The High Priestess was dead, but she would never die. Her spirit had merged with all the high priestesses before her to be reborn in the great goddess Potnia, the Lady of the Labyrinth. Potnia, herself, was a combination of all the Minoan deities — the Snake Goddess, the Goddess of the Earth and the mistress of the animals, Britomartis.
By impersonating the goddess, Lily would become the goddess in an epiphany that gave her complete control over the Way of the Axe. Once she had made the transformation, she would speak with the voice of the goddess. There would be no hesitation when she ordered the priestesses to tear Salazar to pieces. The Mother Goddess would be pleased with the double sacrifice and shower the faithful with good fortune. The success of the operation in the United States would be ensured. Lily would take control of Auroch Industries and expand her power around the globe.
She looked up at the mummy of the High Priestess sitting on its throne. Under the influence of the opiates she had taken to prepare for the ceremony, she imagined that the leathery features of her predecessor’s face once again glowed with health and life. This was not a four-thousand-year-old pile of withered flesh and brittle bones. She saw the lips widen in a smile. The voice of the long-dead priestess filled her head.
She must die.
Lily heard the piping of the flutes. Once Salazar brought in the rhyton the ceremony would begin.
Soon, Mother. Very soon.
CHAPTER SEVENTY-EIGHT
Chad tried to fight off the drug that had dug its talons into his brain, but the hallucinatory effect was powerful. Luckily, it was short-lived. The dancing flowers that had whirled around him transformed back into the hard-faced priestesses, although their colorful robes still glowed as if they were on fire.
The flutes and the lyres started up again. The priestesses began to chant in the weird language. The music was less frenzied, more like a funeral dirge, which didn’t make Chad feel any better.
The procession filed through the open door and into a great hall. Chad gripped the bull’s head close to his chest as if it could ward off the evil that seemed to surround him. The chant echoed off the ceilings and walls of the vast room. His eyes darted right and left, taking in the colonnades of red columns that ran along the walls. He stored the layout in his brain so he wouldn’t have to think about it when it was time to make his move.
The parade marched further into the room, passing between the biers. The procession continued to the far end of the hall and stopped in front of an altar made of black basalt. Rising from the altar was a horn-shaped sculpture. Framed by the horns was a mummified body that sat in a throne-like chair. On either side of the mummy was a stone pillar with a bronze-bladed double axe sticking out of it.
Chad only glanced at the hideous dead face before his eye was drawn to the figure lying on the altar itself. Kalliste was bound hand and foot, like a piece of meat ready to be carved up. Chad knew exactly who was going to do the carving; the tall, glassy-eyed woman in the flounced skirt who stood off to the side of the altar holding a long-bladed bronze dagger in her hand. She was staring at him.
The music had stopped. Everyone seemed to be expecting something. He saw the woman wrinkle her brow and thought maybe she had seen through his disguise. He realized his behavior was raising suspicion. He snapped out of his daze. Recalling Salazar’s instructions, he placed the rhyton next to Kalliste’s head, then stepped aside. The woman smiled and turned to address the others in the procession. She spoke in the unknown language. He didn’t understand a word, but judging from the glittering eyes of the priestesses and the evil grins of the dog-handlers something bad was about to go down.
He glanced at the unconscious form on the altar. He couldn’t let these creeps hurt Kalliste. Screw Salazar. He reached into the pocket. His fingers found the remote control, gave the knob a twist with his thumb and forefinger, and he waited for the right moment to press the button three times.
CHAPTER SEVENTY-NINE
After escaping the Minotaur’s lair, Hawkins and Calvin followed the map to a stairwell that took them up three levels. Their ears still rang from the missile explosion and they relied on hand signals to communicate.
The passageways at the upper level were narrower and better lit than the depths of the Labyrinth. They navigated the warren of corridors at a fast trot, heading in the general direction of a large chamber marked with the snake symbol. The map showed that the big space had entryways on the front and back. The front entrance opened onto an antechamber and a wide flight of stairs. Hawkins decided that the stairway area might be busy with comings and goings, choosing to use the back door to gain entrance.
He edged around the corner. The corridor was unguarded. He and Calvin dashed to a double-door made of wood held together with metal straps, and tried the latch. The door was locked. On their missions in Afghanistan, Hawkins and Calvin had developed their own sign language to cover unique situations.
Hawkins pointed to the lock, then to his forehead like the Scarecrow in The Wizard of Oz.
Any idea how to do this?
Calvin made a cranking motion with his hands.
We drill it.
Calvin extracted a battery-operated drill from his pack and quickly drilled a circle of holes around the lock. Hawkins drove his rifle butt into the serrated section of wood; it fell inside.
He forced the door with a shoulder slam. The entryway opened onto a corridor that ran left and right. A strange piping music filled the air. He pointed to his ear. Calvin nodded.
“Yeah, my hearing’s come back too. Maybe we should split up.”
Hawkins said, “Let’s do a recon, then decide.”
Hawkins made a random choice and headed off to the left. They sprinted along the corridor which made a right angle turn into the shadows of the colonnade, and ducked behind a thick column. The vantage point gave them a side view of a stone altar surmounted by horn-shaped sculptures similar to those Hawkins had seen at Knossos.
As he peered around the column, he noticed the spider-web of cracks, like those in the walls of the lower level where Calvin had spiked the bull robot. A building inspector would condemn this dump in a second.
Calvin, who was looking through a pair of binoculars, murmured, “This is a freaking freak show.”
He handed the glasses over. In the torch light Hawkins saw several women dressed in long ruffled skirts and wearing round, flat-topped hats. A bald, blue-headed man — who could have been a brother of the attacker he’d killed on Spinalonga — was holding a tether attached to the same animal pictured in the photo Lily had shown him.
Another man stepped forward from the crowd toward the altar. His head was shaven but unpainted. Hawkins recognized Salazar from his photo and watched him place a dark object on the altar where Kalliste was curled up.
As soon as Salazar stepped aside, a woman who wore a taller hat than the others came forward to take his place. Holding a dagger at her waist, she slowly pivoted her body. She wore a long, multi-colored robe pulled back to display her breasts.
The woman turned in his direction and paused. Hawkins recognized Lily even though her face was covered with heavy make-up. Her eyes were shut tight and her lips were moving. She turned again and stopped. Hawkins surmised that she was offering the knife to the points of the compass. Her lips were moving.