Keepers of the Cave (33 page)

“It’s too late. I won’t be your pawn.”

It happened so fast—the knife flashing in the torchlight. Her heart lurched in disbelief as Fiona plunged the blade into her own belly, a terrible mewing sound leaving her lips as she pulled the knife out, only to plunge it in again.

“No!” Paige yelled, running forward. “Fiona...
no
!”

Ester Hogan whipped her head around, her eyes nearly bulging out of her skull. She pointed at them, shrieking loudly.

“
Outsiders!
Outsiders! Outsiders! Outsiders! Outsiders!”

“Oh, fuck.”

Before she could take another step, Belden was upon her, one large hand wrapped around her throat choking her as he lifted her off the ground, pressing her back firmly against the wall. She kicked at him, trying desperately to draw breath. She couldn’t see Paige, didn’t know what was happening. All she heard was Ester Hogan’s screeching voice. She brought a knee up, catching Belden under the chin. His grip loosened enough for her to draw in a deep breath. She blinked her eyes, trying to remember the phrase Fiona taught her.

Yellow sock? Yellow rock? Yellow clock? What the hell was it? Yellow fucking...what?

She kicked at him again, catching him in his groin. His hands fell away from her as he doubled over in pain.

***

Paige ran blindly to Fiona, pushing Ester Hogan out of the way with a fierce blow. Fiona lay motionless on the cold ground, blood gushing from her wounds. She blinked slowly, her eyes finding Paige.

“Oh, God, Fiona.”

“Don’t look at her,” Fiona whispered. “Close yourself to her power.”

 “Don’t move. I’ll—”

But her words were cut off as she was flung against the far wall. She hit it solidly, the impact nearly knocking the breath from her. She shook her head, finding Ester Hogan’s gaze locked on her. Ester had never laid a hand on her, yet she’d been picked up like a ragdoll. She pulled her eyes away from the stare, then dropped to her knees as she felt a vise-like grip around her throat. She stared in utter disbelief. Ester Hogan was at least twenty feet away from her, yet she felt her cold, bony fingers around her neck.

Paige’s vision swam as her breath was cut off. She felt along her thigh, finding her weapon still secured in its holster.

***

“Yellow sock,” CJ said as she danced around Belden’s furious attempt to capture her. “Yellow clock.” She ignored a blow to her shoulder, a grin on her face. “Yellow
rock
,” she said.
Yeah, that’s it.
“Yellow rock in the sock.”

Belden stopped, his head tilted, as if searching his memory for some long forgotten riddle. But he shook it off, one long arm grabbing her again and slamming her against the wall.

“Goddamn,” she hissed as she felt her ribcage nearly shatter. “Clock. Not sock,” she murmured. She met his eyes, seeing a man totally devoid of emotion looking back at her. His hand tightened dangerously around her neck. “Yellow rock in the clock,” she choked out, her voice raspy from his grip. Amazingly, Belden’s eyes seemed to roll back in his head. “Yeah, that’s it. Yellow rock in the clock,” she said again. “Tick tock.”

“Yellow rock.”

“Yeah. Say it with me,” she said as his grip loosened. “Yellow rock in the clock. Tick tock. Yellow rock.”

“Yellow rock in the clock.”

She rubbed her throat when he released her, his eyes glazed over. “Yellow rock.”

“In the clock. Tick tock. Yellow rock.”

He turned abruptly, his feet moving in a measured cadence, marching back into the mouth of the dark tunnel and disappearing, his mumbled voice chanting the phrase over and over.

She jumped at the sound, then dropped to her knees as a single gunshot echoed over and over again in the closed chamber. She whipped her head around, finding Paige bent over, gasping for breath. Ester Hogan lay motionless on the ground.

CHAPTER FORTY-EIGHT

Paige knelt beside Fiona. Her eyes were closed, but her mouth was open, drawing in shallow breaths. She glanced at CJ, who was standing over the lifeless body of Mother Hogan.

“I thought we weren’t supposed to shoot anybody.”

“I had no choice.”

She touched Fiona’s face, seeing her eyelids flutter. She didn’t know what to do. The knife was still inside her, buried up to its handle.

“Oh, Fiona. Why?”

“The only way,” she whispered.

Paige took her hand, squeezing tightly. “You hang in there. We’ll get you to a hospital.”

“No. Too late.”

“Not too late.”

