VIII: Castellan


"It's a rare man who can guard against beauty."

Anthony Ryan, Queen of Fire


Rojo la Muerte, Spain – 2004

They took the Big Cheese's fake eye back to the gate that waited for them. The rain seemed to finally, finally, finally be letting up…maybe. The gate opened to a narrow incline that was flanked by high walls of stone.

They took three steps with guns raised and a horn blared. It started sounding with a vengeance. Leon saw the flash of headlights as a big box truck swung blindly around the sharp turn in front of them and started rushing forward. It had a collision course with death written all over it.

Jill and Ashley backed up and Jill grabbed the gate. It had locked behind them. There was no going back.

Ashley whispered, "Oh my god…"

Leon said, quite calmly, "Get down. Now."

She ducked and tucked into the wall. Jill ducked and covered her.

He didn't duck. He sighted down his arm as the driver whipped the wheel and laughed madly, racing toward them. The horn blared again like a death knell.

Leon breathed. He centered himself.

Jill yelled at him, "Leon! Are you crazy!? GET DOWN!"

He didn't.

He waited and the truck spun toward him with mad glee.

Leon lifted one corner of his mouth in a smile…and pulled the trigger. Just once. Just one shot. It splattered brains on the seat behind it as it hit the driver right between the eyes. His dead body fell on the wheel, the truck lost control as the body jerked the wheel hard, the tires spun and tipped to one side. Leon stood as it whipped and cornered wildly and passed a foot in front of him to smash into the wall with a crunch of steel, a collapse of the engine made of the WHOOSH and SMASH of fire and destruction, and the click click click and sputter of a dying fan belt.

The wall shook and tried to collapse beneath the assault but held on.

The night was quiet now save for the sizzle and hiss of rain on fire from the flaming engine.

Jill and Ashley got to their feet, staring at him.

Leon finally lowered his arms to his side. He relaxed his stance. "What?"

Ashley blinked.

Jill shook her head.

He tried again, "What?"

Ashley whispered, "James Bond."

Leon shook his head with an eye-roll. "Stop it. Let's keep moving."

Jill glanced down at Ashley as he moved forward to clear the path. She replied, softly, "Yeah. James Bond."

"Yep."

They started after him and the gate from which they came made a sound. It squealed on rusty hinges…and fifty ganados were now piling through the gate after them. Ashley and Jill were suddenly running without needing to be prompted.

The three of them took flight up the incline and came to a bridge that a crossed the great divide. The castle waited on the other side, beckoning them. Without any choice, they raced across.

Leon and Jill ran for opposing sides and started cranking the drawbridge pulleys to raise it. It sealed them in, yes it did, but it also sealed the ganados out. So, it was, surely, the better option. Surely.

Really…how bad could it be? Maybe they'd get lucky and the castellan would offer them help until their evacuation could happen. Leon snorted a little. And maybe the moon was made out of green cheese. And maybe the castle was Hogwarts and the castellan was Albus Dumbledore. Maybe the nasty troll he'd faced was even now being dragged into the forest by satyrs.

Amused, he shook his head.

They turned into a small courtyard and eased through it.

It was lovely, in the way of such things. The walls were clearly ancient but in good repair. They climbed large and imposing and offered safety to the those who dwelled within. The moon was peeking through the clouds now as the rain finally left them alone and went about its business elsewhere.

When they'd cleared the courtyard, Leon waved them to be still for a minute while he checked in with Hunnigan and gave her an update. Jill did the same with Chris while Ashley poked around a little guardhouse to try to find some first aid supplies.

Leon shed his jacket and tossed it over a chair in the guardhouse. His shirt clung to him like glue. It was split and ragged at one shoulder and blood seeped from the ugly wound.

Jill shook her head and took the gauze and bandage that Ashley handed her.

She said, quietly, "Take this off and let's treat it."

Leon hissed but eased his shoulder holster off to dangle around his hips. He gripped his shirt behind his head and peeled it off.

Ashley didn't even pretend NOT to stare. She settled on a heavy barrel in the corner and perched her chin in her hand, watching the show.

Amused, Jill dug out the hemostatic medicine in her pouch. She settled him in as much torchlight as possible and touched the wound with the antiseptic solution in her hand. He hissed and his stomach muscles bunched with it.

It was…it was a good show. Admittedly.

