She looked down as they ran, careful not to fall, eyeing the sloping portion of the wall as it met the cave floor below. If they could time the jump and stay near the wall, they could probably slide down it and hopefully only come out with a few minor bumps and scrapes. She was hoping Logan had done the same.

  But they won’t listen to a Zoologist. She grinned. Not unless I make them.

  “Sorry, guys,” she said. She executed a perfect roll—one which she came up on her ass as she slipped over the fifty-plus-foot drop. Instead of throwing herself away from the wall she hugged it, staying close.

  She instantly heard shouted voices from above as she finished the ultimate thrill seekers slide of doom. Feeling halfway successful so far, she looked up and within seconds saw Ares and Zeus do the same. Watching someone with very little combat training survive thus far had given the men exactly the push they needed.

  Apollo and Poseidon were the last to jump, but only one of them made it.

  Poseidon was in midair when the Nsanga snagged him with its enormous jaws, nearly cutting him in half when it did. Then like an overzealous dog, it then shook him to pieces as it ground down his remains.

  CJ witnessed the entire thing. She didn’t even realize she’d finished the descent until she heard the other’s voices.

  “What happened to Poseidon?” Zeus shouted, getting to his feet. He and Ares had just completed their own slide when the other man was caught. They didn’t see a thing. Zeus looked around again. “Damnit, I said what happened to Chad!”

  A wet slap hit the ground behind the Delta men, turning them as one. Each of them looked down and quickly stumbled back in shock. It was Poseidon’s legs, still attached by what was left of his hips and midsection. Blood poured out of the severed limbs, making CJ vomit on the ground next to her. She then cursed aloud and marched off into the brush.

  “Shit, man,” Apollo said, joining Zeus and Ares. “I thought he was right behind me.”

  “Nothing you could’ve done, Brett,” Zeus said, looking up. He couldn’t see the creature from where he stood but he could hear it snarling. They all could. Its call echoed off the rock around them like it did above.

  Zeus wanted nothing more than to climb back up the cliff face and kill it himself but he immediately squelched the idea as soon as it crossed him. It would be suicidal to even try such a thing. With Logan and Fitz gone, it was his responsibility to get the others to safety. He wouldn’t be able to do that if he wasn’t completely dedicated to the task.

  “Move out,” he said to his two remaining men. “Stay close to CJ and look out for Logan and Kiani.”

  Both men moved off, quickly trying to catch up to the fiery Aussie. Zeus stayed behind and gave the Nsanga’s position one more laser-focused stare before he too melted into the foliage of the newly discovered jungle.

  He turned and double-timed it until he was side by side with her. She had a horrified look on her face and looked pissed as hell. He knew he needed to say something. He didn’t need her going off the rails in a place like this.

  “Cass.”

  She stopped. “Don’t even start, Dave!”

  He was shocked that she’d use his real name, watching her stomp away again. Generally, it wasn’t something they did. Personally, he didn’t care but they were taught not to give up their real identities when in the field. It was different with the SDF members, though. They didn’t have callsigns.

  She stopped again and looked over her shoulder.

  “Look,” she said, “I’m sorry. But I’m not going crazy.”

  He nodded. “Good, because I need at least one sane person with me right now and Ares and Apollo aren’t even on the radar.” She turned around. “They left sanity behind when they joined up in this little endeavor.”

  She smiled. “What about you?”

  He laughed. “Who said I was sane? I’m here, aren’t I?”

  This time, she laughed a little, releasing some of the built up tension. CJ had seen enough death in the last month. Watching a mythical creature like the Nsanga cut one of their own in half like that was the tip of the iceberg. She’d seen something similar happen to Dada when a truck-sized leopard bit him in half.

  “So am I then…”

  He shrugged. “You had a choice, though. We didn’t. We gave that up years ago. This is what we do. I’m sure if you could do it again you’d stay behind, but us…we’d still be here.” He looked at Ares and Apollo and then back to CJ. “Look, it seems to me that the oversized newt can’t follow us down here—or doesn’t choose too—I don’t give a shit which it is. Take ten and rest. Reload and drink something if you need to. I don’t want to stop again until we’ve found the others.”

