The Lost Continent (7 page)

“I'm a professional. So I know to stay out of reach of someone I hold a gun to.”

His eyes quickly glanced around the room. “Whoever you are, get out here now before I cut her throat!”
 

No response came.

“I know you're here, Elsie! I didn't just imagine these cuts on my back, so come out now!”

Lucas waited a few more moments and when he realized he and Laki were alone, he sheathed the dagger and picked up the Zastava then got to his feet. He pulled Laki up and pressed the gun against the small of her back.

“You do what I say when I say it and maybe—just maybe—you'll get out of this alive. We on the same page?”

Laki nodded.

“Good,” said Lucas. “Now, you're going to take me to the Churchward Tablets.”
 

When Elisa emerged from her shower, she saw the note Laki left, saying she had gone to her office to get something she left behind. Almost immediately after that, Elisa's phone rang.

On the other end, she heard the sounds of a struggle and then the voice of Laki's attacker—a voice Elisa recognized immediately as Lucas Davalos.
 

“Dammit!” she cursed and went back to the bedroom where her suitcases were. Elisa dressed quickly in a pair of jeans and a t-shirt and donned her kukri daggers, affixing the sheaths to the back of her belt and then covering it up with a leather jacket.
 

Laki took the car, which forced Elisa to get a taxi instead. To the driver's credit, he did get there as fast as he could, but even that was too late and Elisa knew it. Once she found Laki's office, Davalos had been long gone and Laki with him. Elisa saw some specks of blood on the floor and examined them. Was this Laki's blood?

No, Davalos wouldn't hurt her. Not when he needed her. Right now, she was his only lead to the Churchward Tablets. Elisa saw Laki's cell phone lying on the ground as well. She picked it up and saw something on the display.

68

Two numbers, that's it, the only clue Elisa had. She checked the buttons on the phone and paid attention to the letters below the first number—M, N and O. And beneath the second were the letters T, U and V.

“What were you trying to tell me...?” she asked. Looking up at the bookshelf, Elisa checked the letters once again. She combined the letters in her head, trying to decipher the possible meaning.
 

“M-U—Mu.” She realized the answer and went to the bookshelf, searching through the various volumes. One of the books she saw had written on the spine:
Mu, The Motherhood of Man
. She sighed and set it down.

“Churchward's book? There's nothing in there that tells me where the tablets are.”

Elisa sat in the chair behind Laki's desk and struggled to think. Davalos could be anywhere and without Laki's lead, Elisa now had to fly completely blind. And at that moment, her cell phone began to ring.

Elisa answered it instantly but sighed once she heard the voice on the end wasn't Laki, somehow escaping from Lucas' clutches. Instead, it was Max.

“I've got my flight booked and all my arrangements are made,” he said. “How are things going on your end?”

“Davalos has Laki,” said Elisa.

“What? How?”

“I was in the shower and Laki went back to her office to get something she left behind.”

“Why did you let her go alone?”

“I didn't, she didn't tell me she was going, just left a note,” said Elisa. She went on to recap the rest of the night so far. Once the story finished, Max considered what she had said, running it over in his head.

“So the Order is as lost as we are right now.”

“Not anymore, they've got Laki,” said Elisa. “And she had a lead on the tablets. She left her phone with the numbers 68 on the display and I thought she was trying to say Mu. But the only reference to Mu I found in her collection was Churchward's book.”

“This is all my fault,” said Max.

“What? How is this your fault? You didn't know Davalos would do this. You didn't know Laki would forget that she's not supposed to go off on her own.”

“By asking her to pick you up at the airport, that made it easy for the Order to mark her. I shouldn't have been so sloppy, should have had you take a cab to the university.”

“Mark...” That word stuck with Elisa. She picked up the book once more and held it so the spine faced up. She grabbed each of the covers and shook before a slip of paper fell from between the pages. “Got it!”

“What?”

“Bookmark,” said Elisa. “Churchward may not have given us any hints, but looks like Laki kept hers with the book.” She picked up the slip of paper that fell out. “A name and an address. This might be where the tablets are, or at least a lead as to where we can find them.”

