Free Pyramid of the Gods by Aiden James, J. R. Rain Page B

tunnel walls, they were headed our way.
    We scanned the walls for another exit. But none were visible. There wasn’t time to search for a hidden one, either, or seek refuge above the stairs. The fiery sphere, along with the powerful glow that brought us here, faded until they seemingly ceased to exist. All was deathly quiet and dark when the first hostile flashlight beams invaded the room.
     
     

 
    Chapter Thirteen
     
     
    “Come out, Nick Caine! I know you’re in here...Come out now, or watch me turn your woman and monkey inside out!”
    Motumbo. Sounding enraged. What a surprise.
    Other hushed voices—all male—followed his own, and from the flashlight beams and footsteps moving about the room, his entire army of miscreants had returned. Oh, joy.
    We hid behind a pile of what looked like lithium. My hope was the thieves would mistake it for a lesser grade of silver, or at least something less glamorous than the piles of gold and jewels in raw form. Surely after seeing the Hittite gold in the other chamber, the gold here would hold less fascination.
    I prayed it worked in drawing attention from our pile, and it was a toss-up between the lithium or the meteorite pieces. The deciding factor was the lithium pile sat a few feet further away in the circle’s circumference. Hoping the assholes became enamored with the gems and forgot all about us, it would be the best outcome. It was too much to expect our mysterious hostess to do much more for us than she already had.
    Motumbo’s menacing threats continued...getting closer.
    “Nick, I smell you...I smell your woman, too. It won’t take a moment to get her ready once I’ve torn your heart out of your chest!”
    He sniffed the air and laughed. Light boot shuffles told me he stood on the other side of the lithium pile. It was like he had some sort of radar tuned into my body heat, or body odor. Marie trembled next to me, and when the first bandits started to come around from our left, she gasped. It was slight, and Ishi beat me to covering her mouth so nothing more frightened escaped her.
    More footsteps on that side, interrupted by celebratory catcalls near the bounty of diamonds across the way from us. If the rest of the bastards could drift in that direction, we might be able to move from our present location. It was just a matter of time before Motumbo discovered...
    “ Hello Nick!”
    Like an idiot, I had been so focused on what was happening to my left, that I missed our biggest threat sneaking in from the right. Blinded by several flashlight beams, Motumbo appeared more monstrous than ever as he loomed above the three of us huddled against the pile. Marie and Ishi were snatched up and dragged away while two bandits grabbed my arms. They held me fast as I desperately fought to free myself.
    Motumbo casually reached for my neck. The gleam of his scarab warned me what would come next. Hard to say if my head would separate from my shoulders with the first blow, but certainly this was the fiend’s intent. The maniacal look in his eyes told me mercy was no longer an option.
    They say one’s life passes before one’s eyes when sudden, violent death is at hand. Having been in similar precarious positions before, I can honestly state such notions are pure bullshit. I thought of my parents cut in half, the day I met Ishi, and realizing I loved Marie an hour earlier. More of a summarized collage of events from thousands that began with my first breath as Nicholas Albert Caine. There wasn’t time for much more.
    I flinched but kept my eyes open. Good thing, since otherwise I would’ve missed the fireball hovering above the room springing to life. That’s when the craziest series of events I’ve ever experienced commenced.
    A booming voice startled everyone, emanating from somewhere above the stairs. Hard to tell if it came from the same female or not, but it definitely sounded enraged...and on the verge of violence. It alone elicited wary looks on the Sudanese faces