Jill dabbed gently at the slash. She tugged her wet ball cap off to be able to see better and focused on the wound. She did NOT focus on the swell of his chest or the ridiculous muscles of his arms. Nope. Not even a little bit.

Snorting at herself, she cleaned the blood while he watched her face.

He said, quietly, "I can do that, Jill. You don't have to."

She turned her face, just a little, to meet his eyes and their noses bumped.

Her face went hot… which annoyed her. She flushed but shook her head. The wound was shallow but weeping so she put the hemostatic powder over it and carefully covered it with gauze. Her fingers brushed his biceps and collarbone as she bound it. She watched the goosebumps pop on his skin.

It was cold, she qualified by way of excusing it, it was just cold outside. Too cold to be shirtless. That explained the state of his nipples too. Yep. That's why his nipples were hard. He was cold.

She taped the gauze gently to him. Why did he have to keep his face so close to hers? Couldn't he look away and do her a favor here? Damn him.

She said, quietly, "You have another shirt by chance?"

He shook his head.

His voice was almost a whisper, "All done?"

Don't look, her mind screamed, but she turned her eyes to his and their noses brushed again. Her hand slipped from the bandage, just a little, just enough to brush over one of those excited nipples. And she watched him inhale, just a little, sharply. Jesus.

She was going to probably drop dead for the want of him.

Jesus.

Her mouth was maybe an inch from his. She whispered, "Yeah…I think I'm done."

His eyes flicked from hers to her mouth and back again. He answered, low and gruff, "Yeah. I kinda think I'm done here too."

Shit.

Ashley cleared her throat.

They both jumped.

Jill was the color of a tomato. The back of his neck was flushed pink. Ashley laughed a little and leaped off the barrel. She shook her head at them and stepped out of the guard house.

Really, she mused, it was more entertaining than a soap opera in there.

Idiots.

They needed to bump uglies and get it over with already.

Jill stepped up beside her, face still pink and warm. Ashley lifted a brow at her. "Girl…you dumb."

Jill shook her head, laughing. She tucked her ball cap back onto her. "Shut up, Graham. Just shut up."

And Ashley laughed a little.

In the guardhouse, Leon rolled his neck and shoulders. He crossed his hands behind his neck and stretched it out. He slipped on his wet shirt and left the jacket. It was trashed anyway. Of course, he was pretty sure he wasn't going to get too fa—

There was a pile of clothing on the floor of the guardhouse beside some barrels. Interested, Leon moved toward it. It was, apparently, loot taken off of poor sad victims of the ganados.

A series of things waited for attention. Most of it was crap and useless. But not all of it.

He traded out his ruined shirt for a black one in the pile. It was plain cotton and not nearly as warm but it was clean. And it was even the best part of the pile. There was a tactical vest amongst it. Clearly, one of their victims had been military of some kind.

Leon strapped it on and adjusted it. And the fun got better. It got A LOT better. Because under the pile of clothes was a beautiful single barrel riot gun. The shotgun might as well have been a big hug. It felt like one as he picked it up, jacked a round into it with one hand, and sighted down it to be sure it was in good shape.

It was a gift.

And the vest was loaded with ammo for it.

What kind of morons just left this shit lying around for someone to find?

He stuck his head out of the door. "Jill?"

"Mmm?"

Her cheeks were still pink.

It warmed his guts to see it.

Casually, he intoned, "There are some clean clothes in here for you guys if you want to trade out the wet stuff."

Ashley was already nodding and shedding her wet jacket. She kept on her other clothing but changed jackets happily. Jill switched out her wet weather top for a skinny little red jacket and a white tank top mixed in the selection of things.

She fixed her ponytail and left the soggy ball cap behind.

Without it, her face was flawless. He wanted to stare at her until he went blind. But instead, he watched her settle a small pistol into the small of her back and join him as they mounted the only set of stairs in the courtyard and eased their way into the castle.

Beautiful red carpet spilled lushly up a small flight of stairs in the grand foyer. There was no one waiting there for them. It was all tapestries and lovely stone busts that dangled beautifully and artfully from the ceiling. A chandelier dangled with a glittering crystal and flickering firelight and was at least twenty feet in diameter in the vaulted ceilings. The stonework was clean and perfectly maintained. The castle itself was clearly loved and exquisitely kept.

They eased down the wide open foyer and a small laugh filled the room with them.

Leon froze and put his arm out. Ashley stepped behind him. Jill stood beside him, eyeing the small…man….that waited up on the balcony above the grand hallway. He was a clearly a dwarf and had a little annoying laugh that was grating cackle.