“Then go, I'll be there as soon as I can. Hopefully by that point, you'll have found both Lakita and the tablets as well as left Davalos in your wake.”

***

Laki sat in the passenger seat of Lucas' rental car. She had sent him on a twisting journey, taking unnecessary turns and routes into the countryside and away from the city. She could only hope that by choosing this course of action, she was giving Elisa the time she needed to get to their destination first. With any luck, Elisa would be waiting by the time they arrived to surprise Davalos, take him out and then the two women could get away with the Tablets before any other fate befell them.

“Why do you do this?” she asked.

Davalos removed the cigarillo from his mouth. “For the same reason anyone does anything—money.”

“There are better ways to make money than stealing priceless artifacts for shadowy organizations.” Then she added in a lower voice, “or kidnapping young professors...”

“Guess you're right, it's not just about the money—hell, I've got quite a bit saved up now, doubt I'll ever be able to spend it all in my lifetime,” said Davalos. “It's also about the rush.”

“What do you mean?”

“What are you, stoned?” asked Davalos. “The rush of tracking these things down. Of dodging poison-tipped arrows, of wrestling with creatures from other worlds, of knowing that you've seen and done things most people can't even
dream
of.”
 

“Take another right up here.”

Davalos followed her direction. “I was trained in the military. Did a fair share of freelance jobs for private security firms after that before finding out about this line of work. You don't get the same sense of excitement from gunning down rebel soldiers in third world countries that you get from being a myth hunter.”

Laki shook her head. “You're pathetic.”

“Oh am I?” asked Davalos.

“Yes. You've been privy to all these wonders, things that most people never even know of, and all you care about is how you can profit off it.”

“Spare me the Good Samaritan routine, I've heard it all before.” Lucas removed the cigarillo and tossed it out the window. “By the way, your new best friend? Elsie wasn't always the 'save the world' type. Hell, back in the day, she had a reputation for being more ruthless than anyone else.”

“You're full of it,” said Laki.

“Oh am I?” asked Davalos. “You see those weapons she carries around? To use those things, you've gotta have skill. And my girl's got that in spades. She knows twenty different ways to skin your whole body before you lose consciousness.”

“And I'm sure you're a reliable source.”

“Hey, you can believe whatever you want, but I know the truth. I worked with her, we used to be partners. The two of us used to travel the world taking on various jobs for money. Sometimes it was a matter of just simple monster hunting—werewolves, mermen, demons—you'd be surprised how much their organs or skins can fetch in the right places. Other times, it was hunting down priceless artifacts, much like the tablets.”

“What's next, are you going to tell me she used to work for the Order, too?” asked Laki.
 

“Honey, we didn't care
who
we worked for, we just did our jobs and got our pay,” said Davalos.

“So if she was so good at this, why did she turn her back on that lifestyle?”

“She's got her reasons, think she comes up with a new one about once a month or so.”

“Whatever you say, Lucas.”

“Suit yourself, babe. But maybe you should do a bit more digging on the people you find yourself working for. Never might know what sort of skeletons they got in their closet.”

Laki turned an icy stare to him. “And what skeletons are in
your
closet, Mr. Davalos?”

Lucas grinned. “None, actually. I'm very proud of the body count I've racked up over the years.”

“You're sick.”

“Nah, not really, I just know I'm good at what I do,” said Lucas.

Laki looked out the window. They had been driving through the countryside for some time now and there was a temple in the distance. Lucas smiled upon setting his eyes on it.

“Well, well, well, look what we found.” He tossed her a wink. “Guess you're going to make it through this alive after all, Professor.”
 

Once Elisa emerged from the building housing Laki's office, her senses went on high alert. She felt eyes on her and she just knew someone was out there, watching. Elisa's hands went behind her back, slowly drawing the kukri from their sheaths.

A sound came from the darkness and Elisa's head spun in that direction. But nothing was there. Her gaze moved carefully from side to side, trying to take in every view and find the source of the disturbance.
 

