Black Harvest (The PROJECT) by Alex Lukeman Page B

the President, a new Audi and more real power than most of the men who ran things in the nation's Capitol. But she didn't have anyone to share it with when she went home. She'd accepted there might not ever be someone. Her work had become her lover.
    She took two more aspirin and looked at the list again.
    S omeone had leaked the information on the tablets. It was only a question of time until she knew who. Then she might find out who had killed Campbell and the others and sent thugs after Selena. The only thing certain was that it all centered around the urn.
    Elizabeth leaned back in her chair. One step at a time.

CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
     
    The passage at the foot of the stairs went straight for about twenty feet and made a right angle turn to the left. It opened into a long, high cave, hollowed out by the old mineral springs. The cave was dark. It had irregular walls with strange shapes hanging from the ceiling. Nick felt like it was ready to swallow him.
    The bones started right away.
    He didn't know what he'd expected. Maybe skeletons, wrapped in moldering rags. Maybe dried out, leathery bodies. Coffins. It wasn't like that.
    Arched, oven-shaped shelves lined the walls. The shelves were piled with bones. Some shelves were filled with thigh bones stacked like firewood. Some with arm bones, others with the small bones of feet and hands. Some were filled with rows of empty skulls staring at nothing. Hundreds of skulls had been fastened onto the walls. They climbed and curved over the shelves. The light from the candles flickered and danced over the bones.
    The bones were mute. The skulls had nothing to say. The crypt smelled of dust and centuries of silence.
    "Guess the monks liked the idea of community," Nick said.
    Ronnie held his candle high and peered at the skulls. "Gives me the creeps."
    They walked toward the far end of the chamber. A thousand empty eyes followed them.
    All that was left of the temple of Demeter was a cracked wall of marble and slabs underfoot. A large block of stone stood in the center of the slabs. It bore dark and ancient stains. A large niche had been cut into the wall. It was empty.
    "Why down here?" Ronnie said. "Wouldn't they put it up on the surface?"
    "Demeter and Persephone were worshiped in something called the Eleusinian Mysteries," Selena said. "The main temple was probably up top. Down here would be for secret rites by the priests. It's a cave, it's perfect. That big stone is an altar, probably for animal sacrifices. Ronnie, give me your candle."
    She took it from him and held it up. On the wall over the niche was the figure of a horse.
    "There's Persephone's symbol again. Looks like a dead end."
    "We're in the right place for it," Ronnie said.
    Nick heard a scrape of something on stone. His ear began to burn.
    "Douse the light." His voice was quiet. "Someone's coming."
    They blew out the candles. The chamber went black. At least there aren't any spiders. He drew his .45. Maybe it was a priest, wondering why the crypt was open. Maybe not.
    A gleam of light showed at the entrance to the cave. Someone with a flashlight. Then a second beam. A large man stepped into the cave, silhouetted by the light behind. He held a flashlight in one hand, a gun in the other.
    Not a priest. Not smart, either.
    A second man followed. He had a gun. Another light moved behind him.
    At least three. Maybe more behind or upstairs.
    The first man flicked his light over the piles of bones. The probing beam found Selena against the old temple wall, her Glock extended in both hands. He shouted and raised his gun.
    Nick shot the first man and dove for cover behind the stone altar. A second later Ronnie followed. Selena dropped to the floor. Everyone began firing. Muzzle blasts lit the crypt at both ends, painting the skulls and bones in brief flashes. The noise of the guns filled the cave. Fragments of ancient bone spiraled into the air. He felt the wind of passing bullets. Rounds ricocheted from the walls and the