Free Alan Price and the Statue of Zeus (The Nephilim Chronicles Book 3) by Jonathan Yanez

people: a demon and a Nephilim.”
    The man nodded with a sly grin, “Yes,” the man tuned his back to them and walked deeper into the room. He waived a gnarled hand instructing them to follow. “They were here only minutes ago. However they are gone now.”
    “Gone?” Ardat asked shocked. “Gone where? The tunnel ends here.”
    The man made his way past vials and bottles of different shapes and sizes and sat on a stool made of an anceint tree stump. “Yes, Ardat but still they are gone. We cannot change that. You are free to look around if you would like.”
    Michael studied the room with pursed lips. With all the shelves holding scrolls and antique remnants of cultures long gone, there was hardly enough room for the three of them. Whatever did happen to Triana and Kyle, they were not there. “Who are you?” Michael asked.
    The man gave them a crooked smile through missing teeth. The most menacing thing about his grin was the genuineness of the expression. “You may call me Shaman. And do not vex yourself too much in searching for a memory of me. You will find none.”
    Michael tilted his head to the side unwilling to take the Shaman’s advice and still searching for some old recollection of the man. Michael only drew a blank. “Where did they go?” Ardat said, her voice cutting the silence like a sharp knife.
    The Shaman looked at her with a gleam in his eyes. “I used a spell to transport them to Gabriel.”
    Michael stood stunned at the ease of their interrogation. “Where is Gabriel now? Where did you send them?”
    “I can show you if you’d like,” the Shaman said with a cock of his head. He reached down to the floor in front of him and picked up an old gnarled stick that nearly matched his own skin tone. “I can even send you there. Of course, there would be a fee involved for such a task.”
    Michael heard Ardat let out a pent up sigh of frustration. He already knew what was coming. “Or,” Ardat said taking a menacing step towards their host. “We could always force you to tell us.”
    The Shaman raised a hand motioning her to stop. For the first time since they met him, a look of something other than merriment in his eyes. A cool anger washed over his face. “I would not recommend that, Ardat. I’m offering to make a deal. One that if you choose to hear, will benefit both our sides.”
    “Sides?” Michael asked scratching the underside of his chin, “What side are you on?”
    The anger in his eyes disappeared as the Shaman turned his attention back to Michael. “Well, my own side of course. I would like to propose a deal. I will transport you to the same location I sent those who you are following. It will lead you directly to Gabriel.”
    “And in return?” Ardat asked like a growl coming from some mythic beast.
    Unphased the Shaman continued, “In return, you will promise not to fight Gabriel.”
    Michael couldn’t believe his ears. That was the whole point. What good would it be to find his Archangel counterpart and be unable to bring him to justice?
    The Shaman continued before either Michael or Ardat could express their opinions. “Listen to me. Gabriel now possesses the strength of two Archangels. He is far beyond any warrior’s ability to defeat him, including your own. I propose you go to him, scout out the territory and regroup.”
    Michael was running through the many reasons he didn’t trust the Shaman. Following those thoughts was another large crowd of ideas as to why he couldn’t let Gabriel go. If he failed, then Kyle’s life would be in the balance. He wouldn’t allow someone who knowingly put himself in harm’s way for the Light to be abandoned to Gabriel. “Why do you care about what happens to us?” Michael asked. Of all the questions raging for attention in his mind this one shouted the loudest.
    The Shaman smiled his toothy grin, “Oh, I don’t care so much as to what happens to you two. However, I do care that Gabriel is one day overthrown. If you