Owl and the Japanese Circus (14 page)

My phone buzzed.

I screamed silently as I fumbled it out of my pocket—silent settings on phones are a joke.

Where are you?
read the text from Rynn.

I swore. I was starting to wish he’d never gotten hold of my number.
Not a good time
. I started to put my phone back in my pocket, when it buzzed again.

The guards heard it this time and started to look around, guns out, when the snake began to beat up the door again. Instead of running like they should have, they turned their guns on the door. Jeez, how stupid do you have to be? I checked the message.

Call me. Now.

I turned the phone off—except it wouldn’t power down. What the hell?
You’re going to get me shot
—stop texting.

I checked back on the guards, who now flanked the door. Oh, this was going to be bad. I bit my lip. On the one hand, I didn’t favor being shot at; on the other hand, I couldn’t
not
warn them. I didn’t have much faith in their bullets doing damage.

I stuck my head over the ledge and cupped my mouth. “Hey, you idiots—run, there’s a—
shit
!” I ducked back down as the first two bullets careened into the stonework. Of course the guards hadn’t listened to a word I’d said—easier to just open fire.

My phone buzzed again.

CALL ME. CALL ME RIGHT NOW OR I AM NEVER SPEAKING TO YOU AGAIN.

I swore. The guards were far enough away that I figured a phone call would be faster than writing. Rynn picked up before the first ring.

“Goddamn it, Rynn, I’m trying not to get shot by antiquities guards here—” Another set of bullets ricocheted above me.

“Where are you?”

“Where do you think? Ass deep in a Bali catacomb trying to steal something.” I was actually trying to copy inscriptions this time, but usually I’m stealing something.

“Owl, listen to me very carefully. The guards aren’t the problem. There’s something else there you need to worry about. How well are you hidden?”

I snorted. “If you’re about to tell me to watch out for a giant snake, you’re a little late. Found that one already—in fact it’s about to eat the idiot guards. So if you wouldn’t mind—”

“You know, I’m beginning to see why the vampires were willing to chase you halfway across the globe for a year. You’re only half right about the snake. Sanur has a resident naga.”

“Shit.”

Nagas have the torso of a woman and the tail of a snake. They’re
smart, more so than your run-of-the-mill giant snake. They’re territorial and covered in a thick hide that’s hard to cut through. They also have a nasty, nasty temper. I’d read somewhere they had venomous fangs, but reports varied on that one.

“Well, what the hell am I supposed to do about a—” I stopped midsentence. There weren’t any bars on my cell phone. I had one of those chilling horror story moments.

And I hadn’t mentioned to anyone except Nadya the set of catacombs I was headed for.

“Rynn, how the hell are you even calling me? And how the hell do you know where I am? Did Nadya tell you?” Or for that matter what a naga was. Rynn was a pro at suspending disbelief, but I’d never gotten the impression he had an interest in the supernatural.

My train of thought was interrupted as the rebar gave a final shriek before buckling and the guards screamed. “Gimme a sec,” I said, and peeked over the ledge.

The naga’s torso was as white as the tail I’d glimpsed in the tunnels and offset by a crown of black hair that reflected a green sheen under the lamplight. Her features were that of a beautiful Balinese woman—except for the two white fangs that extended over her red lower lip. I realized that she bore a striking resemblance to the Apsara statue I’d scaled, complete with ornate headdress.

Her eyes were golden and shone as she glanced at the guards. They stopped screaming, stopped everything in fact. She had both of them in some kind of trance. She glanced up in my direction. I dropped and closed my eyes tight. Never look snake monsters in the eye.

“Owl, what’s happening?”

I didn’t answer. On the one hand, I could maybe make a run for it while the naga was busy with the guards . . . on the other hand, they didn’t stand a chance against her. As much as I disliked the idea, I wouldn’t sleep well if I let her eat a couple of minimum-wage hacks. Besides, she’d come straight for me after finishing them, so it was in my best interest to keep as many of us alive as possible; more people
to outrun. Added bonus, I wouldn’t dream about two hapless guards being rended into pieces by an ancient Balinese snake god.

Gave new meaning to “death by minimum wage.”

I took a deep breath. I hate making choices like this. They’d been shooting at me, for Christ’s sake.

