Primordial (Lilitu Trilogy Book 2) Page 2

  “Hey, Dickweed,” the fat one said, stepping directly into their path. “That your girlfriend?”

  Lilith knew her brother, who was quite adept at martial arts, could probably take both of these brats out, so she waited, saying nothing.

  “She’s my sister, dude. Why don’t you guys go play on the swings or something?”

  Acne face suddenly spoke up. “You some kind of smart ass or something?”

  “More like a pain in the ass.”

  “Well, your ass is about to get kicked,” the fat one said, taking a step toward them. Out of the corner of her eye, Lilith saw John tense up, readying himself for what was about to come. But even though she had confidence in her brother, she found that she couldn’t resist the urge to have a bit of fun.

  The sky suddenly began to grow dark and John and the two bullies glanced up to see black, angry clouds billowing up out of nothing and forming directly above them, accented by a backdrop of perfectly blue sky. They grew into monstrous thunderheads in a matter of seconds as bolts of lightning bounced around inside them like electric pinballs. A jagged bolt shot out from the bottom of one of the clouds and struck a tree not more than twenty yards away, splitting it in two and leaving a smoldering ruin. As the boys stared at the tree with mouths agape, there was a low growling behind them and they turned to see the two labs baring their teeth, ready to lunge any second and tear them apart.

  “I think you boys better leave now.” Lilith’s voice was unnaturally low, her eyes dark as midnight. She and John watched as the pair slowly backed away and then turned and ran the direction they had come.

  The dogs immediately trotted back across the grass to their owner, acting as if nothing at all had happened. The clouds dissipated overhead, once again leaving a clear blue sky.

  John turned to look at his sister. “Was that really necessary? I had it under control.”

  “You owe me one,” the girl said, and began walking across the park toward the bicycle shop.

  Four

  The Island of Crete

  Anemospilia Temple Dig Site

  Jade Moore was covered with dirt and grime, getting baked under the hot Mediterranean sun, but she didn’t mind, because she figured they may have finally discovered something that would make it all worthwhile. She stood with a dozen contract diggers, or “shovel bums” as Dr. Fenway called them, along with archeology students, research assistants and professors from North Carolina State University and the University of Crete, watching Fenway as he used a paintbrush to carefully remove the dirt from this latest artifact.

  “It’s amazing,” she heard him say with a coarse whisper. “It’s a case made of some kind of metal. But why bury it near a temple?”

  The resident geomorphologist, Dr. Sam Jensen, knelt down to get a closer look at the object. “Maybe whoever did it figured the gods would watch over it.”

  The ghost of a smile creased Jade’s lips. The blonde-haired, blue-eyed Jensen was young and smart, a little too smart for his own good sometimes. She could tell it got on Fenway’s nerves.

  And he’s cute as hell, too, she thought.

  Fenway glanced over at his colleague. “You may be right,” he said.

  “The thing that bothers me, though, is that it looks like a dense, heavy metal, similar to lead,” Jensen said. “If that’s true, whatever is in there could be radioactive.”

  Fenway smirked. “That’s ridiculous. There is no uranium or any other kind of radioactive element on Crete.”

  “Nevertheless, I’d like to check it out, just to be safe.” Jensen stood and walked across camp to his tent while the archeologist continued dusting. He returned a couple of minutes later with a Geiger counter and knelt down next to Fenway. Suddenly, Jade saw Fenway’s eyes grow wide as he stared down at the dirt.

  “What is it?” Jensen asked.

  “Look,” he said

  Jade stepped closer to the two and could make out something on top of the grey, one-meter long by half-meter wide rectangle that looked like carved symbols—in a language she had never seen before—and she had been studying ancient symbols long before she became a college student.

  As they knelt, looking at the strange writing, Jensen switched on his Geiger counter and held it over the object. Immediately, it began to emit a loud, continuous clicking noise. Jade knew that meant it was hot with radiation. Fenway and Jensen glanced at each other.

  “Could that thing be wrong?” Fenway asked.

