Wings of Death by James Axler

Author:James Axler
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Worldwide Library
Published: 2013-08-28T04:00:00+00:00

Chapter 14

Brigid Baptiste watched Kane place Durga’s hand on the staff, and then a moment later, both men collapsed to the floor. She immediately wondered if Kane had gone to the well one too many times, utilizing the staff’s healing abilities, but neither man looked as if he had been put through agony, not like when Kane first sealed Nathan’s deadly claw wound. No, this instance made it seem as if they were marionettes with their strings severed. Alarm filled the Cerberus archivist, and she rushed to cradle Kane’s head, checking for vital signs.

She let out a sigh of relief that he had a pulse, still breathed, still was warm to the touch. However, that relief chilled and shattered like icicles when she saw his eyes, open, blank, soulless.

“Kane?” she asked.

No response. He didn’t even blink when she touched her finger to his eyeball. Dread supplanted any gratitude that Kane’s heart and lungs worked.

“What happened? Are they dead?” Thurpa asked. He was as confused by this as the rest.

“It could be the staff.” North spoke up. “Kane tried to revive Durga...and if Nehushtan wanted little to do with me, then...”

“So it killed them both?” Grant asked.

“They’re alive, physically,” Brigid returned. “But there is nobody home in there.”

Grant looked at his friend, then to Durga. “You sure it was the stick?”

“What else could it be?” Makoba asked. He struggled to his feet, a little unsteady, but he no longer seemed to be oozing blood. His arm no longer sported a bullet hole. He looked down, surprised to have been returned to health. “Why didn’t I become catatonic, as well?”

“Because you weren’t in physical contact?” Nathan suggested. He looked at the staff, then picked it up. Brigid watched for any change in his demeanor or health, or any response from Kane or Durga.

Unfortunately, nothing happened to the pair of comatose men. She gave her bottom lip a chew, then heard the thunder of the stairwell door being hammered off of its hinges at lobby level. There was an immediate echo down by Davis, with his radio. The look on his face confirmed her suspicions. “There’s no back way out. We’re going to have to hold the doorway.”

Grant opened his war bag. “I’ve got a few charges that can slow them down.”

Gibbons pulled out a duffel from a hiding spot by the wall. “We might have a way out....”

With that, he dug into the bag, tossing aside a couple Calicos, both of which were retrieved by Davis and Makoba. Finally, Gibbons came out with a large jewel, and something that made the blood drain from Brigid’s already pale features.

“Where did Durga get a Threshold?” Brigid asked.

Gibbons looked at her. “How do...” He thought the better of debating it. “Durga never said.”

Thurpa swallowed. “That was how we got from India to Africa. A hell of a lot safer than riding the Indian Ocean.”

Brigid glanced toward Thurpa. “Did he inform you how to operate it. Did he inform any of you?”

From the pause and blank expressions on the faces of those present, none of them needed to speak.

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