“Paige...thank you, my friend. You were the best thing to ever happen to me.”

“No. You stay with me,” Paige said instantly, cutting her off. “We’ll get you out of here. You and Don both.”

“That was always my dream,” Fiona said, her voice weak. “To escape.” Paige felt Fiona’s fingers tighten around her own. “Don’t run from CJ,” she whispered. “Trust her. The awful things her father did to her...it makes her wary of others. But she wants to love you. Let her.”

Paige stared at her in disbelief. “How did you know about her father?”

Fiona’s grip loosened and fell away, but her eyes held tight to Paige’s. Paige watched as Fiona’s hand found the knife, then, in one last gesture, jerked the knife out. Blood gushed, but Fiona never made a sound. She simply lay still, her hand—and the knife—falling futilely to the ground.

Paige stared at her, seeing Fiona’s last breath leave her, seeing the life fade from her eyes. Just like that. Gone. By her own hands.

“Paige?”

She felt CJ’s touch on her shoulder, and she turned toward it, letting CJ pull her up. She clung to her, burying her face in her shoulder. She felt her heart breaking, yet no tears would come. The scene was surreal. Fiona lying in a pool of her own blood, by her own making. Ester Hogan lying not twenty feet away, a bullet to her heart ending her life without ceremony. Surreal.

“Belden?”

“I did the yellow sock thing. He went into a trance, just like they said he would.”

Paige frowned. “Yellow
sock
?”

“Sock, rock, clock. Whatever.” CJ held her at arm’s length. “Are you okay?” She turned her to the torch, inspecting her neck. “You’re bruised.”

Paige touched her tender neck. “She never laid a hand on me. I was flung against the wall. And she was choking me. But she never touched me.”

“I guess Fiona was right about her powers.”

Paige glanced back down at Fiona, slowly shaking her head. “Why? Why did she do that? We could have helped her.”

“Could we?” CJ shrugged. “Maybe. But it could have all just been too much for her. Even if she survived giving birth, then what? She becomes a sideshow in a circus?”

“I don’t know. But this just seems—”

Her words were cut off by a hideous roar from back in the cave. She and CJ locked gazes, both of their eyes widening.

“Oh fuck,” CJ murmured, pulling Paige with her. “We need to get out of here.
Now!
”

The roar was followed by a high-pitched scream, similar to the ones they’d heard at night. When he was hunting. She ran after CJ, both ducking into the first tunnel they came to. They stopped up short, hiding in the dark shadows. She clutched CJ’s arms, peeking around her, her view of the chamber slightly obstructed. She saw his silhouette first, the light from the torch surely distorting his shape. But no. The creature stood on its hind legs, easily ten feet tall.

“Dear God, what
is
it?” she whispered as she shrank back against the wall.

“Hell if I know.”

His head was scaly and lizard-like, and he swung his gaze around the chamber, landing first on Ester Hogan, then on Fiona. He let out an awful roar, a pitiful sound full of distress and—dare she say—pain and mourning. Her hand dug into CJ’s arm as the creature bent down and scooped Fiona up, her arms swinging lifelessly at her sides. Paige wanted to turn away from the sight but didn’t. With another tormented wail, he shuffled off, back into the cave, taking Fiona—and his baby—with him.

“I can’t believe I just saw that,” CJ said quietly.

“What should we do?”

“We sure as hell aren’t going after it.”

“But—”

“No way.” CJ fumbled for her flashlight, going deeper into the tunnel. “Come on.”

“Do we know where we are?”

“Look at this,” CJ said, shining the light along the walls.

Whereas the other tunnel they’d come through was haphazardly constructed, this tunnel was reinforced with shiny, varnished wood. Carved into the wood were strange symbols, none of which she’d ever seen before.

“Where do you think this leads?” Paige asked.

“I’m going to guess to Ester’s house.”

Paige followed, glancing behind them to make sure they weren’t being followed. She wondered how they were going to explain everything that had happened. No one was going to believe them. Like CJ, she couldn’t quite fathom what she had seen either.

They stopped at the bottom of a short staircase. These stairs too were much nicer than the ones in the stables. Handrails on both sides and again varnished wood. The steps creaked under their weight as they climbed to the top. CJ turned the doorknob slowly. It was unlocked.