  “I just had it calibrated. Whatever is in there is reading about one hundred Rems, which means we won’t be able to handle it safely. I suggest we have this tested under controlled conditions in a lab at the university in Heraklion.”

  The archeologist frowned and then nodded. “I guess we don’t have much choice.”

  “We’ll get some of the diggers to help dig it out with pry bars. Then Dr. Thanos can take it to the university, along with a couple of the students.”

  Without thinking, Jade threw a hand in the air and blurted, “I want to go!”

  * * *

  Jade stared out the window of the SUV as the archeology professor from the University of Crete, Dr. Demetrios Thanos, drove them through the olive tree-covered countryside on the way to Heraklion. One of his research assistants rode in front and they spoke back and forth in Greek, none of which Jade understood. It would be a long drive, but a beautiful one, she thought as she cranked up the volume on her iPod. The sounds of Toby Mac pumped into her eardrums, drowning out the chatter.

  Jade’s cousin Lisa would soon arrive with her husband Hunter to do a story on their dig site. This latest find would be the piece de résistance, she thought. Jade wondered how she could have been so lucky to get an assignment like this. But she supposed it wasn’t exactly luck; she also had the highest GPA in her class. She had always wanted to come to Crete and study the ancient Minoans, the first European civilization. And now, here she was. If this artifact turned out to be something incredible, her name would be synonymous with Gertrude Bell, Edith Hamilton…

  Okay, slow down, Jade. You’re getting ahead of yourself.

  She wondered what could possibly be inside the case that sat behind her. The diggers had said it was surprisingly light for its size—one of them could easily lift the entire box. Was it some alloy they had never heard of? Anything was possible. But if there was something like uranium inside there, she was a little uncomfortable being this close to radiation. Sam had assured her that the levels were safe as long there was no direct contact and the object…whatever it was…stayed inside the box. Besides, she probably got more radiation from the summer sun the past few days than she would ever get from the artifact.

  She gazed out at the flat expanse leading up to the mountains that seemed to surround them on all sides. Soon, the olive trees would turn brown and the summer heat would be almost unbearable. It could often reach temperatures over one hundred degrees and that could make life miserable for a dig team. But that was all part of the job, she figured, and sighed deeply.

  Dr. Thanos turned his head, shot a glance at her and smiled. She smiled back just before her neck whiplashed when a car in the next lane slammed into the side of their SUV, forcing them off the road and into an uncontrollable spin. The professor began to curse loudly in Greek as the young man next to him screamed. She gripped the back of the seat in front of her so tightly that it felt as if her fingernails would rip through it. Jade felt the pressure of the seat belt against her body, thankful that she remembered to wear it. Her neck ached from the impact and her stomach did summersaults as the car continued to spin across the road like the hand of a racing clock.

  Then, they hit a bump, and the SUV flipped.

  Her world was suddenly upside down and Jade could see outside the windows, the blue sky where the ground should be, and braced for impact. The roof of the vehicle caved in like the side of a soda can, leaving no room for her head, and Jade had to duck to keep from getting her neck broken as the seat belt held her fast. The momentum kept t
hem sliding down the pavement as the metal of the roof shrieked like giant fingernails on a blackboard. Jade continued to grip the back of the seat in front of her as she closed her eyes and prayed for it to stop before they slid into oncoming traffic. Music blared through her iPod ear buds, but was drowned out by the sound of the SUV’s metal roof scraping across the asphalt.

  After what seemed like forever, they finally came to a halt and rocked forward onto the front of the hood. She was so dazed, she could do little more than stare at the front seat. She yanked the ear buds out and thumbed off her iPod, which was now lying on the roof. The sudden silence was almost surreal. Her companions didn’t move or make a sound—she figured they were either unconscious, or dead.

  Who had forced them off the road, and why? Someone would have seen the wreck and they must have been blocking traffic, she figured. The police would be there soon.

  She wanted to unbuckle her seat belt, but was afraid of falling.

  Great, what do I do now?

  That was when she heard the voices.

