“All right, all right,” Purdue said cordially, his hands open to remove any gestures of threat. He came down the steps slowly, leaving a protective Sam and a terrified Nina behind. “I’ll come down. You can hold me while… Olga… and Sam here get the item back from the police,” he offered. “What do you say?”
“Fair enough, but we’ll keep both of you men until she brings the generator back,” Thomas replied. Sam shook his head. His embrace tightened around Nina, while Purdue and the giants waited.
“I’m not letting go of her,” Sam protested. “No fucking way!”
“Sam, take it easy,” Purdue said, trying to be diplomatic until the status quo could be overturned. But Sam was adamant.
“No. No taking it easy. Don’t you see? If they don’t want to be seen, it means we are all dead the moment they have the flask,” he said. Against his chest he could feel Nina’s tiny frame shaking as she pushed back into him. There was no question that she did not want him to let go.
“So what do you propose otherwise?” Purdue shouted. “You are making things so much more difficult. We have no choice!”
“Listen to your friend… Sam,” Deiter suggested. One of the other giants took hold of Purdue’s upper arm and pulled him aside. “Your friend is going to get killed because of your insolence.”
“Conceited, aren’t you?” Sam snapped back.
“Stop antagonizing them, Sam!” Purdue bellowed. “Just let her get the thing for them and we can get the hell out of their way, idiot!”
“Listen to your friend!” roared the man holding Purdue. “He is the only smart one here.”
“Hell no, you can keep him!” Sam persisted. “If you want us, you fuckers can come up and get us!” And with that Sam dragged Nina backward with him, back up the steps. He hoped that they would not kill Purdue, but rather chase after him and Nina, which is why he deliberately employed defiance to provoke them.
“What in God’s name are you doing, Sam?” Nina shrieked under her breath as he lugged her back toward the opposite side of the light chamber, making for some distance between them and the landing.
“Get them!” they heard Thomas bellow downstairs, and the subsequent rumble of their heavy boots came thundering closer, shaking the railing of the staircase.
“I hope this works, otherwise we have to say our goodbyes right now,” Sam told Nina as he held her tightly against him.
“What? Tell me what you are trying to do!” she grunted nervously, at the end of her tether with Sam’s evasive manner.
Deiter and one of his brothers appeared on the stairs, horrifying Nina with their familiar rage. She clawed at Sam, but he did not flinch. Just before they reached the top the corroded steps gave way under their weight with a crack. Screaming, the two giants plummeted all the way down and met the concrete floor with a deadly crash, meeting the falling steel fragments in a messy heap of muscle and blood.
Purdue winced as he turned his head. The impact had torn both men open and the smell of hot meat filled Purdue’s nostrils. He could not stop the convulsion as his body repelled its stomach contents at the sensation of splatter against his face and arms. Thomas dove to the side with his other brother to get out of the way, fearing they would be crushed, but they could not avert harm. While they cowered, Purdue, still hunched over in nausea, made for the door and escaped. Thomas was knocked cold and his brother impaled by a piece of railing that came down on him like a spear.
Nina looked at Sam. Slowly she started smiling. Her lips fell softly on his, reminding him of a familiar heaven he had almost forgotten. Nina cradled Sam’s jaw with her slender hands, pulling his face closer, his lips deeper into hers. Below them the cacophony died down into complete silence and all Sam could hear was Nina’s almost inaudible groan as she kissed him.
“You are a daft, reckless, son of a bitch, you know?” she smiled, placing her forehead against his.
“Aye. It has been said,” he agreed.
“I hope Purdue is all right,” Nina gasped.
“Let’s go see,” Sam agreed and pulled her up.
“How are we going to get down again?” she asked.
Sam looked a bit flustered, “Um, I haven’t thought of that yet.”
They leaned carefully over what was left of the rail.
“Ooh,” she cringed, “God, that’s gross. I don’t see Purdue. Shit, I hope they didn’t fall on him, Sam!”
Sam grimaced, “Let’s hope he knew what I was playing at. The door is ajar. Maybe he got out. Now we have to find a way to get down without ending up like them.”
Nina surveyed the broken frame. “I think we’d be able to climb down on the side. Look, it is still affixed to the wall.”
“Shite,” Sam sighed. “I’m not keen on heights. And I’m no even-footed cat person like you. I’ll break my fucking neck going down there!”
“You won’t,” Purdue said from the bottom, holding a rope. “I’ll toss this up to you and you can climb down before the authorities realize we have practically destroyed their landmark.
“Not to mention accounting for this mess,” Nina added, pointing to the enormous corpses. “I bet you there will be some daft speculation surrounding this lot. If they don’t cover it up, they will be crying ‘Nephilim.’”
“That’s true,” Purdue scowled, fighting the urge to regurgitate again at the sight of them. “And I don’t mean to rush the two of you, but one of these brutes is still alive. I don’t know about you, but I certainly don’t want to be here when he comes to.”
When they exited the lighthouse, they carefully checked for the presence of tourists or authorities, but there was no discernible movement in the immediate vicinity. Without a word they traversed the limestone formations and rocky edges against the tide line to get to their boat.
“Stop,” Purdue said. “Stop. We can’t go back.”
He reached out his arm to barricade them. Ahead of them the vessel they had hired was teeming with Estonian police officers and coast guard. Three or four fishing trawlers hovered nearby with their crew staring from the decks.
Nina, Sam, and Purdue were stranded on Osmussaar.
There was no way they would return to the vessel to explain to the police that the skipper was torn apart by a hybrid breed of super men engineered by Nazi scientists, because they were chasing three intruders who left a trail of blood and destruction wherever they went.
“Hope you hired that bloke off the record,” Sam said evenly.
“Cash only, Sam. As always, cash only.”
Chapter 23
“When are you going to release her, doctor?” Paddy asked Dr. Burns.
“I was hoping to clear her by today, Mr. Smith, but unfortunately I have to keep her a little longer, you know, just to make sure she is at her best when she is discharged,” the doctor explained.
“May I ask why?” Paddy asked as the doctor closed the door of his office behind them.
“I’m not sure if you are aware of your wife’s somewhat timid disposition, but it is far more than just being squeamish. She exhibits a high emotional sensitivity that makes it difficult for her not to be scared all the time. In fact, it sometimes borders on paranoia. Has she always been this way? Or is it only since the attack?” Dr. Burns asked.
“No, she has always been a wary kind of character. Let’s just say she always considers the worst-case scenario, but I wouldn’t say she always acts on it,” Paddy told the doctor. He found it a bit absurd to have such a conversation after all this time being married to Cassie.