  Zeus was going to add “dead or alive,” but refrained from it for CJ’s sake. After all, Logan and Fitz meant more to her than they did. It was a harsh reality but it’s something Zeus had lived by since the army. Men died in combat. Plain and simple. He lost a shit ton of men in the Serengeti and three more already tonight. The Olympian Delta team was a literal ‘revolving door’ lately with Ares and him being the only original members left.

  “I’m sorry, guys,” CJ said, tearing up again. “If I didn’t come down here, Chad would still be alive.”

  “To be honest,” Ares said, placing a hand on her shoulder, “I was about a second away from diving down here myself.”

  That got a much needed smile out of CJ.

  “Where do you think Logan and Kiani are?” she asked.

  “Last I saw,” Zeus said, “they were keeping pace with us. I say we move dead west and see if we can get lucky and run into them.”

  CJ nodded. “How far do think? I mean, the valley ballooned out a good amount as we ran.”

  “Not far,” Apollo chimed in. “I’d say four or five hundred yards max. I think it’s dark enough down here to use our night vision too. At least in the trees.”

  CJ hadn’t noticed it until just now. She looked up and saw that most of the ambient light was, indeed, being blocked out by what passed for a jungle canopy. Apparently, it was coming from the cave itself—the ceiling mainly.

  Probably a type of iridescent lichen of some kind. It was another of the jungle’s mysteries that would need to stay unsolved for a little while longer.

  They set out, doing their best to travel in a straight line. Thankfully, the brush underground wasn’t as thick as it was topside. They also tried to avoid touching anything if they could help it. While most of the Congo was unexplored, leaving the possibility open for poisonous plants, the cave beneath the jungle held an even larger risk. Everything down there was unknown to modern man.

  As the minutes passed by, CJ continued to scan the green-tinted trees. It was like Apollo had said. Their equipment was most definitely useable. Just barely, though. If CJ looked straight up and caught a peek at the ceiling through the leaves above, her eyes would water and her vision would blur.

  Eyes forward, she thought. It was a lesson Logan had taught her when in similar situations. She knew being a lookie-loo in a setting like this could get her killed.

  Ares led the way, followed by Apollo and her. Zeus brought up the rear. It was actually comforting to know a man with Zeus’ skill was right behind her. Now that their group was down to four, she quickly saw the merit in trusting her teammates. She’d listen to their every command without an argument, being as close to a domesticated pet with her actions.

  A couple minutes into their trek, they came upon a stream. It was cold and refreshing as they waded through the waist-deep water, quickly reinvigorating the group. CJ even refilled her water bottle as she pushed through, deciding that it may be the freshest water in all of the rainforest—maybe the continent.

  The others did likewise.

  She was also the last to start moving again. Her attention moved off of the water in front of her to further downriver.

  “What is it?” Zeus asked, stopping a few feet in front of her.

  “Probably nothing,” she replied, “but it looks like the water gets rougher up ahead.”

  Zeus looked and watched as the water, indeed, picked up speed as it went. He could even hear it picking up steam too.

  “Hopefully, we won’t have to worry about that anytime soon.”

  CJ nodded her own reply and turned away.

  They continued west in silence, moving at a solid pace. No one wanted to make a racket and disguise an incoming threat. They did, however, want to find Logan and Kiani very much. It was the balance between urgency and caution that CJ was having the toughest time with. If it was up to her, she’d be dashing through the vegetation around her, shouting her brother’s name like a crazy woman. But like before, just minutes ago, she obeyed Zeus’ command for silence.

  They couldn’t rescue anyone if they were dead.

  As they marched on they came across a dense tangle of weedy vines, halting their progress. They’d either have to chop their way through or go around.

