Free The Bone Labyrinth by James Rollins Page B

her.
    “ Zdravo, Brigita!”
    She nodded back, but her curiosity hardened into wariness.
    “It seems everyone knows everyone in this town,” Gray said.
    “Also who doesn’t belong here,” Seichan added ominously.
    Gray glanced to Seichan. Her easy stroll changed imperceptibly, something anyone would easily miss. But Gray noted the slight narrowing of her eyes, how each step was taken with a measure more care.
    “What’s wrong?” he whispered as they headed toward the murmur of a crowded bar.
    “Did you see her reaction to us? It was hardly welcoming. I’m guessing we’re not the first strangers to appear here recently. Whoever they were, they certainly left a sour impression on that woman.”
    Gray glanced back to find the receptionist still glaring at them with her arms firmly crossed.
    “I think you may be right,” he said. “Makes me wonder. Whoever ambushed the French team likely had to come through this town. Maybe they even stayed here. It’s worth checking out and making a few discreet inquiries.”
    “And maybe they’re still here, trapped in this village by this storm as we are.” Seichan cocked an eyebrow toward him. “Could we be that lucky?”
    A spat of gunfire erupted ahead them, accompanied by screaming.
    It seems we are.
    4:24 P . M .
    Roland slid on his backside down a muddy slant of rock into the next cavern. Braking with his heels, he ground to a stop, and Commandant Gerard helped him to his feet. Roland joined Lena, who leaned an arm on a wall, her head slightly ducked from the low ceiling.
    “How much farther, do you think?” she asked, gasping slightly after the two hours of climbing, crawling, and shimmying through this subterranean world.
    Gerard had his map out again, splayed against a wall. They had already traversed beyond the British geologist’s cursory survey. They were literally in uncharted territory. The commandant had his compass out and marked on his map with a wax pencil, recording their progress to keep them from getting even more lost.
    “It can’t be much farther,” Roland said, though in truth he had no idea.
    “Listen,” Lena said, straightening.
    Roland tried to obey, quieting his ragged breath. Even Gerard lowered his map and cocked his head. Then he heard it: a distant rumbling, like thunder underground.
    “A river,” Gerard said.
    Up until now, their path had avoided the worst of the flooding. So far they had had to skirt and wade through only a few pools along the way. Even those had appeared to be permanent features of this world, not born of the recent storm.
    He offered a silent prayer that the river was passable.
    “Let’s go,” Gerard ordered dourly.
    They set off through the low cavern, led by the beams of their lamps. As they continued, the roof rose higher and higher. Its surface grew ever more festooned with fanciful horns of white helictites, interrupted by a protrusion of thick stalactites. All the while, the thunder of the river grew in volume, echoing across the vast space, drowning away their occasional whispers, leaving only the pounding of their hearts as accompaniment.
    “Roland.” Lena grasped his elbow and pointed. “Look. There’s another petroglyph.”
    He licked his dry lips, beyond really caring about such ancient paintings. Over the past hours, they had come across occasional bits of art, single depictions of various animals: a bison, a bear, an antelope, even a lonely spotted leopard. It seemed the artists who decorated the main cavern had also explored deeper into this system, leaving behind these prehistoric markers.
    “This one’s not an animal,” Lena said, stepping toward the wall to the right, drawing him with her.
    She shone her lamp upon the vast figure standing tall across the surface of the stone. Painted in shades of white, it climbed two stories tall. From the prominent bosom, it appeared to be the giant ghostly representation of a woman. Her eyes, painted in circles of crimson, seemed to be staring down