“Agreed.” Gabe stepped forward, hand outstretched. “Let us shake on this and plan our strategy.”
“But there is one more thing you should know,” Ozan said, gripping Gabe’s hand between both of his own. “There are women at the villa. Human women. Playthings that he has…acquired in recent months, despite some of our protestations.”
Gabe knew exactly what that meant, and his anger intensified. “Then I’ll save them, too.”
Twenty-Eight
As soon as Niel stepped into the dusty and neglected room at the end of the narrow corridor, he knew The Horn of Desolation was in there.
“Keep back,” he warned Mouse. “It’s here.”
“Oh!” She followed him inside and shivered. “I feel it. It’s like there’s a presence here. A ghost.”
“Ghosts are far preferable,” he said, weaving through the crowded metal stacks full of boxes. It was clear no one had been in this room for a while. Dust lay across all the surfaces, eddies of it swirling around as he walked. He ignored it all, drawn to the horn like iron to a magnet. Despite his warning, Mouse kept following him. “I said to keep away.”
“I can’t. I have to leave here with you, and I need to know what we’re dealing with.” She looked up at him, a challenge in her eyes, a slight pout to her full and very kissable lips. “I’m not a wilting flower, Niel, despite my size.”
“I’m well aware of that.” He pushed his desires aside, annoyed that he still liked her despite the fact she had tasered him, and followed the trace of… What? It wasn’t power, not like the hum the jewels gave off, or the insidious whispers. It was far subtler. An effect on his mood. It made him wary, suspicious, and paranoid.
A large box on a high, top shelf beckoned, and he clambered up the metal shelves, able to brace himself on the opposite shelving system, since the path between them was so narrow. He pulled the box towards him, noting it’s weight. If the horn was as big as the box suggested, it would be too big to carry it out in his backpack.
“Pass it to me,” Mouse instructed.
“It will squash you.”
“Niel, it’s a horn, not an anvil!”
“Be careful!” He handed it to her, still supporting much of the weight, but she helped enough to enable him to scramble down again. “Right, let’s see what it looks like.”
While Mouse held both of their phone torches, Niel used his blade to unseal the wrapping on the battered box. Inside was a nest of packing material, and he dug into it with his fingers, finally feeling the horn inside. It felt cold to the touch, almost like ice, and as he lifted it free, the precious metals that decorated it glittered in the light. The horn was, as he suspected from the size of the box, larger than he’d initially expected. It was about three feet in length, but the flared bell was narrower than described. It curved like a scimitar, and the entire length of it was decorated with precious metals in a curling design, inlaid with gemstones. The horn’s material was thick, what little of the surface he could see, polished to a glossy finish. At least, most of it was. A section was still covered in a reddish dirt, and it seemed the museum had abandoned their attempt to clean it.
His feeling of unease intensified, and he looked over his shoulder, half thinking someone was watching him, even though he knew no one had followed them into the room.
“Ugh!” Mouse said, nose wrinkling in disgust. “It looks amazing, but it smells funky.”
“Does it? I can’t smell a thing.” He lifted it to his nose, scenting at first only old bone and packing material. And then he detected a trace of musk in the binding of leather near the mouthpiece. Niel had a moment of complete dizziness, and he staggered back, assaulted by images of battle and bloodshed, and the keening war cry of Nephilim.
“Niel!” Mouse grabbed his arm, and her touch returned him to the present. Her pupils were large in the light, and she look scared. “What happened?”
“A flashback, that’s all.”
“It must have been intense.”
Niel didn’t answer; instead, he put the horn down and breathed deeply, trying to find fresh air, but only finding dust and mustiness. Finally, when he felt steadier, he asked, “You said it smelled funky. Like what?”
She gave a tentative sniff again. “Smells rotten. Like a rotting carcass, or…death, actually.”
“Well, this horn has certainly been responsible for that. Do you feel odd?”
Mouse shrugged, looking around the room for a brief moment. “A little unsettled, as if we’re being watched.” She stretched her fingers towards the horn, but Niel grabbed her wrist.
“No! You can’t touch it. I don’t know what effect it will have.” He pulled his backpack off his shoulder, but it was obvious that the horn was too big to fit in it. “Bollocks!”
“That is a rather large horn.”
“Yeah, well, Belial always liked to boast. I can’t exactly walk out the front door with it. Neither do I wish to sit in this room all night with it, either.” His feeling of unease was growing, and he knew Mouse’s was, too. She looked jumpy, and kept glancing over her shoulder. It wasn’t just unease, either. He felt the creeping urge to be violent. To smash things, or people… He had to get out of this room. The confined atmosphere was making it worse. He had expected humans to be affected by it, but thought he would be okay. He shoved the horn back in the box and headed to the door.
“Where are we going?” Mouse asked, running after him in alarm.
“You are staying here, as planned, and leaving in the morning. I am finding another way out of here.”
“No! I’m coming with you.”
He quelled the urge to snap at her, internally cursing Belial. “It’s dangerous. I can feel this damn horn’s effects already, and it will intensify. You don’t want to be around me then.”
Mouse swallowed, and he knew how he must appear to her. He had a wild look in his eye already, he just knew it, and his jaw was clenched. Despite that, she said, “Actually, I think you need someone to keep you on an even keel. That’s me.”
“That’s stupid. You’re already twitchy, and you’ll only get worse. The men who found this and the jewels killed each other, or themselves.”
“But you are a Nephilim, and I trust you. I will remind you of that, and I’ll keep you grounded, too. You can do the same for me.” She stepped close, hands gripping his arms, eyes locked with his. “I can already see that you should not be alone with this thing.”
“I can be a very dangerous man.”
“I know, but you won’t want to kill innocents. You need me. Besides, you hired me for the whole job. It’s not over yet.”
“I’m okay with that.”
“I’m not.”
