The Gates of Hell (Matt Drake 3) (20 page)

Drake saw Karin relent and even smile a little. It was good to see someone having a calming effect on the wild-child of the Blake family. He checked the tunnel around him and threw a glow stick into the shadows. Its expanding amber hue illuminated nothing but more hewn-out tunnel vanishing into the blackness.

The first Delta soldier fell in beside him, soon to be followed by a second. Drake wasted no time in sending them down the tunnel on a scouting mission. When he turned back to the chamber of wrath, he saw Ben Blake making his move.

Ben clutched his satchel almost like a schoolboy, made sure his long hair was tucked into the top of his T-shirt, and stepped forward. Drake watched his lips move as he counted the seconds off. Without betraying any outward signs of emotion, Drake’s heart literally leapt into his mouth and stayed there until his friend collapsed puffing by his feet.

Drake offered him a hand. Ben looked up, “What you gonna say, dickhead?
If you can’t stand the heat
?”

“I don’t quote Bucks Fizz,” Drake said in an exasperated tone. “If you want—no, wait—”

Drake had caught sight of Karin approaching the first jet of fire. Ben’s mouth instantly clamped shut and his eyes followed his sisters every move. When she wobbled, Ben’s teeth grated so hard Drake thought about tectonic plates grinding together. And when she slipped between one safe haven and the next Drake had to grab Ben hard to stop him rushing out to grab her.

“Wait! You can’t save her.”

Karin faltered. Her fall had completely disoriented her. She was staring the wrong way with about two seconds before another eruption incinerated her.

Ben fought against Drake, who grabbed the lad roughly by the back of the head and used his body to shield his friend from witnessing the next, terrible event.

Karin closed her eyes.

Then Komodo, the Delta team leader, scooped her up in one big arm as he skipped deftly between the pauses. He never missed a beat, just carried Karin headfirst over his shoulder and deposited her gently to the ground beside her enraged brother.

Ben dropped down beside her, babbling, hugging her to him. Karin stared over Ben’s shoulder straight at Komodo and mouthed two words. “Thank you.”

Komodo nodded gruffly. Within a few minutes, the rest of his men arrived safely and the two Drake had dispatched down the tunnel returned.

One of them addressed both Drake and Komodo. “Another trap, sir, about a klick ahead. No obvious signs of snipers or booby traps, but we didn’t hang around to double-check. Figured we should get back here.”

Karin brushed herself off and stood up. “What’s the trap look like?”

“Miss, it looks like one major motherfucker.”

CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO

Up the narrow passage they ran, urged on by the acts of violence that may be happening in the world above them and by the malicious intentions of the man who crept through the subterranean dark before them.

A roughly formed archway admitted them to the next cavern. Again glow sticks illuminated part of the huge space, both fresh and slowly fading, but Drake quickly fired two amber flares against the far wall. 

The space before them was stunning. The walkways were shaped like a trident. The main shaft was made up of a walkway wide enough to accommodate three men abreast. It finished at the far wall in another exit archway. Branching off the main shaft and making up the other two tines of the trident were two more walkways, only these ones were much narrower, little more than ledges. These ledges ended up against the broad curve of the cavern wall.

The spaces between the paths of the trident crawled with deep, treacherous darkness. When Komodo dropped a stone into the nearest absence of light, they never heard it strike bottom.

Carefully, they inched their way forward. Tension made their shoulders go rigid and their nerves begin to fray. Drake felt a thin sliver of sweat slide the length of his spine, itching all the way down. Every set of eyes in the company flicked around and searched every shadow, every nook and cranny, until Ben finally found his voice.

“Wait,” he said faintly, then cleared his throat and shouted, “Wait.”

“What is it?” Drake froze with a foot still in the air.

“We should check Cook’s logs first, just in case.”

“You pick your bloody times.”

Karin spoke up. “They called this one Greed, the second deadly sin. The demon associated with greed is Mammon, one of the seven princes of hell. He was referred to in Milton’s
Paradise Lost,
and has even been called Hell’s Ambassador to England.”

Drake stared at her. “That’s not funny.”