He called down to them, "WELCOME!"

It was impossible to judge his age. He was the size of a ten-year-old boy. He had the wrinkly face and hair of an old man. He wore a hat and dress coat like the colonial militia in pale blue velvet with a shiny gold vest beneath. He was a midget Paul Revere.

It was surreal.

He had two…bodyguards that stood with him. They were cloaked in gray and red and hooded. They had the longest hands and fingers Jill had ever seen. And only little red eyes glaring from the darkness of their hoods.

From the balcony, the man was giggling at them. "Welcome, welcome my brethren! I have been anxiously awaiting you! Have you come to join us?"

Leon tilted his head a little. "No thanks, bro. Who the hell are you?"

Jill was easing her hand around her back toward her gun there. Leon touched her arm without looking at her. She paused, considering.

"Me llamo Ramon Salazar! I am the 8th Castellan of this SUBLIME structure in which you find yourselves. I have been given…amazing powers by the magnifico Lord SADDLER!" He was pretty exciting for a colonial smurf. And the answer to whether or not he was a bad guy was answered, just like that.

Leon laughed a little. "FYI bro — Saddler's a putz. And so are you if you follow him."

Salazar giggled again. "You are here to be a hostage, Mr. Scott. But I don't need you. You aren't worth a penny, it seems. Only the President's daughter is useful to us."

Salazar tilted his head a little. "Your companion in red…does not carry…our gift. She is LESS than a penny. I will enjoy killing her and you if you stand in our way. So, flee. Fight..die…it matters not. Eventually? You will turn and become one of us…or you will die screaming…either way? You won't last long here."

He cackled and giggled and disappeared down the balcony from where he'd come. Leon started forward and the walls shook. The floor shook. And an enormous wall slid down to block the hallway and the balcony. It was graced with a mural…that was missing stone pieces from its face. It was the pieces to create a chimera: one part serpent, one part lion, one part goat. The pieces were missing and waiting to return to their place amongst the stone mural.

Jill shook her head, sighing a little, "Naturally…naturally a fucking puzzle."

Ashley lifted her brows at them. "A puzzle?"

"Yeah." Leon sighed a little and glanced around the foyer. There was a door to either side. The left door was locked tight but the right was open and waiting for them. He gestured with his head and they eased into a narrow hallway done in ugly old paintings and faded red carpet. Lanterns hung suspended from the ceiling and swayed to cast flickers of light around a darkened room.

To their left, a small staircase offered the viewer the chance to descend down into what appeared to be a stone cellar. The door was locked though and they were prevented from going down to search amongst the contents. You could see into the cellar through a few narrow stone cutouts along the walls.

With no other choice, they moved down the narrow hallway and came face to face with a roaring fire. It spit madly from the mouths of two stone serpents that curled up from the floor. They blew their firey rage down upon the person who dared cross their path.

Hanging on the hand of a tiny boy in a painting beside them, a big square key beckoned.

Jill picked it up and met his eyes.

Leon sighed a little, "Too easy right?"

"Yeah…too easy." They held gazes.

Ashley glanced between them. "What?"

Jill said, "This key will open that damn cellar door back there. I'm guessing the lever to stop that fire is going to be inside the cellar."

Leon nodded a little. "Yep. I'll go. You two wait here."

He opened his palm for the key.

Jill held his gaze and shook her head. She started back toward the cellar.

Leon licked his teeth with annoyance. "Give me the key, Jill."

"Don't be stupid. Protect your charge. I'll flip the lever." She used the big key on the cellar door and it clicked. She eased it open, clearing the stairs beyond as she moved.

Leon shook his head and followed her. Ashley, unwilling to be left behind, eased in after them. Jill said, "WAIT here, Ashley. Right here. Do not move."

She moved down the stairs while Ashley waited, brows lifted. Leon licked his teeth again.

He eased down after Jill. They cleared as they went but the cellar was empty. Nothing but stone and silence…and a lever on the wall beyond a set of bars…inside a cell.

Not a cellar…a prison.

Because there was a…man? There was a man bound to the wall beside the lever. His eyes were missing and nothing but scars in a battered face. His arms were crossed over his massively muscled chest. The wrists were crossed before him like Wolverine…the claws on his hands were like Wolverine as well. Massive. Sharp. They glittered like polished steel in the flickering torchlight.

