The Schwatz convoy thundered past moments later. Anatole waved from behind the steering wheel of the leading SUV. Gabriel dipped his chin stoically from the seat next to him.
They were on their way to the city of Cagliari, some ten miles south and to the east on the Sardinian coastline.
Footsteps soon rose behind me. ‘You almost done?’ said Ashely.
‘Yes.’ I lowered the daisho and slowly sheathed the blades.
‘Good. We should get some food.’ Ashely grimaced. ‘I hate to think what might happen if we eat too close to take-off.’
I smiled and followed him to the hangar.
Two hours later, at exactly 21:00, we finally left the base.
The refueled DHC-6 climbed steadily in an easterly direction, its twin engines filling the interior of the fuselage with a steady drone that would have made conversation difficult even if any of us had been in the mood to talk. Not that we could have easily, what with the face masks delivering the one-hundred-percent pure oxygen we needed to inhale to flush out nitrogen from our bloodstream and reduce the risk of decompression sickness associated with our high-altitude, low-opening jump.
Two of the major’s lieutenants had accompanied us on the flight. As instructed by them, I spent most of the ninety-minute journey concentrating on my breathing and checking Ashely for signs of hypoxia and hyperventilation.
‘If I’d known I’d be doing a HALO jump soon, I would have quit smoking months ago,’ said Ashely in a low voice.
I peered at him anxiously. It was difficult to see his expression through the glass visor of his helmet. ‘How’re you feeling?’
‘I could do with a smoke,’ came the dull reply.
I muttered something under my breath and settled back in the seat.
A crackle of static echoed in my earpiece.
‘We’re fifteen minutes from the drop zone,’ said the pilot. ‘Check your gear.’
We rose and went through the safety drill we had been taught under the keen eyes of Vincenzo’s lieutenants.
Another voice came over the comm line a moment later. ‘Hey, can you guys hear me?’ It was the Schwatz tech at the base.
I observed the series of nods around the fuselage. ‘Yeah, we hear you.’
‘Gabriel called. Gazmuuk’s men are in place. They’ve secured access to the external security cameras and the radars. You’re good to go.’
There was a further crackle from the earpiece.
‘ETA five minutes,’ warned the pilot.
‘Good luck,’ the tech added quietly.
I switched on the portable oxygen bottle on my back, disconnected from the central console, and checked my flow meter.
One of the lieutenants opened the loading door on the port side of the aircraft. Cold air rushed inside the hold.
‘On five,’ he shouted, signaling with his fingers.
I followed Ashely to the exit and switched on the night vision goggles beneath my helmet. The wind whipped at my jumpsuit as I stepped off the plane. Seconds later, I was in free-fall.
The HALO jump was from thirty thousand feet. I tucked my arms by my sides and angled downward. The island appeared as a green shadow in the waters ahead and to the left, the image strangely stark under the ambient moonlight. I turned toward it and kept my breaths slow and steady.
The audible altimeter soon sounded in my ears, indicating that I had reached a terminal velocity of 170 mph.
The fall lasted a thrilling two minutes. At the two-thousand-feet signal, I reached behind my back and pulled out the pilot chute from the bottom pocket of the container strapped to my body. There was a tug as the bridle lifted the deployment bag holding the main parachute. The canopy unfolded above me, suspension lines feeding steadily through the slider.
I braced myself for the sudden deceleration and reached for the steering toggles. One hundred feet below and to my right, Ashely’s parachute swooped toward the rapidly enlarging landmass. I headed after him.
We landed on the rooftop of one of the towers seconds later. I hit the ground with a soft thud, pulled out the wakizashi, and cut away the lines before the chute could drag me over the edge of the terrace.
There was movement out the corner of my eyes.
I ducked and stabbed a Crovir Hunter in the chest. The immortal crumpled, his gun falling out of his hand. I caught it before it struck the stonework and lowered the lifeless body to the ground.
There was a noise behind me. I looked over my shoulder. My stomach dropped.
