We will need his sacrifice to save us all.
Angélica had translated KuTu’s spine-chilling words before sending Quint off to round up Pedro and Bronko at the communications tent.
As Quint hustled through the darkness, he couldn’t help but worry about what kind of sacrifice KuTu was talking about. There’d better not be any damned stingray spines involved—or worse, like the whole notion of slicing a guy down the middle and yanking out his heart.
Shit, what had they gotten themselves into at this site?
He heard Pedro’s voice upon nearing the tent. Unzipping the flap, Quint stepped into a cloud of cigar smoke.
“Hey, big Bunyan.” Pedro held out his cigar. “You want to share a puff of some good Cuban tobacco?”
Quint waved away the smoke. “You two need to grab your machetes and flashlights and come with me.”
“Why?” Bronko’s dark eyes narrowed. “Did KuTu run into trouble?”
“Sort of.” Quint walked over to the table where the crew’s flashlights were charging, grabbing one for him and another for Angélica. “We have a small problem.”
He hoped it was small, anyway. But the worry lining KuTu’s face when he’d come to find Angélica gave Quint doubts about making it in and out of the dig site without at least some bruising, if not worse.
Where in the hell was Fernel going, dammit? And why? Was he figuring that the insects might not be soaggressive in the dark and headed out to explore on his own? Or was it as KuTu said, and there was a supernatural force at work here, leading him to the slaughter? There was no way thisCamazotzcharacter could be real, was there? Then again, Quint had experienced some hellish twists and turns at the last site.
Fuck, he sure hoped the death-bat god was just a myth.
“What kind of problem?” Pedro asked, stubbing out the cigar. “Does it have pointy teeth? Prowl around at night?”
“That remains to be seen.” Quint tossed a flashlight to each of them. To Bronko, he added, “Bring your guns.”
Pedro did a double-take. “Are we going to theaguada?”
Quint shook his head. “No. We’re going over the wall.”
Bronko slipped on his shoulder holster and made sure that his handgun was loaded, no questions asked. “What happened?” He holstered the gun and started stuffing rifle shells into the pockets of his camouflage pants. “Is it looters or drug mules?”
“Neither.” Quint grabbed some spare batteries for the flashlights. “KuTu saw Fernel sneaking off through the trees and followed him. The fool disappeared over the wall.”
He purposely left off the part Angélica had translated about the shadowy figures leading Fernel. Until he saw something with his own eyes, Quint didn’t want to perpetuate fearmongering. He strapped on a belt with a sheath for carrying a machete.
“Dios mío,” Pedro whispered. “In the dark? Thehombremust have a death wish.”
“Or he’s hallucinating thanks to the toxins from all of his bites,” Bronko said.
“Either way,” Quint said, “Angélica wants you both to help us retrieve him.” He grabbed a machete from those laid out on the table next to the sharpening stone Raul used to keep their blades honed. He stuffed the machete in the sheath and grabbed another belt and blade for Angélica. “We might have to carry Fernel back here if he’s passed out. Between the three of us and KuTu, we should be able to lift him over the wall.”
It took a few more minutes to finish gearing up, fill up some extra canteens, and grab a first aid kit. When they had everything they could think of for a night rescue mission, Quint led the way back to where he’d left Angélica conversing in Mayan with KuTu atthe edge of the trees.
Judging by the tension visible on her face and the hunch of her shoulders, KuTu’s comment about a possible sacrifice hadn’t been something she’d taken lightly.
Unless there was something else going on …
Oh, hell, he hoped there wasn’t something else.
“What’s wrong?” he asked, handing her the machete, leather holder, and flashlight.
“I’ll explain on the way.” She turned on the light, aiming the beam at the ground between them. “Thanks for coming,” she said to Bronko and Pedro, solemnly. “There is something I need to tell you guys about our mission, and if you two want to walk away after you hear me out, I understand.” She looked at Quint. “But you still have to come with me.”
“Of course,” he said. “Where you go, I go.”
She touched his arm. “Thanks.”