He was shirtless, save for a black leather collar draped over his neck and collarbone, and a pair of leather pants. The claws on his hands were at least as long as the legs of a man. They were insane. His face was battered within the iron helmet someone had strapped on his face. It left his ruined eyes visible; his mouth covered.

Leon muttered, "How'd you like a hug from that guy?"

Jill went to kick the gate down that blocked them from the lever. And the man bound to the wall with shackles around his chest and ankles. Leon grabbed her arm and tugged her back.

She glared at him.

He lifted a brow. "You kidding? That thing will eviscerate you."

"You got a better idea? I'm all ears."

Leon held her angry look. "You'll be nothing BUT ears if he gets you with one of those claws, Jill. He'll carve your fucking face off."

Jill jerked her arm free from him. "So? Does it matter? Then you wouldn't be forced to look at me anymore. So everybody wins right?"

He licked his teeth again, annoyed. Shaking his head, with a mirthless laugh, Leon let her go. He gestured broadly with his hand. "You know what? Whatever. Go for it. What the hell do I know right? Suit yourself here."

Leon swung the shotgun up and backed up as far as he could. He fixed it on the man against the wall. "Go ahead, tough guy. Knock yourself out."

Jill kicked the gate. It collapsed to the ground with a loud clatter of iron.

The man didn't move. He remained motionless on the wall.

Jill lifted her brows at Leon. He held her look with a droll expression. She moved toward the lever, slowly, her pistol aimed with one hand at the man in shackles.

She grabbed the handle of the lever and pulled it down. They heard a click, a whir, and what was likely the fire dying above them in the long hallway.

She eased back, gun still aimed at the man on the wall.

Smug, she finally turned and grinned at Leon. "See? He's bound. You were worried about nothing. I don't need you to be a fucking hero here."

She saw the moment his eyes flicked over her head. She felt the world slow down. She heard Ashley cry out on the stairs. There was a burst of metal releasing, the clank of shackles on stone, and Leon's arm came up with the shotgun.

"GET DOWN, JILL!"

She was already dropping as he roared the command.

The claws split the air inches above her head. She felt the wind of it on her face. She rolled, skidding through the motion. The shotgun blast was a second behind the swipe.

It took the man in the chest with a bucking boom of sound.

Blood burst in a red wash. It splattered the stone like paint.

Jill scrambled, rather ungracefully, and the man with claws made sound kind of mechanical battle cry. It sounded like a synthesizer or something. A cyborg? Something.

The shotgun blast just pissed it off.

It rushed toward Leon with a speed that was beyond frightening.

It didn't even care about Jill anymore. It raced right passed her. She threw her leg out and tripped it as it ran. It stumbled, staggered, and Leon blasted it again in the face this time with the shotgun.

It righted itself and raced for him again. Leon shot it a third time and ducked at the last possible second. It scared the living shit out of her.

The claws missed his head, took a hunk of his hair with it, and imbedded into the stone wall beyond him. They stuck there with a squeal of metal. Leon rolled up behind the man while it made that metallic cry of sound and jerked on its lodged claw.

There was an enormous mound of scar tissue on its naked back. It was…in the shape of a parasite. A parasite like the plagas they'd seen. Leon put the shotgun point blank against it and pulled the trigger.

The gun bucked in his hands and tore the scar tissue to pieces. It erupted with blood that steamed in the cool air. The thing burst out of the mound tissue and waved madly.

Leon angled the shotgun up at it and the man jerked his arm free from the wall. Jill shouted and tried to get a shot but Leon was blocking the way. The world went too slow.

The man spun, Leon ducked, and he wasn't fast enough. Those claws smashed into him and threw him out and away. He went up, went airborne, and smashed into the far wall.

The man rushed him, making that metallic chittering cry. The thing on its back waved enthusiastically like a nasty, spiny bug. Jill shot it while he rushed Leon.

He reversed and raced at her. And she got it.

Just like that.

She got it.

It was blind.

But it wasn't deaf. It had exceptional hearing. It was BLIND.

Silently, she shifted. She eased across the floor and watched the man race toward where she'd been. It reached the spot and whipped its head wildly. She shot the parasite on its back again while it tossed its head madly.

The man roared that sound and rushed her. She shifted again; shot it in the back. She eased her way around the room, keeping it from Leon where he was slumped against the wall.

It worked perfectly…until he groaned.