“It’s not meant to be. It’s something I once read and retained. The only clue Hawksworth gives here is the sentence:
Opposite Greed sits Charity. Let the next man have what you desire.”

Drake considered the cold, damp cavern. “There’s not much I desire in here, ‘cept a Krispy Kremes maybe.”

“It’s a straight run to the exit.” Komodo stopped one of his men from pushing by. “Nothing’s ever that easy. Hey! What the fuck, man—”

Drake turned to see the Delta man push Komodo aside and walk right past his commanding officer.

“Wallis! Get your ass in line, soldier.”

Drake noticed the man’s eyes as he approached. Glazed. Fixed on a point off to the right. Drake followed his gaze.

And saw the niches immediately. Funny how he hadn’t noticed them before. At the end of the right-hand tine, where it ended against the cavern wall, Drake now saw three deep niches had been carved into the black rock. Inside each niche something sparkled. Something precious made of gold and sapphires and emeralds. The object caught the weak and diffused light that flickered about the cavern and returned it tenfold. It was like staring into the heart of a shiny disco-ball made of ten-carat diamonds.

Karin whispered, “There’s an empty one on the other side.”

Drake felt the pull of the promised wealth. The harder he looked, the clearer the objects became and the more he wanted them. It took a moment for Karin’s comment to sink in, but when it did, he beheld the empty niche with both jealousy and trepidation. Had some fortunate soul dared the ledge and walked away with a prize? Or had he been clutching it when he plunged screaming into the incalculable depths below?

One way to find out.

Drake put one foot in front of the other and then stopped himself.
Damn
. The lure across the ledges was strong. But his pursuit of Kovalenko held a stronger attraction. He snapped back to reality, wondering how a set of lights could be so mesmerizing. At that moment, Komodo jogged past him and Drake reached out to stop him.

But the Delta team commander just fell on his own colleague and wrestled him to the ground. Drake turned to see the rest of the team on their knees, rubbing their eyes or generally avoiding the enticements. Ben and Karin stood spellbound, but Karin’s quick brain soon wrenched itself free.

She turned quickly to her brother. “You okay? Ben?”

Drake considered the young lad’s eyes. “We could be in trouble. It’s the same glazed look he gets when Taylor Momsen walks on stage.”

Karin shook her head. “Boys,” she muttered and slapped her brother hard.

Ben blinked and brought a hand up to his cheek. “Ow!”

“Are you okay?”

“No I’m bloody not! You just nearly broke my jaw.”

“Stop being a pussy. Tell Mum and Dad next time they call.”

“Too damn right I will. Why the hell did you hit me anyway?”

Drake shook his shoulder as Komodo lifted his man bodily off the floor and hurled him back into line.
“Rookie.”

Karin watched admiringly.

Drake said, “Don’t you remember? The pretty lights? They almost had you, mate.”

“I remember…” Ben’s eyes suddenly snapped back to the rock wall and its cunning niches. “Oh, wow, what a rush. Gold and diamonds and riches. I remember that.”

Drake saw the sparkling objects begin to reassert their pull. “Let’s move,” he said. “Double time. I see what this cave does, and the faster we get through it, the better.”

He moved off at pace, keeping an arm around Ben’s shoulder and nodding at Karin. Komodo followed soundlessly, watching his men closely as they passed close by the ledges that stretched out to either side.

As they passed closer to the niches, Drake risked a quick look. A small chalice-shaped object stood in each niche, its surface encrusted with precious stones. But that alone wasn’t enough to make the spectacular light show that so drew the eye. Behind each chalice the rough walls of the niches themselves had been lined with row upon row of rubies, emeralds, sapphires, diamonds and countless other gemstones and jewels.

The chalices might be worth a fortune, but the niches themselves were of inestimable value.

  Drake paused as he neared the exit archway. Cold breezes tugged at him from left and right. The whole place reeked of ancient mystery and hidden secrets. Water trickled somewhere, just a small stream, but enough to augment the immensity of the cavern system they were exploring.

Drake gave everyone the once over. The trap had been overcome. He turned to walk through the exit archway.

And a voice yelled, “Stop!”