I turned and ran toward the two figures struggling silently near the northeast parapet.
The men fell from the tower a second before I reached them.
I dove forward, slammed the tip of the blade in a groove between the slabs, and slid over the edge with an outstretched arm. My fingers closed over flesh.
I came to a juddering stop with half my body suspended over empty space. The silence beneath me was broken by a thump.
‘That was close,’ Ashely murmured.
He swung from my grasp, his feet dangling over the hundred-foot drop. I pulled him up with a grunt and glanced at the dark shape of the Crovir Hunter lying at the base of the building.
Waves boomed against the rocks at the bottom of the cliff. No cries of alarm sounded in the night. Our landing had gone undetected.
‘Everyone okay?’ I whispered in my transmitter, studying the adjoining rooftops. A series of affirmative responses sounded in my ears. Friedrich gave us a quick wave from the next building and disappeared in the gloom.
Ashely and I removed our flight gear before heading for the door tucked in a corner of the tower. A dimly lit stairwell lay on the other side. I stopped at the top of the steps and looked over the banister.
A further four landings were visible below. Silence rose from the lower depths of the turret.
We moved soundlessly down the spiral staircase and reached an iron-plated oak door at the bottom. Faint voices came through the wood.
‘On three?’ Ashely mouthed.
I nodded, slipped the Glock from the holster on my hip, checked the suppressor, and moved to the side of the doorpost.
Ashely’s bullet struck the lock with a dull, metallic twang. The door crashed open on his first kick. He stepped out of the way while I turned and dropped to one knee. I raised the gun and fired.
My shots took out the first two Crovir Hunters. Light from the naked bulb on the ceiling glinted on the edge of the wakizashi as it spun through the air and thudded into the neck of the third man. His hand slipped from the handle of the door on the other side of the chamber as he collapsed to the ground.
I retrieved the short sword while Ashely unscrewed the light bulb from the ceiling. We crossed the darkened room to the second door. He twisted the handle. It opened silently.
We were faced with a walkway at the top of one of the castle walls. A bank of clouds had moved in from the west and was drifting past the moon, causing shadows to dance across the stonework. Cold air whipped over the rampart from the sea on the left. To the right, a parapet overlooked a dark courtyard a hundred feet below.
Two Crovir guards stood next to another tower at the end of the path. Smoke curled up from the cigarettes in their hands. A chuckle drifted in our direction.
Darkness and the rush of the wind helped mask our approach. We were ten feet from the men before they noticed us. They jerked convulsively when our bullets struck them. The sounds of their bodies hitting the ground were muted by the crash of the distant surf.
An empty room lay through the doorway of the second tower. Narrow, leaded windows looked down onto an enclosed courtyard. We headed for the exit on the opposite side.
Halfway across the floor, I froze in my tracks.
Ashely stiffened. ‘What is it?’
I stared at the bench tucked beneath the windows. ‘There are three glasses on that table.’
The words had barely left my lips when a gasp sounded to the right. I t
urned and saw the third man disappear through a door concealed in the shadows.
I was the first one over the threshold. Up ahead, the Crovir Hunter raced along a dim corridor, his figure darting between the bars of moonlight streaming through the windows lining the left wall of the gallery. A brightly lit archway stood at the end of the passage.
Ashely’s shot whistled past me and caught the man on the leg. He stumbled and started to fall.
It was all I needed.
I dove and tackled him to the ground a dozen feet from the opening.
We landed hard on cold, bare stone. The Hunter rolled out from under me and reached for his gun. He froze when the edge of the wakizashi touched the skin at his throat.
‘Do you know who I am?’ I said in a low voice while Ashely relieved him of his weapon.
The Crovir Hunter dipped his chin and winced when the short blade drew a drop of blood from his flesh.
‘Where are the prisoners?’ I asked harshly.
‘I don’t know what you’re talking about,’ the immortal retorted.
I leaned down until my face was mere inches from his. ‘Sheila and Tomas Godard. Where are they?’ I said between gritted teeth.
