Clickers III (25 page)

limestone out of that tunnel and make their way down here.”

Jennifer and Susan murmured agreement and they made their way slowly through the shadowy cavern like moles, one hand out in front of them, the other grasping a shoulder or an elbow as they made their way forward as a group. The passageway grew dark again. Jennifer was sure they would encounter a cave wall, but they didn’t. The thrashing and bellowing of the Dark Ones continued behind them, their sounds muffled from the vast distance they’d put between them and the creatures. Despite the coolness of the cavern, Jennifer felt hot and sweaty. She was running on pure adrenalin now and still couldn’t process the fact that Dr. Steinhardt and Keoni Mumea were probably dead now.

“Are we heading up?” Susan asked. “It feels like it.”

“I don’t know,” Jennifer answered. “Are we?”

“She’s right,” Wade whispered. “It does feel like we’re ascending again.”

They were silent as they continued their slow shuffle forward. After a moment, Jennifer began to sense that Susan and Wade were right. They were moving up a slight incline now. Was this section of the cave heading toward the surface?

“Maybe we
can
make it out of here.” Wade sounded surprised.

Susan and Jennifer said nothing as they kept going. Jennifer cast the sound of the angry Dark Ones out of her mind. She could still hear their muffled roars, but she could also sense they were leaving them behind. To make matters worse, her head was beginning to throb. With everything else that was going on, she didn’t need a migraine headache added to it.

“Let’s just keep going,” Jennifer said.

There was a guttural roar, this one loud. They froze in mid-stride. Jennifer held her breath, trying to pinpoint the location. The beast roared again, followed by more of the same. Jennifer’s heart pounded in her chest and she felt Susan’s fingers grip her hand hard. It was difficult to tell where the sound was coming from due to the echo effect. It seemed to come from all around them.

“We can’t just sit here,” Wade said after a moment. “Let’s keep moving forward.”

He urged them on and Jennifer began to move again, more cautiously, into truly unknown territory.

***

Tony would not have been able to see his hand in front of his face if Ruby and Diamond hadn’t produced flash-lights. He’d practically fallen on his ass chasing Clark down the hidden chasm at the base of the tree. The downward descent beneath the earth had been steep— practically a forty-five degree angle—but he’d managed.

Once at the bottom, Ruby had taken the lead again, flashlight illuminating the way as they ran down a narrow cavern lined with small stalactites. It was cool down here, and behind them the Dark Ones were trying to shove their large bulks down the narrow entrance way. They weren’t having much luck judging by the tone of their guttural voices. It sounded like mass destruction up there.

“I sure hope you know where we’re going, lady.” Tony’s head was starting to throb and he felt that weird pressure in his chest and abdomen again start to tighten up.

Ruby didn’t answer him. She just kept running, darting down corridors seemingly at will. The deeper they wormed their way into the cave, the dimmer the angry roars of the Dark Ones behind them became.

“Hold up,” Clark said. “Can we regroup?”

Clark halted. Tony stopped beside him. Diamond and Amethyst drew up behind them. Ruby stopped and turned around.

“What’s wrong? Why are we stopping?”

“Well,” Clark said, sounding frustrated, “I’m still not sure what we’re supposed to do when we get to where we’re going.”

“Yeah,” Tony agreed. “Not for nothing, but I’d kind of like to know, too. We just supposed to shoot up the place, or do you have a plan?”

“Our original mission has not changed,” Amethyst answered. “We must stop the Dark Ones from summoning Dagon.”

“And rescue Jennifer Wasco,” Tony said. “But
how
are we supposed to stop it? What do we do? Drive a stake through Dagon’s heart?”

“What is Dagon, anyway?” Clark asked. “I mean, you told us a little back on the plane, but I’d like to know more. Wouldn’t you, Tony?”

“Damn straight I would.”

Amethyst groaned. “We don’t have time for this. Even an operative within our organization with a security clearance of Adept would still have to study for years before they’d know everything there is to know about Dagon. You can’t possibly hope to understand it all. There’s no time to explain.”

Tony fingered the trigger of his M16. “Give us the Cliff Notes version then.”

“The longer we delay,” Ruby said, “the thinner the barriers between our worlds grows. Dagon is crossing over. The Dark Ones believe he is rising out of a long slumber— millions of years worth of sleep. In reality, they are rending the very fabric of the universe. The

stars are not only right, they are in perfect alignment. The spheres are thinner, the Shining Trapezoid is much stronger.”

“The shining what?” Tony was confused.

“
Be quiet,
” Diamond yelled. Spittle flew through his mouth. The big man stalked the cave floor in front of Tony and Clark, his tone scolding, furious, as he verbally dressed the ex-hitman down. “You ask for answers but when the secrets are revealed to you, you scoff at them or greet them with sarcasm.”

“The fuck is your problem?”

“You! My problem is you. I was against bringing you down here from the very beginning. When it was revealed that you were one of The Seven, I told those who sit on the Outer Circle that you would only pose a danger due to your arrogant nature, your willful ignorance and disdain for order.”

“You calling me arrogant?”

“I’d call you more than that, Genova, but I don’t want to waste my time.”

“Enough,” Amethyst said. His voice sounded tired.