“I know you're out here,” she said. “Might as well show yourself, I haven't got all night to stand around.”

Another rustling. Elisa carefully moved towards the sound and something sprung forth from the night. In the moonlight, Elisa could see it was an animal covered with reddish fur with a white streak and a bushy tail. When it landed again, Elisa saw it was clearly a fox, albeit an extremely large one—not to mention angry. Around its neck was what seemed like a pearl necklace, each of the orbs emitting a soft glow.
 

The fox's lips curled up, baring its teeth as it growled. Elisa brought her daggers to the fore, slipping into a defensive stance. The fox jumped from its position, and Elisa had to twist to avoid its claws, which still managed to tear into her jacket. The fox landed and immediately turned around, its feet touching the ground only momentarily to provide a surface to spring from.
 

Elisa dropped to the ground herself, sliding along as the fox soared overhead. She used her feet to stop herself and sprung back at the fox, who had just landed and she drove one of the kukri into the fox's back, between its shoulder blades. The fox howled in pain and turned its head, snapping its jaws at the myth hunter. Elisa forced the fox's head down to the ground with her free hand and raised the second kukri, prepared to drive it through the animal's skull.

“Sorry about this, but it looks like it's come down to you or me, Foxy,” she said.
 

The fox seemed to smile and the necklace it wore began to glow even brighter. “It's not over yet,” came a soft, sultry voice and Elisa was blinded as the glow flashed. She pulled away and blinked several times, trying to get some kind of a bead on what happened to the fox. Spots dotted her field of vision and it took a few more blinks before she could see at least a little clearly. The fox stood there, albeit slightly blurred. And then Elisa watched in surprise as the fox padded towards her then slowly rose to its hind legs. As it did, its appearance seemed to change. The fox began to walk more like a human being and less like an animal. The reddish-white fur darkened, the hairs growing shorter.

By the time Elisa's vision had completely cleared, she saw not a large fox but a beautiful young woman with a narrow face, close-set eyes, thin eyebrows and high cheekbones. Her hair was long and dark, spilling down her shoulders but despite her Asian features, her eyes were more of a copper color. The woman wore a black suit with white pinstripes and a dark red tie. Around her right wrist was a bracelet with white, soft-glowing orbs that resembled the fox's necklace. Her head was topped off with a matching fedora hat and the edges of her lips curled into a slight smile.
 

“Just what the hell is this?” asked Elisa.

The Asian woman's lithe fingers balled into a fist and connected with Elisa's jaw. “It's called a punch.”

Elisa's head rocked to the side and she struck back with a swift kick striking the nameless woman in the chest. The woman stumbled back and snarled at her opponent and muttered something in another language.

“Watch your mouth, some of us understand Japanese.” Elisa reached into a pouch on her belt and hurled several shuriken at the woman. “Bitch.”

The woman weaved through the projectiles. She reached behind her back, pulling free the kukri dagger that had still been lodged in there. Her face contorted in pain as she did. She jumped towards Elisa and let the kukri fly from her fingers. It was too fast and it went into Elisa's shoulder, causing her to grimace.
 

“How does that feel?” asked the woman.
 

“Okay...maybe we should take a break here,” said Elisa. “I've got a lot of questions that need answering and at the moment, many of them revolve around you.”

“Funny, I could say the same.”

“So what do you say, pause on the cat fight?”

The woman stood upright and crossed her arms over her chest, carefully eyeing the myth hunter with her copper eyes. After a few seconds, she sighed and nodded.

“Good, but first things first.” Elisa gripped the kukri and pulled it free from her shoulder. “Nngh...much better. Now, just who the hell are you and what's with the Lon Chaney routine?”

“Asami,” she said. “And the transformation? I've been able to do that since my hundredth birthday.”

“Excuse me?”

“I'm a yokai, you moron,” said Asami.
 

“You mean you're a Japanese spirit?” asked Elisa.
 

“Kitsune to be exact,” she said. “And you're a myth hunter, aren't you?”