The man gulped. A thin, crimson line coursed down his neck and stained the collar of his shirt. He opened his mouth to reply.
Voices rose through the brilliant arch ahead.
Chapter Twenty-Six
Ashely and I grabbed the Crovir Hunter and pulled him into the shadows next to the door. I kept the wakizashi pressed against the immortal’s throat and narrowed my eyes. His breath left his lips in a low sigh and he nodded with a defeated expression.
Snatches of conversation reached us when footsteps drew closer to the doorway.
‘ —the chamber ready?’
‘Yes, sir. We’ve set it up as per your instructions.’
‘Good. And the woman?’
‘Our scientists are still working on her. As expected, she’s not cooperating. They think —’
The rest of the exchange was muted when the voices went out of earshot. Rage stirred inside my veins. I took a step forward.
Ashely placed a hand on my shoulder and stopped me in my tracks.
The first voice had belonged to Amos Thorne.
I drew a slow breath and turned a flinty stare on the Crovir Hunter. ‘Where’s your central command room?’
The immortal’s eyes widened. ‘You’ll never get there in one piece!’
‘I didn’t ask for your opinion,’ I snapped.
Ashely sighed. ‘Just show us to the nearest computer,’ he told the Hunter.
The man guided us through the archway to a room some thirty feet down an adjacent passage. Ashely reached for the door handle.
Five seconds later, we had disposed of the two guards inside.
Ashely handcuffed our reluctant guide to the radiator on the wall. Fear filled the immortal’s eyes when he observed the dead men on the floor.
I removed a USB stick from inside my jumpsuit and plugged it in one of the ports at the back of the computer terminal on the table.
‘We’re in,’ I said in my transmitter.
A buzz of static overlaid the Schwatz tech’s voice when it came over the earpiece. ‘That’s great! Gabriel called. They’re ten minutes from the island.’
I watched the screen flicker.
The device allowed the Schwatzs access to the Crovir fortress’s mainframe and the security feeds inside the complex. Codes started to roll down the monitor.
‘Here goes,’ murmured the tech.
Video streams from dozens of cameras appeared on the screen. My eyes were drawn to one near the bottom right corner.
‘Where is that?’ I barked.
The tech zoomed in on the picture. Floor plans of the castle appeared next to the image. There was an audible intake of breath from the other end of the line.
‘That room is in a secure facility two hundred feet below you,’ he said in a low voice. ‘It’s inside the island.’
My heart pounded dully in my chest as I stared at the image of Sheila strapped to a metal gurney. A monitor above her head displayed her vital signs. There was an IV line snaking out of her left elbow to a stand holding a bag of clear fluid; her eyes were closed and her face deathly pale.
‘Can you override the access doors to that unit?’ I asked stiffly.
The Schwatz tech was silent for a while. His voice finally came through the earpiece. ‘No. And I’m afraid I’ve got more bad news.’
‘What is it?’
‘It seems they have a completely separate security system for that part of the complex. Even the camera feeds are controlled from a different subframe.’ Frustration tinged his voice. ‘The best I can do is get you to one of the elevators that goes down to that facility. After that, you’re on your own.’
Ashely and I exchanged troubled glances.
‘Let the others know where we’re headed,’ I told the tech. ‘My grandfather’s bound to be there as well.’
We left the Crovir Hunter gagged and handcuffed inside the room and proceeded east along the corridor. All the while, the image of Sheila’s lifeless face burned at the front of my mind.
The tech guided us to an alcove in the south wall of a tower two floors below, where a metal door stood framed between a set of heavy curtains.
‘This is as far as I can take you,’ said the Schwatz. ‘The lift is through that door. There are five Crovir Hunters between you and the elevator.’
‘Thanks.’ I holstered my gun and lifted the daisho from my waist. ‘Are the others here yet?’
‘They’ve just reached the dock under the island,’ replied the tech.