  “Up here,” Ares whispered, putting a finger to his lips. “I think I hear something.” The others followed suit and slowly crept up to the overgrowth, listening for anything. It visually obscured whatever was behind it to the point that it became an unnerving wall of black. Even their night vision was useless at the moment.

  But CJ heard it too. There was definitely something, or someone, behind it, that was for—suddenly, a form leapt through, knife in hand, growling like a feral beast. It’s only when Ares tumbled with the attacker that CJ got a good look at him.

  “Logan?” she asked, watching her brother hold a wickedly sharp knife to Ares’ throat.

  “Hey there,” Ares said, swallowing hard. He flinched as he felt his shifting Adam’s apple graze the blade as it rose and fell, shaving off a couple of hairs in the process.

  Realizing what he’d almost done, Logan withdrew the weapon and stood, offering Ares his hand. The other man took and fingered his throat for a wound, but found none.

  “Where’s your shirt?” CJ asked.

  Logan looked down at his bare chest and half-buckled trousers and closed his eyes and sighed. Leaning around him, the others found Kiani in the same state, facing away from the group while quickly slipping a shirt over her naked shoulders.

  “Oh,” CJ said, trying to find something else to look at, “well then…”

  “Don’t even start,” Logan said, turning and slicing through the rest of the moss that once concealed his and Kiani’s honeymoon suite. He quickly collected the rest of his gear and began to dress, ignoring his sister’s gaze.

  CJ grinned, following him through. “I’d never think of it...”

  14

  Fitz sat still and waited for death. He’d seen how these things moved. They were like ghosts, appearing and then disappearing in the blink of an eye. Having very little that he could actually see, Fitz, instead, used his senses and reached out, quickly taking in his surroundings.

  Shit, he thought, seeing his rifle. It lay a foot away from his boots. It was too far to reach without it being obvious. No dice. So instead, like a slow-moving slug, he lowered his hand to his right thigh and gripped his trusted sidearm.

  Then, he waited to make his move.

  The shadow moved, barely conceivable in the low light. Every so often he’d see the hint of skin and what may have been animal hide. Whether it was a chimera-like beast or just another of the Ru’kan hunters, he didn’t know. It could’ve just been the person’s clothing. The latter hypothesis proved right as his assailant stepped closer.

  Fitz wasn’t sure what he was seeing. His attacker was female but had to be a hundred years old. Her skin was deeply wrinkled and her hair was grey and kept short like Kiani’s. She stepped forward again and revealed the rest of her form.

  “Wow,” he said, impressed. Even though he knew these people were much different than he, Fitz was still taken back by the woman’s build. She was toned and strong.

  She mumbled something in a language he didn’t recognize.

  Fitz simply shook his head. “I don’t understand.”

  Then, she switched to a language Fitz did understand.

  English.

  “Why are you here?” she asked, her voice gravelly and accusing.

  “You speak English?” Fitz asked, eyes wide.

  She nodded. “When you’ve been alive as long as I, you pick up on certain things.”

  Fitz grinned.

  She repeated the question. “Why are you here?”

  Fitz went to move his hand away from his weapon but got a growl from the older woman. He slowly lifted his hands, showing her they were empty. “Easy, mum. Just want to have a chat is all.”

  Her muscles relaxed and she squatted, waiting for Fitz to answer her previous inquiry. He wasn’t entirely sure what to say. They’d been sent to hunt and most likely kill the Verbraucher—the Ru’kan. But he knew if he’d reveal that, he’d surely die.

  “We were asked to check up on things here.”

  Her eyes squinted. She didn’t believe him.

  Bugger.

  She said as much. “I don’t believe you.”

  He watched as her eyes began to glow the same green as the Ru’kan hunters. If he didn’t deflate the woman’s distrust and boiling anger, he’d be slaughtered.

  “It’s the truth. My friends and I are from the Serengeti. We’re a part of a conservation group—the SDF.”

  The glowing faded some.

  “We battled what we believe to be a World War Two-era virus. The experiments were done on man, but also on animals, using what was described as God Blood—Gott Blut.”

