Labyrinth (15 page)

And the only thing she knew was that somewhere, possibly up ahead, the same creature that had so easily taken Kessel was coming for her.

Chapter 16

Kessel awoke feeling like his limbs were being torn out from their sockets. As he blinked in the dim light, he began to process his surroundings. He was in a cavern with rough-hewn rock walls. Overhead, stalactites dripped down from the ceiling, pointed and deadly.

He was stretched akimbo on some sort of wooden rack or stretcher, his arms above his head and his legs splayed open, like some human
X.
The pain in his extremities was caused by a distinct lack of blood flow. His nerves screamed for release, but the rope binding his arms and legs was fastened well. And as much as he tried to pull and push against the knots, it was no use.

His mind clouded and he blinked again, trying to remember the incredible sight that had filled his vision in the middle of the corridor. A huge creature, which must have stood more than seven feet tall, covered entirely in fur. He’d had no warning of it aside from a vague feeling of unease.

Careless. That’s the only way to describe how he’d been caught unawares. He’d grown weary wandering the maze, with every hallway exactly like the previous one. His mind had started to drift. He’d grown bored.

And that’s when he got nailed.

His thoughts focused on Annja. What had happened to her? Had she been captured as well? Or had she not had the pleasure of coming across this creature yet?

When they’d been separated again, Kessel had found himself zipping down a long tunnel that had shot him into a room filled with sawdust. It had cushioned his fall, but not by much. Even now, his back still ached. But Kessel was used to bruises. They were part of his life.

What he wasn’t used to was wandering through mazes that didn’t seem to have an end.

Kessel frowned. Greene had sent him into the maze with Annja. Did Greene suspect that Kessel was with the FBI? Or was it just a matter of Kessel being the dumb grunt that got picked to go with Annja?

Again, Kessel had no idea.

What he did know was that he needed to get out of the bind he was in. He had to warn Annja about the creature.

A noise that sounded like shuffling caught his attention and Kessel clamped his eyes shut. It was better that the creature think he was still unconscious. But, it was tough keeping his eyes closed. What if the creature was coming to kill him now?

Kessel rejected that idea. He could have killed me plenty of times already, he thought. No, he was being kept alive. For a reason. But what?

He parted his eyelids ever so slightly and saw the shambling movement of the furry creature. Kessel was immediately struck by the notion that Fairclough had managed to catch an actual bigfoot.

But that wasn’t possible.

Bigfoot didn’t exist….

The creature lumbered through the cavern, tending to the small fire in the corner, and then shuffled back out. Kessel let out the breath he’d been holding.

What the hell have I gotten myself into?

And where was Annja?

A
NNJA
WAS
,
AT
THAT
MOMENT
, making her way down yet another corridor like the last one.
Where in the world is Kessel? And where is the thing that took him?

She still had her sword out, but she had to admit that she was getting tired of carrying it. Fairclough’s little maze had no rhyme or reason to it. Just more of the same monotonous scenery.

Over and over again.

Annja put the sword away. Her instincts would warn her if danger was close. After all, she’d been in plenty of scrapes before. Besides, she was still convinced she couldn’t be snuck up on from behind.

Although…

The dogs had found other routes through the maze. So what was to stop the thing that had grabbed Kessel from using those routes, as well?

Nothing.

Annja stopped and sat on the floor. She needed a moment. A glance at her watch told her that seven hours had passed since she and Kessel had entered the maze. Time was ticking away faster than she had expected it would and she still had nothing to show for her hours inside.

It was the first time she’d been entrapped in something as elaborate as this maze. How had Fairclough managed to make this? What had driven him to build something so sprawling?

Annja eased some of the tension out of her stiff shoulders. This wasn’t just about the book. It could have been the most amazing book in the world and it wouldn’t have made sense to construct this maze. She was forced to consider that there was something else going on.

Something possibly more sinister than just the security of an ancient tome.

But what?

Fairclough couldn’t have expected Greene to come for his book. And yet he’d said that he barely had time to get it into the maze. Did Fairclough have a direct line to the center of the maze? Was there some sort of hidden passageway in his house that would lead straight to the heart of it?

