The utter darkness was disorienting. No normal light filtered in past the narrow entrance. They had taken only a couple of steps inside, but Alice could not see anything, not even Pete standing so close that his shoulder brushed against hers.
“Oh, shit,” Pete said. Dread edged his words. “It’s gotten even worse than it was yesterday when she sent me in here, a lot worse.”
“It’s okay,” Alice said with a cool certainty she did not feel. “It’s just light—really, really dark light—but light is light and I can work with that.”
“I used to think I could work with light, too. But this stuff isn’t like anything I’ve ever seen.”
She kept her grip on Pete’s hand and focused on altering the currents of her aura so that they formed a shield, forcing the dark wavelengths of the nightmare energy to bend around the two of them.
“What’s happening?” Pete whispered.
“We just went invisible. This is my one big trick. We’re standing in the eye of the storm now. Too bad we don’t have an audience. How are you doing?”
“Okay.” Pete sounded vaguely amazed. “I’m okay, at least I think so. Or maybe this is one of the hallucinations. I’m aware of the intensity of the energy but it’s as if we’re in a bubble that’s protecting us from the forces.”
“That’s a good way to describe it.”
“How long can you keep this up?”
“Long enough.”
“Not a good idea. Once Dr. Tucker and Egan get their hands on those damn stones, you and I are both toast. Well, I am, for sure. They might keep you around until they’re safely off the island, but I’m a goner as soon as I step out of here. I doubt if you’ll last much longer.”
“I know, but those crystals are the only bargaining chips we’ve got,” Alice said. “Once we have them, we might be able to buy a little more time.”
“Time for your husband to arrive?” Pete sounded dubious.
“Yes,” she said. “Trust me, he’ll get here eventually.”
“Okay, it’s not like I’ve got any plan at all.”
“Can you sense the crystals?”
“Not anymore,” Pete said. “The bitch sent me in here one too many times. I haven’t had time to fully recover between sessions. I’m pretty burned out.”
Alice went still, probing cautiously. A thin trickle of energy that felt very different from the currents of the storm danced somewhere in the darkness.
“I think I’ve got a fix on them,” she said.
She moved forward, keeping her grip on Pete. She put her free hand out to ward off an encounter with a sloped wall.
She was walking blind but that did not stop the fractured images from swirling around her.
“It’s like moving through a dream,” she said.
“Yeah, a nightmare,” Pete said. “But I don’t feel as disoriented as I have in the past. Usually by now I start to pass out. Your light-bending trick is working.”
The delicate trickle of energy was growing stronger.
“We’re getting closer,” she said.
The tension on the rope around her waist remained steady as Egan let out the line.
“They must be getting real excited out there,” Pete said grimly. “They’ll know we haven’t collapsed yet. Hell,
Alice did not reply. There was no point letting Pete know that she was having to pull harder and harder on her talent to keep the shield around both of them. She was approaching her limits.
The trail of crystal energy brightened. For the first time she could perceive a pale, shadowy light flickering in the utter darkness, a weak paranormal candle flame. As she and Pete moved closer a second current of eerie radiance appeared.
“The crystals,” Pete said. He sounded stunned. “I think I can see them.”
Alice stopped. Pete stumbled to a halt beside her. They looked down. At least Alice thought they were looking down. In the disorienting darkness it was impossible to know.
Regardless, she could make out two flat slabs of crystal, each slightly larger than a man’s hand. They glowed with paranormal energy.
“They look harmless,” she said. “Guess I was expecting something more dramatic.”
“A hot stove looks harmless, too, until you put your hand on it.”
“Good point.” She reached out and touched one stone very carefully. A frisson of energy flashed through her but there was no pain. She picked up the slab. “You take the other one.”
Pete did as instructed. “Now what?”
“Now we hang on in here as long as possible to give Drake time to deal with Zara Tucker and Egan.”
“And if he doesn’t come to the rescue?”
“We go to Plan B. If worse comes to worst, we’ll pretend we found one of the stones but that we need a break before we go back in after the second crystal. I told you. It’s all about buying time.”
“Too bad you’re not a real magician,” Pete said. “We could use one of those about now.”
Chapter 38
DRAKE MOVED AROUND THE CORNER AND SAW ZARA AND Egan. Egan looked very different without his disguise, remarkably unremarkable. Zara and Egan were hovering close to the entrance of the crystal pyramid, which was the size of a two-story house. He could feel the energy of the Chamber from where he stood.
Egan gripped the end of a long length of rope in one gloved hand. The cord was stretched taut. It disappeared into a deep darkness at the entrance of the Chamber. Drake was very sure that Alice was on the other end of the line.
He set Houdini free.
“Get him,” Drake whispered. He doubted that Houdini could understand, but with luck he would serve as a distraction.
As if he had sized up the situation and had recognized the primary source of danger in the room, Houdini dashed across the cavernous space, heading straight for Egan.
Sensing that they were no longer alone, Zara whirled around. When she saw Drake, alarm exploded into fury.
Egan dropped the end of the line he had been holding and yanked the Alien weapon out of his belt. He leveled it at Drake.
Houdini arrived at his target and scampered up Egan’s pant leg.
“Shit.” Egan reeled backward, frantically swiping at Houdini with the weapon.
Houdini bounded off Egan to evade the vicious swipes but he immediately circled to find another opening. Egan brought the weapon up again and fired it, aiming for Houdini. The ray missed Houdini’s tail by scant inches.
“Egan!” Zara screamed.
Egan finally realized he had been paying attention to the wrong threat, but it was too late. Jasper and Fletcher were already moving forward, initiating the strategy they had devised during the trek through the tunnels. Both conjured hot, powerful ghosts that closed in on Egan, driving him back toward a wall.
There was nothing like having a pair of energy storms chasing you to help concentrate your attention. Egan had spent time in the tunnels. He recognized lethal-sized ghosts when he saw them.
“Drop the gadget,” Fletcher ordered.