“Rynn, gotta go. That naga is about to turn the guards into snacks.”

“Stay hidden and I’ll be there in less than a minute.”

“
What
? How? This isn’t a game—”

“Just don’t do anything stupid,” he said, and hung up.

“Who, me? Wouldn’t think of it,” I said to myself. This evening was already weirder than I’d ever imagined. I couldn’t contemplate what the hell Rynn was doing here, or why, but I knew I sure as hell didn’t like it. This is what I get for stepping back into the supernatural world. Everything goes to hell in a handbasket in five minutes flat.

The naga hissed and slithered towards the frozen guards. How to get her attention? I searched around the ledge, found a loose stone in one of the carvings, and wedged it out. It would do. I inched back to the ledge and peeked over. The naga was a few feet away from the guards, her tail stretched out past the entrance behind her, about ten or eleven feet. She was taking her precious time. I took the rock and aimed.

“Hey, snake lady! Over here,” I yelled.

It hit her square between her shoulder blades. Her head whipped around, and I swore she looked straight at me, even though the ledge hid me from sight. The gold eyes started to shine . . . sooo pretty. I shook my head and shut my eyes.

With the naga’s lapse in concentration, one of the guards must have broken free, because the next thing I heard was a gun go off and the naga shriek. I just hoped the guards had enough sense to run like hell. Even a little of the naga’s stare left me dazed. It took me half a minute before I trusted myself to open my eyes. I peeked over the edge. Both guards now flanked the naga. Of all the stupid things . . . points for bravery though. I needed another rock. Not finding one, I searched through my bag. Flashlight? No. Drill? No. Empty water
bottle? Bingo. I hurled it towards the naga’s head this time. It struck the side of her headdress before she could get either of the two men back under her spell. Unfortunately, one of the guards saw me. In no time he had his gun trained and was shooting. I edged back from the ledge as the bullet struck the recess below.

“Hey! I’m on your side. Shoot the giant snake monster!” I yelled.

Another bullet hit the ledge.

I frowned. That’s gratitude for you.

I heard one of the men scream. Bullets or no, I edged back to the ledge and got ready to throw the flashlight.

The naga had one of them wrapped in her tail. She raised the struggling and screaming man up to her mouth and bit into his neck before I could throw. He immediately went limp in her arms. She dropped the body unceremoniously and struck like a cobra at the second. Before she bit into his neck, she glanced up at me and hissed.

I was a sitting duck.

Something metal bounced and clinked. An innocent-looking silver ball came into view as it rolled across the ancient tiles towards the naga and her prey.

My phone buzzed.
Close and cover your eyes.

“Shit.” I dove backwards and buried my face in my backpack.

There was a pop, and the naga screamed as the room exploded in a burst of light. Even with my eyes covered, I still got a residual flash. A good UV grenade will do that.

I pulled my head out of my backpack to answer my ringing phone. “Rynn, it’s a giant snake woman, not a vampire,” I said.

“They’re dazed, aren’t they? Where are you?”

“Up here.” I stuck my head up over the ledge and waved.

The remaining guard was out cold, and the naga writhed on the floor.

Rynn nodded at me. “Are you all right?” he said, and pulled what looked like a high-powered rifle off his shoulder to aim at the naga. He fired a small dart into her tail.

Tranquilizer darts. Damn, I wished I’d thought of that.

“Owl, I’d hurry up and get down from there. I used a horse tranquilizer, but I have no idea how long it will last.”

Getting down proved a lot easier than getting up. I walked over to the collapsed set of stairs and slid down.

Rynn was waiting for me. I had to do a double take. It was a completely different image from the one I was used to at the bar. He was dressed in some sort of modern black motorbike armor. Besides the tranquilizer rifle, he had two different guns holstered on his belt, both with what looked like silencers. If Rynn hadn’t been as good looking as he was, I’d have sworn he was some kind of black ops.

“Ahh, not that I’m not really grateful and all, but what the hell are you doing in Bali, let alone dressed like an assassin?”

“Mercenary,” he said.

“What?”

“I used to be a mercenary,” he said.

“Oh, I got that part—I’m just not sure I believe it, regardless of the getup. Serving drinks to pretty girls and shooting people don’t exactly go together.”