“I’ll not be silent,” Diamond continued, and then turned back to Tony. “The order has been made. The Outer Circle, presumably delivering the edict of the Inner Circle, has made it clear that you are one of The Seven, and are therefore privy to all that comes with that title and rank, including my respect. I will accept their decision. With that in mind, you will continue on with your mission and you will do as we say. Do you understand?”

“Yeah, I understand all right,” Tony said. “But did I stutter, or did a plane go overhead?”

Diamond paused before answering. His expression was confused. “What?”

“Did I stutter, or did a plane go overhead? It had to be one or the other, because you obviously didn’t hear my fucking question. You threw your little hissy fit and ranted about circles and all sorts of bullshit, but you still failed to tell me enough about this Dagon thing to help you.”

Diamond’s lips formed a thin, pale line. His hands curled into fists around the stock of his rifle, and the tips of his ears turned red in the dim beam of the flashlight.

Tony grinned. “Allow me to fucking clarify, as you are obviously hard of fucking hearing. Fucking Dagon. If I fucking shoot it, will it fucking die? Does it have fucking super powers? What’s it fucking look like? Is it bigger than a fucking breadbox?”

Diamond lunged forward and Tony snapped his rifle up, aiming at the man’s chest. Before they could clash, however, Amethyst stepped between them and held up a hand. Then he turned and faced the larger man. Diamond glowered down at him.

“I need not remind you of your station…or mine.” Amethyst’s tone was calm, almost soft-spoken. “I am a Magus-level operative of the Ninth Order. You are not. You
will
be silent, Marion.”

Diamond’s upper lip quivered. For a moment, Tony thought the big man might wrap his hands around Amethyst’s throat and strangle him. But instead, the tension seemed to drain from his posture. He backed away and leaned against the wall, keeping his gaze affixed on the floor. Ruby found something interesting to look at in the ceiling.

Amethyst turned to Tony and Clark. “Your questions are difficult to answer because of the very nature of the things we face—and because of time constraints. I’ll try to address some of them, however, and then I trust we’ll be on our way before our pursuers figure out where we’ve gone.”

Tony and Clark leaned forward, listening, and after a slight pause, Amethyst continued.

“Dagon is massive in size, although his exact measurements and characteristics remain unknown. They vary, depending upon which source you use. What we know for sure is this—picture the Empire State Building with arms, legs, wings, and a squid for a face. To glimpse him can drive a weak-willed person insane.”

“So he’s like that bitch with snakes for hair. Medusa.”

“In a way. But on a much grander scale. Dagon is credited as the source of the Great Flood legend that is found in humanity’s various religions and cultures. We know that when summoned to a plane of existence, he destroys the planet by flooding it. This is achieved by the use of global super storms that relentlessly sweep the planet until everything—
everything
—is submerged. There is some speculation that rather than just flooding the planet, Dagon is actually transforming solid matter into liquid—in effect, turning the planet into nothing but water.”

“Jesus,” Tony whispered.

“Not at all.” Amethyst smiled at his own joke. “As we explained before, the entity has gone by many names, but Jesus is not one of them. Leviathan. Kraken. Tlaloc. Cthulhu. Some misguided souls have confused it with the Christian deity, Satan. The same mistake has been made in regards to Dagon’s kin—a race of beings known as The Thirteen. Regardless of which name he goes by, different cultures and beings, including the Dark Ones, worship Dagon. Those rites and ceremonies

often involve blood sacrifice. A blood sacrifice is required to summon him. The same is required to halt the summoning and bind him.”

“And that’s what you need me to do? Be a fucking sacrifice?”

“No, not at all. I told you, Tony—your safety is absolutely paramount. But we will need you to offer up the sacrifice, and shed the actual blood. Speaking frankly, that shouldn’t disturb you. You’re no stranger to bloodshed, after all.”

“True, but I don’t know shit about sacrifices and spells.”

“You don’t have to. We’ll walk you through it when we arrive at our final destination. Now, we really must continue onward. I trust I’ve answered your questions satisfactorily?”

“Sure. Just one more thing.”

“What’s that?”

Tony pointed at Diamond. “Is his real name really Marion?”

Clark stifled a snicker. Diamond glared at them both.

A series of roars echoed through the tunnel. Tony glanced around, M16 raised, finger hovering over the trigger. Diamond, Amethyst and Ruby sprang into action, weapons raised, eyes tracking everything in the cavern.

Diamond started forward. “They’re still far enough behind us, but we better get moving.”

“Whatever you say,
Marion
.” Diamond grunted, but didn’t respond. Tony nudged Clark and whispered, “They were right. Names
do
have power.”

“Let’s go.”

Tony noticed that, despite her abrupt, business-like tone, Ruby was stifling a smile.

Behind them, the roaring and thrashings of the Dark Ones continued. The tunnels rang with the noise. The cries reverberated off the walls. Tony couldn’t be sure, but it sounded like there was another group of creatures ahead of them.

“I hope you know where you’re going, Diamond.”

Because if you don’t,
Tony thought,
and you lead us into a pack of those fucking lizard men, I’ll kill you myself before they get the chance.

Too late, he wondered if Ruby had overheard the thought. If she did, the agent gave no indication.

“I’d still rather be in Vegas,” he muttered as the corridor grew narrower and darker.