And if so, how come he hadn’t told Annja about it?

Unless the old man had
wanted
to put her through the maze.

Her stomach hurt.

She had a small niggling doubt.

That perhaps she’d been brought here deliberately. That this maze wasn’t about the book at all.

It was about her.

K
ESSEL
STRAINED
AGAINST
the knots holding his hands, but with a sudden release of breath, he slumped back into the same position. There was no getting out of those bindings unless someone cut him free.

And the thought of waiting for the creature to do it didn’t make him feel especially warm and fuzzy.

He tried to make out more details of the cavern he was in. The small fire in the corner gave off minimal heat, so he wasn’t quite sure what its purpose could be. Cooking? He didn’t see any utensils to cook with. Certainly there were no pots or pans or other implements that would lead him to think that the bigfoot—because that was what it resembled most—was a chef.

Was it for torture?

But again, Kessel saw nothing to indicate that a hot iron poker was being fired up to lay across his bare flesh and make him scream. It was simply a small fire in the corner of the cavern.

Across the cavern, he spotted the entrance. It was dark, as if a tunnel led into the place. But where did it connect with the maze itself? Or did it even connect at all?

Perhaps there were other routes through the maze as Annja had suggested. The dogs seemed to have no difficulty getting around. Were there extra tunnels or secret passageways for those who knew about them? Maybe the bigfoot had taken Kessel through one of them, which was why Annja hadn’t seen him kidnapped.

I wish I could remember, Kessel thought. But the blow to his head had been a resounding shot that had dropped him in his tracks. He’d been knocked out before, but it was usually the result of a series of hits. This time, he’d taken the shot square on the button of his jaw and it was as if someone had flipped the light switch to Off.

Kessel was out before he even hit the floor.

Hell of a shot, he mused. The creature certainly knew how to deliver a punch. But since when did bigfoot have a boxing career?

Kessel knew he had to free himself. Hanging around waiting for Annja to show up wasn’t an option.

He glanced up at the ropes holding him in place. As far as he could see, it was nylon cord, not the PlastiCuffs they used instead of handcuffs these days. That was a positive sign. Getting out of the PlastiCuffs was almost impossible.

But rope could be cut.

He just had to find a way to cut it.

A
NNJA
STOOD
BACK
UP
and resumed her walking patrol of the maze. She brought the sword out, noticing that its glow seemed diminished. It looks as tired as I feel, she thought.

Perhaps the sword’s energy was a direct illustration of how Annja felt. She frowned. No, that wasn’t true. There’d been times in the past when its strength had brought Annja back from the brink of death.

But what if something in the maze was draining its power?

How could that be? Annja’s sword was known to exist to only very few people. True, she hadn’t been able to conceal its existence as much as she would have liked, but it was hardly common knowledge that she was in possession of the legendary sword of Joan of Arc.

She turned another corner and saw the identical hallway that she’d just been traveling. She groaned. When was this going to end? The interminable walk was killing her.

But then she caught a glimpse of something at the other end.

Just a glimpse.

A shadow, really.

Was this the thing that had grabbed Kessel? And if so, could she engage it in combat? Or was it better to try to follow it back to Kessel?

Annja increased her pace. The shadow had a few seconds lead time on her. If she moved fast enough and was careful, she’d be able to catch up and not let it know she was behind it.

As she ran, Annja kept her knees bent and her body turned to minimize her profile.

Annja averted her eyes as well, allowing her peripheral vision to take in her surroundings.

The corner was coming up.

She brought the sword out in front of her, just in case she was about to walk into an ambush.

Annja flushed her lungs with oxygen. She could feel her heart thundering inside her chest. This was it, she felt sure.

Combat.

She was ready. The glow of the sword seemed to increase as well, almost as if the blade was hungry for action after so much inactivity.

Annja smiled.
I don’t blame you one bit.

Annja reached the corner.

Rounded it with the sword ready in front of her to confront the creature that had grabbed Kessel.

And she ran straight into a brick wall.

Annja’s sword bounced off the wall, smacked her square in the face and then dropped.

Annja’s vision swam and blackness reached for her.

A second later she dropped to the floor.