“What the hell is happening?” Bones said as the triskele suddenly burned with white light, turning the cavern bright as day.
“Grab the spear,” Maddock said.
“Sure, give the spear to the Indian.” Bones snatched up the ancient weapon. “Do I throw it?”
“I don’t think we need to,” Maddock said.
He realized that something had changed. He could see muzzle flashes as the Tuatha fired upon their position, but he could scarcely hear them. Only dull pops reached his ears now. The air around them seemed to thicken and everything slowed.
He watched, bemused, as a bullet swam toward him in slow motion. He moved to the side and it floated on past.
He turned to Bones, who had also realized what was happening. Grinning, he used the shaft of the spear to swat another of the slow-moving slugs.
“You guys look like the Flash!” Grizzly’s garbled voice sounded as if it were coming from underwater.
Maddock ducked another bullet.
“Do we just keep dodging until they’re out of ammo?” Bones said, his voice similarly odd and distant.
“I don’t know.” Maddock turned his head in time to see a bullet fired from behind them making its slow way toward Grizzly. He swatted it away and watched as it splashed into the dark water.
And then everything came rushing back to him. The thunderous sounds of gunfire. The acrid smell of gun smoke. The dampness of the cavern. Everything moved at full speed now.
Including the bullet that tore into his thigh.
Maddock looked down in disbelief as blood began to soak his leg. Had the magic gone?
Another bullet ricocheted past him. And then he realized what had happened. He’d stepped outside the triskele.
Holding the sword out in front of him, he staggered back into its protection and felt the strange, thick air envelop him. They were safe, but they couldn’t remain here forever. If Brigid were smart, she’d call for reinforcements and wait them out. And unless he was badly mistaken, the woman was no fool.
Grizzly shouted something unintelligible. Maddock turned to see the cryptid hunter, holding the cauldron like a shield, pointing with his injured arm at something out in the water.
Maddock immediately saw what had caught the man’s attention.
A dark shape sliced through the water. He knew right away that this was no seal. It was huge, covered in a thick, dark hide, and it left a wake like a speedboat behind it as it zipped past the islet.
The gunmen on shore were so focused on turning the cavern into a shooting gallery that they didn’t see the beast until it was too late.
A serpentine neck rose from the water. In the light from the glow of the treasure, Maddock saw the creature’s long, narrow head, its jaws filled with dark, razor-sharp teeth. It was magnificent and terrible.
It struck like a viper, tearing out the throat of the first Tuatha. The man reeled backward, hands clutching his ruined throat. He was already dead, but didn’t know it. He wobbled, then tumbled forward into the water.
Fairly, standing close by, scarcely had time to turn and fire a wild shot before the guardian of the treasure struck. Its teeth severed his arm at the elbow, his forearm, along with the gun he held, splashed into the water. Screaming, he turned to run, but the beast lashed out with its tail, sending him flying through the air. He struck the cavern wall with a sickening thud and slid to the ground, leaving a trail of blood and gore behind him.
Maddock caught a brief glimpse of Brigid and Isla fleeing into the darkness. He couldn’t believe what he was seeing.
The last remaining Tuatha, the red-haired woman called O’Brien, emptied her magazine at the beast of the lake. When it ran dry, she flung it at the creature, and then made a dash for the safety of the Shrine of Danu.
She almost made it. Reaching the last stone, she leaped, but the beast snatched her in midair. It caught her by the leg and began to whip her back and forth like a dog with a new toy. O’Brien cried out in rage and fear as the beast flung her this way and that like a rag doll.
Maddock’s first inclination was to go to her aid, but then he remembered. In this situation, O’Brien was the killer, the beast the protector. At least, it was momentarily their protector.
Apparently the thought had not occurred to Grizzly. As Maddock and Bones watched the terrible scene unfold before them, the cryptid hunter, cauldron clutched in one hand, pocketknife in the other, stumbled forward.
“Grizzly, no!” Maddock reached out, snatched the cryptid hunter by the back of the shirt, and yanked him backward.
His hand soaked with the blood that oozed from his wound, Grizzly lost his grip on the cauldron. It clanged dully to the ground and rolled to the edge of the water.
The world came back into sharp focus. The air cleared. From the open water where the beast had carried her, O’Brien’s screams rose in sharp, terrible pitch. Maddock’s heart fell.
The cauldron had passed the edge of the triskele.
The spell had been broken.
Chapter 34
O’Brien’s pained shrieks died a gurgling death along with the rest of her. With one final twist of its neck, the beast flung her torn body onto the islet. Maddock ducked as one of her arms tore free and flew past his head. He spared a glance at the shredded corpse, then turned his eyes back toward the guardian of the lake.
The beast met his gaze with its black-eyed stare. She tilted her head like a confused puppy.
Maddock felt himself relax. Perhaps she sensed that they meant her no harm. He wasn’t sure why he’d suddenly decided the creature was female. It was the mental association with Nessie, he supposed.
The aquatic reptile gazed at him for a few seconds, and then she opened her mouth and let out an angry hiss.
“Take a step back, there, Maddock,” Bones said.
“We need to get the cauldron back inside the circle,” Maddock said, eyes locked on the beast. He took a step forward, and it hissed again.
“Maybe she won’t mess with us,” Grizzly offered. “She’s the guardian of the treasure.”
“The treasure we’re now holding,” Maddock said, still watching the angry creature, which swam slowly, inexorably closer to them.
“But we were protecting it, too.”
The creature let out a high-pitched shriek and shot toward them.
“Try telling her that,” Maddock said.
The beast struck, and Maddock did the only thing he could. He struck at her with the sword.
A flash of blue, and the creature drew back, a shallow gash across her snout. She hissed and struck again. Slowed by his injured leg, Maddock barely managed to dance out of her reach. His weak blow struck her across the back of her powerfully muscled neck. Another flash of light, but no damage that he could see.
“Looks like you’re just pissing her off with that thing,” Bones said.
The sound of his voice drew the beast’s attention. She snapped her head around to face him.
“Whoa, Nessie!” Bones said. “Just chill, girl.”
His words fell on deaf ears, or whatever orifices a plesiosaur used for hearing. The creature snapped at Bones, and only his lightning-fast reflexes kept the snapping jaws from closing around his throat. He ducked, and then came up fast, stabbing her throat at the vulnerable place where her head joined the neck.
It could have been a killing blow, but the beast was too quick. With a flash of blood-red light, the spear head sliced a narrow cut along her neck. The beast snapped at the spear, caught it in her jaws, but couldn’t hold on. Red light danced along the blade, an electric sizzle crackling through the cavern. With a pained, angry shriek, the creature let go of the spear just as Maddock staggered forward on his injured leg, sword raised high.