Christopher Golden - Uncharted - The Fourth Labyrinth

“We could jump,” he said.

Henriksen scoffed. “It’s too far.”

Drake wasn’t sure about that. The ledge on the other side looked wider, and it was a good six feet lower. If it weren’t for the fact that a fall onto the rocks below almost certainly would kill them, he would have been willing to gamble that with the right footing and trajectory, he could have made it.

“So we walk,” Drake said.

Olivia gave a pensive sigh and then raised her gun and took aim at Drake’s chest.

“Well, we do,” she said.

As Jada reached for her holstered weapon, Drake started to bring his Glock up to shoot her. All over the ledge there was movement, guns coming up, flashlight beams dancing around. Corelli let out a cry that sounded like a celebration.

Tyr Henriksen stepped between Olivia and Drake.

“Olivia, what do you think you’re doing?”

It seemed to Drake that she had removed her mask at last. The smile that lifted the corners of her mouth was cruel and lovely and tinged with madness.

“Finally disabusing you of the notion that you’re in charge here,” she said, raising the pistol and aiming it at Henriksen’s face.

Drake blinked in surprise even as Jada let out a small gasp. Neither of them had seen this coming. Apparently, Henriksen hadn’t, either. He stiffened, lifted his chin, and glared at her, then tilted his head toward his bodyguard.

“Corelli,” he said. “Try not to kill her.”

With a laugh, Corelli shuffled over beside Olivia, but his gun was trained on Drake and Jada. “Nothing to worry about on that score, boss. ”

Even as Henriksen absorbed this shock, the mercenaries took aim as if they were a firing squad, but all the guns were pointed at Henriksen, Drake, and Jada.

“You incredible bitch,” Jada said. “You killed my dad, after all, didn’t you?”

Olivia gazed at her with regret. “I know you’d like to believe that, but I actually really liked Luka. Sweet man. In the end, he was too innocent for me. I wanted him to be a part of this, but when he went off on his little crusade-well, somebody was going to kill him. It just didn’t end up being me. The protectors got to him first.”

“You knew they existed?” Drake asked.

“Not until Luka turned up dead. Then when I heard about Dr. Cheney, well, it was obvious someone didn’t want us to find this place.”

“Us,” Drake echoed.

Corelli smiled. “Us.”

Drake narrowed his eyes, feeling his hand tighten on the grip of his gun. “You came after us in New York. In the van. You set Luka’s apartment on fire.”

“I coordinated,” Corelli said, correcting him. He glanced at Perkins. “You can hire anyone to do anything if you know who to call.”

Drake turned to Perkins. “If those were your guys, they were pretty sloppy.”

“Not my people,” Perkins said. “This is my first time working for Mrs. Hzujak.”

Henriksen winced at the words, this confirmation that Perkins was taking orders from Olivia instead of from him.

“I’m the one who hired you, damn it!” Henriksen snapped at the mercenary commander. “How the hell is she paying you?”

“What you offered them is nothing compared to a cut of what’s waiting for us in the treasure chamber,” Olivia said, her eyes alight with greed and zealotry.

“It’s a calculated risk,” Perkins admitted. “We consider it an investment.”

Massarsky shifted uncomfortably. When Drake glanced at him, the huge ex-soldier shrugged.

“Sorry, man.”

“Yeah.” Drake laughed drily. “No hard feelings.”

“Enough,” Olivia said, tilting her head toward Jada. “Get the girl’s pack.”

When Corelli came forward, keeping his weapon trained on Drake, Jada started to shuffle away from him, dangerously close to the edge of the ravine.

“Give it to him,” Drake said. “She wants your father’s journal and the maps. They’re useless to us down here. Luka never made it this far. If he guessed the fourth labyrinth was in China, he didn’t write it down. There’s nothing in there that can help us.”

Olivia laughed. “Nothing can help you.”

“God, when did you become so cold-blooded?” Henriksen asked.

“Says the man who’d stab his own brother in the back to get what he wants,” Olivia said.

“Never literally,” Henriksen said. “I’ve never killed anyone.”

“Too bad you missed your chance,” Olivia said.

Perkins cleared his throat. “Can we just get on with this? It’s a long climb down and up again, and we’ve gotta do it again coming back.”

Olivia shot him an irritated look, then gestured to Corelli.

Corelli lifted his gun and pressed the barrel against Drake’s temple. “Drop the gun, dumbass. You’re slightly outnumbered.”

He snickered. That, more than anything, was what flipped the switch inside Drake.

“Dropping it,” he said. “Just don’t talk anymore. Your breath is terrible.”

Corelli shoved the gun against his temple. Drake held his gun away from him and bent down slowly, lowering it to the ground.

“This guy,” Corelli said, glancing over at Olivia. “Can I kill him now or what?”

The second his gaze shifted away, Drake knocked his arm back, throwing off his aim, and kicked him in the chest. Corelli staggered backward, arms pinwheeling, right over the edge of the ravine. He screamed on the way down and pulled the trigger twice, but the bullets vanished in the darkness above them.

“Son of a bitch!” Olivia shrieked, striding toward him, leaving Garza and another mercenary to cover Henriksen.

Perkins and Massarsky were on Drake instantly, guns pointed at his head, but Drake wasn’t stupid. He didn’t try picking up his weapon, just laced his fingers at the back of his neck.

“Come on, guys,” he said. “Tell me you weren’t tempted to do that yourself. I mean, I know you’re going to shoot us, but that clown had to go first.”

“Nate?” Jada said quietly.

His bravado failed when he heard the crack in her voice. But he didn’t regret what he’d done. Corelli had been about to kill him, which meant he’d bought them a couple of extra minutes of life. And now Olivia had no sidekick, no one to share her plan, no one else who knew where to find what they were looking for. Perkins had just become her best friend, but he cared only about the gold. Olivia was alone, and she deserved that.

“What are you waiting for?” Olivia snapped, glancing at Perkins even as she kept her weapon aimed at Henriksen.

“What’s wrong, Olivia?” Henriksen said. “Afraid to get blood on your own hands?”

Drake had been fighting his instinct to like the guy. But since they were both about to be shot, he figured that put them on the same side, and he couldn’t help but admire the big Norwegian’s fearlessness.

“Just waiting for your order,” Perkins said.

Fourteen mercenaries and one coldhearted witch, all with guns aimed at them. Drake felt a terrible sadness grip his heart as he thought about Sully and realized that whenever they caught up with him, they were going to kill him, too.

He stood, ignoring the mercenaries who shouted at him not to move, and reached out to take Jada’s hand. Hell, they were family. She squeezed, and he glanced at her.

“Now I know how Butch and Sundance felt,” she whispered, but her smile was strained and her eyes were damp with unshed tears.

“Do it,” Olivia said. “Kill-”

Massarsky shouted and backed away from the ravine, swinging his assault rifle around to aim at the edge.

“What the hell?” Garza yelled, and pulled the trigger.

All eyes turned toward the ravine as hooded men clutching metal claws dragged themselves onto the ledge, moving inhumanly fast. Garza’s bullets punched through one of them, sending blood spraying out into the gap, the body tumbling down onto the rocks below. Gunfire echoed off the walls of the ravine, mercenaries shouted, but the Protectors of the Hidden Word were silent as they attacked, killing and dying in equal measure.