toward the caiman pit itself.
“Still too many,” she muttered.
Gunfire erupted. Yorgi, standing alone, made himself a target to draw some of the killers away. Several guards fell, bleeding. Mai and Kenzie forged a few steps closer. Then Kenzie’s katana was bludgeoned out of her hands and Mai received a debilitating blow to the back of the neck. For the last time, their progress faltered.
Stopped.
Screams echoed up from the bottom of the pit. Laughter spread along the top. Ramses was holding up one huge arm, a bear’s paw it seemed, and chatting to those around him about what would happen when they unleashed two hundred rounds of lead. Some were taking bets, others craning their necks for a better view. Mai ignored the agony, met Kenzie’s eyes and nodded.