  Her eyes narrowed again at the use of the German words.

  “Nazis?” she asked.

  “Yes. We also found where they got the original DNA from…”

  Her eyes looked away from Fitz as she thought, but they quickly found his again. She reached a hand up to her chest.

  Fitz just nodded his answer.

  “They killed one of your own in the forties.”

  Her eyes softened, looking almost hurt—sad.

  It didn’t go unnoticed by Fitz.

  “You knew the one that was killed, didn’t you?”

  The non-answer was answer enough for him.

  “Who was he?” he asked.

  “He was my…partner.”

  Her husband—damn.

  “I’m sorry.”

  Silence hung in the air and it ate at Fitz. He needed more information about her people, but something nagged at him even more. He just hoped he wouldn’t regret asking the question.

  “Not that I’m upset or anything…but why haven’t you torn me to pieces yet?”

  “Would you like me to?” she asked. Her eyes began to glow again.

  “Not really, no, I like me the way I am. Whole.”

  They darkened again.

  It’s a reflex of some kind. When she feels threatened or angry—an adrenaline spike maybe. The effects take over when she gets worked up.

  “The Ru’kan Nua are not like the ones who killed your men.”

  “Nua?” Fitz asked, feeling relieved.

  She placed her hand on her chest again. “We are the oldest of the Ru’kan—the elders—the Nua. As the generations—the centuries—have passed, we have grown less…bloodthirsty. We began to respect life.”

  “How old are you, if you don’t mind me asking?”

  She stood proudly. “I, Fayng of the Ru’kan Nua, am nearly three-hundred-years-old.”

  Fitz’s mouth hung open. “Three hundred?”

  She nodded.

  He grinned. “You don’t look a day over one-fifty.”

  Fayng’s eyes and shallowest of blood vessels pulsated green for a moment, getting Fitz’s mind going again. The chemical reaction seemed to be emotion based for sure, but not an attack code like he’d originally thought. All emotions seemed to activate it.

  “You are quite charming, mister…”

  “My friends call me Fitz.”

  “Fitz… I like that name.”

  Uh, oh, Fitz thought, seeing her smile. Looks like she may want to have a ‘go’ with me after all.

  “I need to find my friends,” he said, getting back on track. He motioned back to the cave entrance. “They’re in there.”

  Fayng frowned. “They will die.”

  Slowly, Fitz stood and rolled his neck and back. Fayng had really done a number on him with one shot. He’d hate to see the old bird in action for real.

  “I can’t let that happen,” Fitz said, stepping towards his fallen SCAR. Fayng didn’t move, watching as he checked it and slung it over his shoulder.

  “I’m not sure I can help you,” she said, “or if I should.”

  Fitz shrugged. “Your choice. I can figure things out on my own. This ain’t my first rodeo out in the bush.”

  She stepped closer, now only a few yards away. “I can see that you are confident in your abilities, but I am also confident in my telling you of your friends’ fate.”

  “The Nsanga?” Fitz asked.

  Her eyes squinted. “You know much for being an outsider, Fitz.”

  He shrugged. “I have a friend who knows some things.”

  Fayng studied him and continued. “But, yes, the Nsanga, only we call them something different in our tongue.”

  Fitz’s eyebrows raised.

  She laughed. “You won’t be able to properly pronounce it.”

  “Try me.”

  She did and the look on Fitz’s face was what she expected.

  “Alrighty then,” Fitz said. “Nsanga it is.”

  Fitz needed the woman’s help badly. She knew a boatload more than she’d revealed so far. He needed more intel. His friends’ lives depended on it.

  “Is there another way in there?” He motioned to the cave. “Maybe one with fewer ankle-biters?”

  Fayng’s head cocked to the side a little. The woman had a surprising grasp of the English language but not on its less formal euphemisms apparently.

  “The kids—babies,” he said, explaining further. He then rocked his arms back and forth.

  Her muscles tensed.

  “What?” he asked.

  “I was unaware that the female had laid her eggs.”