  Five

  River City, North Carolina

  “Are you sure you packed everything?” Lisa Singleton asked her forgetful husband.

  “Yeah, pretty sure,” Hunter answered, looking over the contents of his suitcase with mock interest. “Extra underwear, sunscreen, porn DVDs, condoms…” He glanced across the bed at her. “Yep, all set.”

  Lisa narrowed her eyes, reached into her own suitcase and grabbed a tube of toothpaste, then tossed it at his head. It missed by a fraction of an inch and smacked into the wall. Hunter looked back at the tube which now lay on the floor and then at Lisa, his eyes wide.

  “Wow, pregnant women are touchy.”

  “You’re a real funny man, you know that? Hand me my toothpaste.”

  Hunter leaned over, picked up the tube and tossed it onto the bed. “Are you done trying to injure me?”

  “Next time I’ll throw an iron at your head.”

  “You know, violent women have always been a big turn-on for me.”

  Hunter snapped his suitcase shut and heaved it off the bed and onto the floor. He turned and stared at himself in the mirror, and thought he could see strands of grey growing in his longish black hair like weeds in a green lawn. His dark skin and brown eyes seemed to make the grey even more pronounced.

  “Do I look old to you?” he asked.

  “You look thirty-three,” Lisa said as she leaned hard on the top of her suitcase, snapping it shut with a free hand.

  Hunter rubbed his five o-clock shadow. “Maybe I should shave. Might take off a couple of years.”

  Lisa dragged the suitcase off the bed and onto the floor with a thud. “It’s too late to shave. We have a plane to catch.”

  Hunter sneered at himself in the mirror. He really hated flying. “Yeah, don’t remind me. Maybe I should take some valium or something.”

  Lisa stopped behind her husband and stared at his reflected face. “I don’t think so, darling. You’re driving, remember?” She pulled the suitcase out of the bedroom and called behind her. “Come on, Hunter, we’re going to be late.”

  Hunter glanced out the bedroom door, admiring his wife’s firm butt.

  Her pregnancy hasn’t affected that too much, thank God, he thought, and then followed her down the hallway and to the front door.

  * * *

  Airport security at Raleigh Durham International was the usual hassle: take off the shoes, empty the pockets, step through the scanner, etcetera, etcetera. And that was after standing in line for half an hour. Next they’ll be doing rectal exams, Hunter thought.

  Then we get to sit for twelve hours inside a five-hundred mile-per-hour metal tube with wings. Good thing we don’t have kids.

  Hunter eyed his wife’s swollen belly as he grabbed his shoes off the conveyor.

  Well, at least not yet.

  The pair waded through the sea of people inside the terminal, eventually stopping to eat at Five Guys Burgers and Fries, which took the edge off Hunter’s aerophobia. As he chomped on a well-done cheeseburger, CNN blared on one of the restaurant’s TVs. The story was about a philanthropist named David Lawrence, who had just finished building yet another obelisk, this time in Crete, the very island they would be visiting.

  “That guy must have money coming out of his ass,” Hunter said through a mouthful of hamburger. “How the hell could he afford to build all those towers?”

  Lisa glanced up at the TV. “They’re obelisks, not towers. Besides, I think they’re beautiful. Each obelisk is supposed to pay homage to the country it’s built in.”

  As they watched, the camera zoomed in on the structure, revealing intricate designs and what looked like an ancient form of writing similar to Sanskrit. The camera panned up, showing the top of the latest, and supposedly final, two-hundred foot monolith.

  Hunter took another bite of his burger, savoring it as if it was his last meal. “I have to admit, they are pretty cool looking. I just think it’s weird that no one ever sees this David Lawrence guy. I mean, he doesn’t do interviews, no talk shows; he doesn’t speak to the press at all.”

  Lisa swallowed a French fry and glanced at Hunter. “Maybe he just likes his privacy. Besides, you’re a member of the press, so maybe you can get an interview.”

  “Yeah, like he would talk to me.”

  He took the last bite of burger, then glanced at the waiter and held up a hand, signaling for the check.