He groaned against the wall and the man spun, threw his claws to the side, and lifted his head toward the ceiling to emit that horrible sound. He raced toward Leon who was struggling to his feet against the wall.

With no other choice, Jill whistled.

Two feet from taking Leon's head off his shoulders, the man spun back toward her.

"YEAH!" She shouted at him now. "Over here, assface! Here! Come and get me!"

He raced toward her. She waited and braced. And the man drew back his arm and threw a straight at her like he'd spit her on those claws and make her a human shish kabob. She dropped down into the splits on the dirty ground, the claws missed her shoulder by an inch, and they imbedded into the wall above her head.

Leon was on one knee. She nodded at him.

He swung the shotgun up and shot the man in the back. The parasite started waving and Jill rolled to her feet and drove her knife into it. She flourished it with a series of sharp jabs and slashes.

The man jerked his claws free and Leon hit him in the back with one more heavy shotgun round.

Blood splattered. The shotgun clicked empty. The man spun and Jill rolled away. Those claws swung down at her and Leon came up under his arm and threw it off course.

The claws missed Jill by a hairsbreadth. The man teetered and Leon spun a back kick at him and sent him staggering. Jill ran around and shot him in the back again.

The man tottered forward and Leon crouched, put his shoulder into that broad belly, and pushed. It threw him over his back.

Jill grabbed Leon's vest and jerked him forward as the man went up and over. The claws sliced the air where he'd been, Leon collapsed atop Jill and took them both to the floor, and Jill shot the man in the back as they fell.

There was a final mechanical cry and a hiss of releasing pressure. The parasite went still with a whip of death spasm and the room was quiet again.

Underneath him on the floor, Jill whispered, "I'm sorry. I was being stupid. I was being stupid and angry. I'm so sorry. Are you alright?"

He leaned up to look down at her. Quietly, he said, "I'm alright. Stop being mad at me, Jill. I don't even understand why you are. Stop punishing me for something that isn't my fault."

She nodded, harsh and quick. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. I'm blaming you for being you. It's utterly fucking stupid."

He was still smooshing her into the floor. One of them should really move.

Leon said quietly, "What does that even mean?"

Jill looked at his face from inches away and said, "It means this." And slid her hands over his back until she gripped his ass. He made a sound and she ground their bodies a little together. It was either instinct or desperation or utter insanity that had him thrusting against her while she did it.

They both flushed with it. Jill whispered, "Yeah. Yeah. It's THAT."

Murmuring, Leon answered, "Yeah. THAT. That is bad."

"Bad."

"Bad bad bad."

Jill laughed a little, breathlessly. He shook his head with a small sound that might have been a derisive chuckle. Screwed. They were screwed. But, sadly, no one was screwed here. And that was part of the problem.

On the stairs, Ashley laughed loudly, "Seriously? Now!? NOW is when you grab that ass? There's a DEAD body six inches behind ya'll. Seriously!?"

They separated, both red-faced and breathing a little heavy.

Embarrassed, Jill picked up the shotgun and offered it back to him. Leon laughed a little and reloaded it, shaking his head. "I'm fifteen fucking years old again. Shit."

Jill had to laugh. She had to. It was ridiculous. Ashley Graham was on the stairs smirking.

"You guys fight a mutated Marvel superhero gone bad and then grope each other on the bloody floor. I don't know about you, but I wasn't doing that kind of shit at fifteen."

Chastised, they eased their way out of the prison and out toward the hallway. The fire was gone and the door at the end opened into a beautiful room with a lovely pool beneath it. The water glistened with a glassy flawless beauty. There was a second level above where they stood. It was a balcony that ran the length of the long corridor.

Torches flickered along the beautiful red and gold carpet that covered the cold gray stone. Urns lined the naked walls. Their fat bellies were filled with dirt and flowers that burst colorful and well tended from the dark depths. The room was lovely. The pool of water pearlescent.

The only draw back was that there was no way across the glistening water to the other side.

Jill studied the depths of it.

Leon was scanning the balcony walk above them.

Ashley was engrossed in the ugly portrait that looked down at her on the outcropping to her left. The man in it was all kinds of fugly. He was clearly meant to be the man from the church. But the portrait had been painted by someone without any real skill. Somehow they'd managed to make him even uglier than he actually was.

Leon said, conversationally, over his shoulder, "You're making it kinda difficult to be professional, Jill."

