Iris Johansen - Eight Days To Live

Dear God.

“Jane.” Eve reached out and touched her arm.

“Yes, definitely upset.” Roland pulled out the gun from his jacket pocket. “But you’ll be happy to know that you’ll be able to join him soon.”

She shouldn’t have let him know that his words had cut deep. She had to get a grip. She looked him in the eye. “You told Trobell to kill Caleb.”

“Oh yes, that’s why I got the very best.”

“And now you have the coins, and you have no need to keep us alive. What about Kandor?”

“He was a witness. Trobell was to take him out first.” He glanced at his watch. “It’s fifteen to seven. Now we can all settle down for an evening of fun entertainment. Millet should be back any minute.”

“It was a setup.”

“You’re a clever woman. You suspected that could be the case. But you were desperate enough to take the chance.” He nodded at Eve. “I always thought you might be the way we could trap her. You’ve been a valuable asset. I think I’m going to truly regret having to let Millet have his way with you.”

“Let her go,” Jane said. “Take her out of here after this damn ceremony starts. I’ll do anything. What do you want?”

“I’m afraid you no longer have any bargaining power. I have the coins.” He added, “And I have to stay with Millet for a little while longer. He has something I need.”

“If you have those coins, you’ll have all the power you’ll ever want. And you told me you didn’t care about this damn cult.”

“Did I fail to mention that Millet has photos of me as well as the other members at the Offerings? It would be so much easier to deny any connection without that bit of proof. No, I have to have those photos.” He turned to the door. “Now I have to leave you and go meet Millet in the Offering Room. For once, he’ll be very pleased with me.” He glanced back at Jane. “I wish you hadn’t gotten in my way. I’m really not going to enjoy the Offering tonight.”

“You’re lying,” she said. “You’ll love every minute of it. You like to pretend that you’re different from Millet, but you’re both savages, just like Hadar, who built this temple.”

His smile faded. “Perhaps you’re right. I’ll see when I watch Millet tear into you with his dagger.” He opened the door, and they were suddenly bombarded by a roar of sound; laughter, excited chatter.

“They’ve just let the members into the Offering Room,” Roland paused, listening. “All that excitement is for you, Jane.”

“Blasphemer. Blasphemer. Blasphemer.”

Jane’s hands clenched into fists. That horrible, archaic word again.

“Yes, all for you,” Roland said. “I believe I’ll join them for the next chorus. I’ll see you when the guards bring you to-” He was suddenly thrown back into the room. “What the-”

“Out!” Caleb was in the room. “Jane, Eve. Get out in the corridor. It’s almost time.”

Alive. He was alive. Relief soared through Jane as she helped Eve get to her feet. “The guards?”

“One down, I couldn’t take time to break him. The other three are sure they’re doing what Millet would want them to do.” He whirled toward Roland. “Trobell wants to see you.”

Roland’s eyes were wide with shock. “Trobell killed-He called me.”

“He lied. But then he has no conscience. That’s why you chose him.”

“My coins. Where are-”

“With Trobell.” He started toward him. “He’s protecting them with his body. Of course, it’s his dead body. I think it-”

Roland raised his gun.

“No!” Eve grabbed his arm.

Roland backhanded her and she fell to the floor. He pointed the gun at her.

But Caleb had reached Roland, and his hand closed like a vise on the man’s wrist.

Roland screamed as the gun fell from his hand.

Jane could see the dark blood spread under the skin of his wrist and lower arm as the blood vessels ruptured.

“Get in the corridor,” Caleb said between his teeth. “Don’t wait. He’s… strong.”

“You get out.” Jane snatched up the gun that had fallen from Roland’s hand. “This is no time to rely on all that damn blood stuff.” She pointed the gun at Roland. Monster puppeteer. Send a photo, make a phone call, and destroy the lives of innocent people. Celine, Yvette, Mrs. Dalbrey. He would have shot Eve just now if Caleb hadn’t stopped him. Millet would never have entered any of their lives if Roland hadn’t been there pushing and prodding and destroying. “I think Caleb is right. I think you should join Trobell.”

She shot him in the heart.

“That’s the first time that you’ve totally agreed with me in this kind of circumstance,” Caleb said as he reached down and helped Eve to her feet. “Eve, you really shouldn’t make a habit of this. You can’t protect the entire world.”

“Shut up.” She was swaying as she headed for the door. “Get Jane out of here. The shot… would someone hear it?”

“Not with that hysteria going on in the Offering Room. Come on, Jane.” He supported Eve as he started down the corridor. They passed two guards who merely nodded at Caleb and ignored Eve and Jane. “Three more minutes,” Caleb said.

“Three…” Eve moistened her cracked lips. “What are you talking about?”

He glanced at Jane. “You managed to do it?”

“Yes, when I braced myself against the wall of the tunnel.” Her gaze was fixed in fascination on the arched door ahead of them.

The chanting was like nothing she had ever heard. It was hideous, rhythmic, and full of excitement.

Blasphemer .

Take her .

Kill her .

Tear her .

“One minute,” he murmured as he stopped to the left of the arched opening. “We stay back here until the stampede starts, then we let them take us out of the temple.”

The screaming rose in intensity, and Jane could see why. Millet was striding up the ramp into the Offering Room. He was dressed in black leather jeans and jacket, and he was arrogance personified.

How he loves it, Jane thought. His cheeks were flushed, his eyes shining, and every muscle in his body seemed electrified, fed by the screaming horde.

He had reached the altar.

He bowed to the mosaic of Judas, then turned to the crowd and raised his arms. “You want the Blasphemer. I heard you shouting your will. How much do you want her?”

The screams shook the room.

“Then I’ll give her to you. I’ll show her how you punish Blasphemers.”

Another shout.

“You want her blood? I’ll make her scream as I take her blood for you.”

“Blood? I’m beginning to take this personally,” Caleb murmured. “It brings back too many memories. I’m not sure I can wait for-”

The floor of the temple exploded, the stones heaved upward!

Millet was thrown to the ground.

The altar cracked and shifted to one side.

The audience was screaming but in terror now. Jumping from their seats, they bolted toward the ramp that led outside.

“Now!” Caleb pushed Jane and Eve through the archway into the midst of the panicky crowd. “Get Eve outside before the next explosion goes off. It’s due in about six minutes.”

Jane was already pulling Eve through the mob. “Just keep on your feet,” she told her. “If we go down, we’ll be trampled.”

“You planted explosives?”

“Plastic. Small but powerful. In the passage beneath this Offering Room.” She was fighting, shoving her way. Where was Caleb? She couldn’t see him in this mob. Hell, she couldn’t see anything but wild-eyed, panicky people on every side. “Joe planted another set on the outside near the front entrance to go off seven minutes later. We figured that we’d be out of the temple by that time.”