Instantly, he froze. His faith in the shout and his instinct born of old SAS training saved his life. His right foot barely touched the thin wire, but any more pressure would release the booby trap.

This time Kovalenko hadn’t left a sniper. He’d judged correctly that the group behind him would be hauling ass through the chamber of Greed. The trip wire led to a concealed M18 Claymore Mine, the one that bore the famous legend
Front Toward Enemy.

The front was aimed toward Drake and would’ve blasted him apart with steel ball bearings along with Ben and Karin if Komodo hadn’t shouted the warning.

Drake dropped and quickly disarmed the device. He passed it along to Komodo. “Many thanks, mate. Keep it handy and we’ll shove it up Kovalenko’s arse later.”

CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE

The next passage was short and descended rapidly downhill. Drake and the others had to walk on their heels with their bodies’ angled backward to stay upright. At any moment, Drake thought he might slip and slide helplessly down to God only knew what dreadful fate waited below.

But in only a few minutes, they spied the now-familiar archway. Drake readied a glow stick and paused at the entrance. Mindful of snipers, he quickly ducked his head in and out.

“Oh, balls,” he breathed to himself. “It gets worse.”

“Don’t tell me,” Ben said. “There’s a giant concrete ball poised over our heads.”

Drake stared at him. “Life’s not a movie, Blakey. God, you’re a geek.”

He took a deep breath and led them into the third gargantuan cavern. The awesome site they beheld stopped every one of them in their tracks. Mouths fell open.
If the Blood King could have chosen any point in their journey so far to lay a trap, this was it,
Drake thought a few minutes later
, the perfect chance
. But, luckily for the good guys, nothing lie in wait. Maybe there was a good reason for that. . .

Even Komodo gawped in awe and disbelief, but he did manage to croak out a few words. “I guess this one’s
lust
then.”

Coughs and grunts were his only response.

The path before them ran in a single straight line to the exit archway. The hindrance was the path was lined on both sides by short pedestals topped with statues, and by high pedestals topped with paintings. Every statue and every painting presented several erotic forms, ranging from the surprisingly tasteful to the downright obscene. Beyond that, cave-drawings filled every available inch of the cavern walls, but not the primitive depictions normally found in ancient caves—these were stunning representations, easily the equal of any renaissance or modern-day artist.

The subject matter was shocking in another way. The images portrayed one mass orgy, every man and woman drawn in excruciating detail, committing every lustful sin known to man… and many more.

All in all, it was a stunning blow to the senses, a blow that didn’t let up as more and more dramatic pictures unfolded to strike the human eye and mind.

Drake almost shed a crocodile tear for his old pal Wells. That old perv would be in his element down here. Especially if he’d discovered it with Mai.

The thought of Mai, his oldest living friend, helped divert his mind from the pornographic sensory overload all around. He glanced back at the group.

“Guys.
Guys!
This can’t be everything. There has to be some kind of trap system here. Keep your eyes peeled.” He coughed. “And I mean for traps.”

The path ran on ahead. Drake now noticed that even staring at the ground wouldn’t help you. Exquisitely detailed figures writhed there too. But it was all surely a diversion.

Drake took a deep breath and stepped forward. He noticed that, to either side of the pathway, a four-inch raised edging ran for about a hundred yards.

Komodo spoke up at the same time. “See that, Drake? Could be nothing.”

“Or everything.” Drake placed one foot gingerly in front of the other. Ben followed a step behind, then a couple of soldiers and then Karin, watched carefully by Komodo. Drake heard the big, tough Komodo whisper a quiet apology to Karin for the insolent images and the rudeness of his gawping men, and stifled a smile.

At that moment, as his lead foot touched the ground at the start of the raised edgings, the air filled with a deep, rumbling sound. Immediately before him, the floor began to move.

“Ay up.” His broad Yorkshire came out in times of stress. “Wait, folks.”

The path was divided into a series of wide, horizontal stone shelves. Slowly, each shelf began to move sideways so that anyone standing on it would fall off if they didn’t step onto the next. The sequence was quite slow, but Drake guessed they had now found the reason for the chambers audacious distractions.