He rolled his eyes. “I owe Oricho a few favors, and he asked me to keep an eye on you. I’ve had a hell of a time tracking you since I landed.”

“
You’re
the backup he was talking about?”

Rynn was the last person I’d imagine toting a gun. A martini glass or beer, sure, but . . .

Rynn frowned. “This is exactly why I didn’t say anything to you in Tokyo. You’d never have believed me.”

I looked him over and nodded. “You’re right. Not if I hadn’t seen it with my own eyes. Even after seeing it with my own eyes I’m having trouble with it. And what kind of mercenary carries around a tranquilizer rifle?”

“The kind of mercenary who runs into supernatural things every now and then.”

As strange at it sounded on the surface, it actually made sense. Rynn had hinted he was from Eastern Europe, though I still hadn’t
figured out where exactly, and parts of Eastern Europe were supernatural hot pockets. Transylvania, anyone?

“How did you go from mercenary to host/bartender?”

“I’m taking a break,” he said, and started to head for the exit. “I got tired of people shooting at me.”

Well, it was something I could relate to. I nodded at the naga. “Think we have a bit of time?”

Rynn shrugged. “Hard to say. I’ve never tranquilized a naga before. I wouldn’t bank on more than half an hour, an hour max. Why?”

I jogged towards the stairs that led back down into the catacombs.

“Where are you going?” Rynn called after me.

“The snake—naga—started chasing me before I could copy the tablet and photograph the walls.”

“After all that, you want to go back in there?”

“You can come with me or stay here with them,” I said, and nodded towards the two guards and the naga. “I’m not leaving without those pictures.” I noticed that the guard who’d been bitten was turning a purple color. I was sorry for him, but then again, I’d tried to help. I was still miffed they’d shot at me.

Rynn was one step ahead of me. He checked the poisoned guard first, then turned the second one over. He groaned but didn’t otherwise move. Rynn pulled out one of the smaller guns on his belt and aimed.

“You don’t have to kill him—”

Rynn raised an eyebrow at me as the dart pierced the guard’s leg. The guard stopped moving immediately.

“Never mind,” I said.

Rynn shook his head, tossed the rifle over his shoulder, and, to my relief, followed. After all, there might be more nagas. There were an awful lot of tunnels.

I couldn’t help but be impressed by how silently Rynn moved. It’s a thief thing. Even with no one around I still can’t stand making noise when I don’t have to.

I glanced over at him. He raised his eyebrow and I shook my head.

“Even seeing the whole mercenary thing with my own eyes I have a hard time believing it,” I said.

He smiled. “Guess I’m full of surprises.”

I realized I hadn’t actually thanked him. Hell, I wasn’t used to anyone coming after me. This was new . . . and awkward. Come to think of it, there were more questions, now that I was running this whole scenario over in my head.

“How did you know where to find me? And how did you get my cell phone to work?”

“Between Oricho and Nadya, I was able to figure out which of the two temples you were heading to. I used your cell phone signal to triangulate you partway along the coast, but by the time you were at the cavern entrances, I lost you. I found the students in Kuto and talked one of them into bringing me along. Once I was there, I was able to get the location and paid the kid with the jeep to bring me here.” He held up his phone with a black case on it. “This creates a cell line so I could patch into your phone. By the way, you owe the kid a hundred bucks.”

I swore. “Why the hell do I have to pay him?”

“You’re on Kurosawa’s payroll. Write it off as a business expense.”

“I’d have at least bartered. He overcharges.”

“Saving you fifty bucks and being late would have been self-defeating. Especially for you.”

I guess I couldn’t argue with that.

We found the chamber with the tablet, and I wasted no time photographing it. The tablet, two feet by four feet, lay on a slab of rock cut into the wall. First I made sure I had enough to make a 3-D reconstruction of it once I was back. The room itself was the size of a small bedroom, with a low ceiling and inscriptions covering the walls. Those didn’t interest me; they were classic Balinese.

“How did you know about the naga?” I asked.

“Lady Siyu and Oricho. Apparently she tried to warn you—”

I snorted. “Warning me would have been, ‘Whoa, wait, there’s a
naga living in the temple catacombs.’ All she did was order me back on a plane.”