  Six

  Jade blinked her eyes and tried to swim through a thick, watery haze back to consciousness. Her head ached and her neck felt like an overstretched rubber band. There was a sting on her upper arm and she looked at it, saw a fresh bandage there.

  Where the hell am I, and how did I get here?

  She propped herself up on one elbow and looked around. Whatever this place was, it seemed nicer than the Waldorf Astoria. She was lying on a king-sized bed that was covered with an expensive, intricately designed quilt. It reminded her of designs found on Turkish rugs. In fact, as she gazed around the room, she saw that there were several Turkish rugs hanging on the walls. There was a bedside table with a digital clock, a pitcher of water and a glass, but no telephone. A dresser with a large mirror sat across the room from her and an armoire with several drawers and double doors was against another wall. In the third wall at the foot of her bed was an oak door, which she figured led to either a closet or a bathroom. Next to it was a large, flat-screen TV on a stand. Sunlight streamed in through a huge, multi-paned window and she could hear the sound of the ocean outside.

  We’re still in Crete, or on one of the islands.

  Memories suddenly began to flood her mind like a flashback and her body jerked in response.

  Voices. She heard voices. Then she saw feet, coming towards the car. The world and everything in it was upside down, blood rushing to her head. Then she saw someone kneel and a face was in front of her window. A bald man. He was asking her if she was okay and she said she thought so. He looked behind the car, in front of the car, then reached inside and unbuckled her belt. She fell on her head onto shards of glass and nearly broke her neck. Then there were hands pulling her through the broken window. A piece of it cut her arm. Once outside, one arm wrapped itself around her torso and a rag with something wet was slapped over her nose and mouth. She tried to hold her breath, but couldn’t. She was too tired to fight. Then, she was here.

  Jade figured Dr. Thanos got left behind, along with his poor assistant. The man didn’t deserve to die like that. Whoever did this was obviously after whatever they were carrying in that case. She knew she should be afraid, but if they had meant to do her harm, she would be tied to a chair in an empty room with a light bulb swinging over her head, not lying on a king-sized mattress that would make a queen blush.

  She thought about what her parents would do when they found out she was missing. Her mother would be frantic, probably call Interpol. But she had to be logical about this, take it one step at a time. She couldn’t afford to
fall apart.

  Jade swung her feet over the side of the bed to sit up and saw that someone had taken her shoes off. Then she heard the door unlock and her throat went dry as sandpaper. She gulped down a pocket of air, and turned to watch it slowly open.

  Seven

  Hunter’s pulse went from hammering to mildly pounding when the wheels of the plane finally touched the ground. His breathing slowed and the tension, which made him feel like an over-tightened guitar string, started to unwind. His fear of flying was a lifelong thing, and he had never really understood where it had come from. He always figured that it was probably related to his fear of heights. Going up a tall ladder gave him the cold sweats; so likewise, being forty-thousand feet up, strapped inside a bullet with wings, was akin to skydiving without a parachute. Somehow, though, he always managed to come out of it alive.

  As the plane taxied down the runway, he glanced over at his wife, admiring her kinky black hair. She turned from the window and glanced at him. She was glowing and radiant. Something about being pregnant seemed to have that affect on her. Hunter smiled and she smiled back.

  “Welcome to paradise,” he said.

  “I don’t know about paradise, but it definitely looks like a beautiful place.”

  “Well, it’s even more beautiful with you here.”

  Lisa leaned over and kissed him. “Lady killer,” she whispered.

  * * *

  As they rode in a taxi to their hotel in Heraklion, Hunter thought that he had never seen so many olive trees in his life. The hills and mountains were virtually covered with them. From what he had found during his research, the olive tree was the life blood of Crete. Cretans were dedicated to their cultivation as well as to their preservation. Most food in Crete, in fact, was served with olives and olive oil, which was fine with him. Hunter had always loved olives. Later in the summer, the trees and shrubs would dry up and turn brown, but for now, he would enjoy the greenery.