Paige took her flashlight out too. The room appeared to have once been a den or living room, although it was sparsely furnished. CJ flashed her light around the room, landing on an open door. Paige followed her, standing in the doorway as CJ went inside. It was an old study. Even in the limited light Paige could see how worn the furniture was. She moved her flashlight to the window, the drapes so faded she couldn’t make out their original color. The window was open, letting in what little breeze there was. It was only then that Paige realized how hot and stuffy it was. She wiped at the perspiration on her brow.

“Try the light,” CJ said, motioning to the switch on the wall. Paige did, but the room remained dark. “Off the grid,” CJ murmured.

“Maybe she only runs a generator when she needs it.”

“Probably.”

CJ’s light moved across the room, landing on a door in the back corner. She opened it, revealing another flight of stairs. This one going up, not down. CJ looked back at her with raised eyebrows. Paige nodded.

It was a narrow staircase and they walked up single file. She wondered if this was a shortcut to Ester’s bedroom. CJ opened the door cautiously, pausing to listen but all remained quiet. The door opened into a hallway and the staircase appeared to only be a shorter route to the second floor. There were four doors, two on each side, but it was the fifth door against the opposite end that appeared unusual. The door trim was at least a foot wide, carved with the same symbols that they’d seen in the tunnel.

“Let’s check these rooms first,” CJ said.

The first was completely empty, including the absence of drapes. A huge spiderweb crossed the window, evidence of the room’s non use. CJ went to the next one and Paige crossed the hallway, opening a door on that side. She was expecting another empty room and nearly gasped at what she saw when her flashlight scanned inside. It was a child’s room, the furniture small and nondescript. On the bed lay the skeletal remains of a young child, dressed only in a white shirt and shorts.

“CJ,” she said. “In here.”

CJ peered over her shoulder, then gently moved her aside as she went into the room. Paige hesitated, flashing her light back into the hallway. She couldn’t shake the feeling that they weren’t alone.

“I would guess maybe six or eight years old,” CJ said.

“You think it was Ester’s child?”

“I don’t know. I can’t imagine her as a mother. Can you?”

Paige tilted her head, hearing a welcome sound in the distance. Helicopters. “Listen,” she said.

CJ looked up, smiling. “Backup. About damn time.”

“Let’s check the other rooms,” Paige said. “I’m ready to get the hell out of here.”

The other two rooms in the hallway were both empty, like the first. There was no sign of Ester’s bedroom, leading them to think the decorated door at the end of the hall was hers. Paige stood back, nodding as CJ turned the knob. The door swung open and a rank smell hit them immediately. They both went inside, their lights casting shadows in the room. It was large, much larger than a bedroom. Lined up in a neat row, eight evenly spaced beds dominated the room.

“Jesus,” CJ murmured as she walked deeper into the room.

Paige shone her light on each bed, hardly believing what she saw. All eight beds appeared to be hand-carved. The woodworking was exquisite. However, only one bed was empty.

“What the hell is this?”

CJ went to the end, her light shining on the names carved into each bed. “Estaline, Naomi, Opal, Velma, Eustice, Estelle, Rosaline...and Ester.”

“Fiona said that things here had always been this way,” Paige said. “Do you think these are the reigning Hogans?”

“And when they die, they bring them here? God, can you imagine living in this house with these...these women up here?”

“They’re dressed in some sort of ceremonial gowns,” Paige noted as her gaze traveled across each skeleton. “If I didn’t know better, it looks almost like a wedding gown.”

CJ looked up to the ceiling; the helicopters seemed to be right upon them now. “Okay, let’s get the hell out of here.”

“Where do you think Ester’s bedroom is?”

“I imagine downstairs somewhere. Come on.” Just then CJ’s phone rang, Ice’s familiar tone sounding in the quiet room. “Hey, baldy. About time.”

***

“Where the hell are you?” Ice asked.

CJ followed Paige back down the stairs. “We’re in Ester Hogan’s house. The two-story one.”

“Yeah. I see it. It’s goddamn dark out here,” he said.

“They’re off the grid, remember? How many agents?”

“Six of us. Howley included.”

“Okay. There are about forty residents, we think. Ester Hogan has been eliminated. She’s got a bodyguard. Huge guy. Belden. Be careful of him. The rest I don’t believe will pose a problem.”

“We’re checking the houses now.”

“We’ll be out in a second,” she said, disconnecting. She stopped Paige before they went out into the study again. “Hey.”