I glanced at Ashely. In addition to the Glock, he also held a Beretta pistol in his hand. ‘What about Friedrich and his team?’
‘They’re almost at the main command center.’ Static travelled down the line. ‘Gazmuuk and his men haven’t got control of the subframe security yet. Once you guys go through that door, the Crovirs will soon know we’re on the island.’
‘Okay,’ I murmured. ‘Warn Friedrich and the others.’
‘Will do,’ said the tech. ‘Good luck.’
I looked at Ashely. ‘Ready?’
He shrugged. ‘Not really.’
My fingers tightened on the handles of the blades. I dipped my chin.
Ashely shot through the lock on the door. I kicked it open and moved out of the way. He stepped inside the room, took out the cameras near the ceiling, and fired rapidly from both weapons.
I dove after him, hit the floor, and rolled. Shots ricocheted off the edges of the daisho as I leapt to my feet. I weaved the blades around, my steps quick and measured. The tips of the swords gleamed with blood. Crimson sprays splattered the ground and walls.
Ten seconds later, I reached for the swipe card on one of the bodies and moved to the lift.
‘Adam,’ Ashely warned.
I looked to where he stared. The numbers on the indicator panel above the elevator had started to glow; the cabin was moving up.
We shifted to the sides of the steel doors a moment before they opened.
Chapman stepped out. He froze in his tracks, his eyes widening as he took in the bloody scene. His hand was halfway to his gun when the katana arced through the air and stopped a hairbreadth from his throat. He went still.
‘Hello, Mikolo,’ I murmured. I was surprised at how composed I sounded.
‘How did you—’ Chapman broke off when a bullet sang past his ear.
Ashely lowered the Glock.
The Crovir Hunter at the back of the elevator slid to the floor, his eyes turning dull beneath the fresh bullet wound in his forehead. His finger slipped from the control panel and his arm swung lifelessly next to his body.
A shrill alarm tore through the room. It was undoubtedly being transmitted to the rest of the complex.
Ashely grimaced. ‘Well, they were gonna find out
about us soon anyway.’ He indicated Chapman with the Glock. ‘What do you wsheila do with him?’
Chapman stood watching us stiffly, his eyes blazing with anger.
‘He might prove useful as leverage.’ I removed a cable tie from my backpack and closed it around Chapman’s wrists.
Ashely frowned. ‘And if he doesn’t?’
‘We can always use him as a shield.’
Ashely brightened. ‘I like that.’
I pushed Chapman inside the lift and turned him to face the doorway. I touched the wakizashi to the pulsing artery in his neck. ‘You’re going to take us to Sheila and my grandfather.’
‘Like hell I will!’ he barked.
‘I don’t think you understand.’ I nudged his skin with the tip of the short blade. ‘I will kill you if you don’t do as I say.’
A mocking chuckle left Chapman’s lips. ‘Go ahead. You have no idea what these people are capable of, do you? Besides, Tomas Godard deserves to die!’
I scowled. ‘My grandfather was not responsible for your father’s death.’
‘Yes he was!’ shouted Chapman. Blood appeared on his neck as he strained against the wakizashi. ‘He ordered the Schwatzs into Khotyn!’
The alarm was loud in the silence that followed.
‘Your father was a soldier, Mikolo,’ I said. ‘He knew what he was getting himself into.’
Chapman glared at me. ‘Go to hell, Carpenter! I’ll never help you, so you might as well kill me now!’
I watched him for a moment. ‘Not yet, Mikolo.’ I pressed a button on the control panel. ‘Not while there’s a chance that we could still use you.’
The doors closed. The cabin started to move.
The sound of shots soon rose from the inner depths of the island.
‘Looks like they started the party without us.’ Ashely grimaced and scratched the end of his nose with the Glock. ‘Damn. I could really do with a smoke.’
‘For a mortal, you sure are taking things lightly!’ Chapman spat out.
Ashely watched him steadily. ‘You know, if Adam doesn’t shut you up soon, I swear I’m gonna shoot you myself.’