Jill jumped like he'd smacked her ass. She glanced at his back where he was scanning the walkway. She sighed a little, "I'm sorry. I said it twice. I don't know what else I can say. You don't have to believe me because you don't even really know me, but I'm NOT a woman that gropes guys on a mission. I swear to god I'm not. I'm trying to figure out why you're all tangled up inside of me. There's really no reason for it. Seriously. I mean…sure…there's the looks. Which are…"

He glanced over his shoulder at her. She was facing the water. And she kept on talking.

"Which are great. Which are good. Really good. But kinda superfluous too. Because handsome is a dime a dozen right? And there's the sense of humor which…is like mine. Kinda lame. A little juvenile. Almost uncomfortably dorky right? And it's the body too. The body…HAH. Oy the body." She laughed a little and tried to judge the depth of the water in the pool. Maybe they could swim over. "You just keep flashing that fucking body of yours around like a Sports Illustrated Swimsuit chic or something to a horny teenage boy. I'm the boy in this situation. I'M the fifteen year old boy. Fucking embarrassing. I keep putting my hands on you like a rapist or a pervert or something. You poor man. I can understand your anger at me. I'm being stupid."

He stepped up beside her and she went stiff, staring straight ahead like she'd turn to stone if she turned to look at him.

He finally said, "When I was taking that boat across the lake…I was thinking about your ass."

Jill blinked.

"Oh, yeah," He laughed a little, "I was picturing your ass. I kept imagining your thighs pressed against my ears while I put my mouth on you and wondered if you tasted like apple pie between them."

Shit. She shifted where she stood, feeling the image of that in her pants.

They did NOT look at each other.

Leon laughed again, sorta desperately, "I was so busy picturing my hands on your tits that I wasn't doing my job. I wasn't paying attention. And it nearly got me killed."

They both shifted where they stood again.

He said, softly, "I want your hands on me. I want my hands on you. I'm not angry about that. I can't figure out why you are."

Jill sighed a little. She finally glanced at him and said, "I'm afraid that once I let you in, I won't be able to get you out of me. And with what we do? How does that work for either of us? I can't keep you. So instead I keep trying to make sure I don't even crave you. The bad news is that I can't seem to stop."

Leon glanced at her face as well. They held eyes now. "I can be professional here, Jill. I'm trying. If that's what you want, I'll keep trying. But you're making it hard for me to do that. You keep saying things that make me crave you too. I can do this craving you. I can still do the job. But I can back off too. Tell me what you want here."

Jill met his look squarely now. "I want to do this job. I want to finish it. I've never struggled with that before now. I've never questioned myself or my motives for doing my job. Ever. But I'm doing that now. Because I don't know why I'm pushing so hard anymore, Leon. Is it for me? Or is it for you? Am I trying to impress you? I just don't know. You confuse me. I don't know what to do about that."

He sighed a little. "Ditto. And me either. But I think one part of that? I think it's ok. It's making us push harder, Jill. In one hand? It's a bonus. We just…need to get our heads out of collective hormones long enough to remember what we're doing here."

She shifted. "Agreed. How?"

He laughed a little and shrugged. "I'm guessing we start by protecting that girl with us. After that? We figure it out. But you gotta stop blowing hot and cold and back and forth on me here. It's rubbing me raw. It's making me edgy. It's making us both nuts here. I can handle my dick being stiff as a rock every time I look at you. But you've got to stop blaming me for it."

Her eyes dropped and landed on his groin. She didn't even realize she was doing it until he laughed, a little breathy, "That's not helping."

Her eyes darted back to his face. "I'm sorry. Shit." And now she laughed. "Fuck. It's nuts, right? This thing happening with us is nuts."

"It's IN my nuts, that part is for sure." And now they both laughed a little. It was good, she thought, to talk about it. Maybe addressing it was how they put it to bed and did the job. The tension would NEVER back off if they kept denying it.

There was movement up on the walkway.

They both looked up to find Ashley turning a crank. A metallic grind of gears turned Jill's attention to the water. And a platform was rising from the water to offer the solution they'd been blind too. Apparently, while they were coveting each other, the President's daughter was doing their job.

Jill opened her mouth to crack a joke and there was the sound of doors opening.

Just like that: they were no longer alone.

The room began to fill with men in robes. They wore black and red robes and were chanting. The word sounded like muerte. Which was the Spanish word for death. They were chanting death as they advanced.

There were four up top. There were ten on the main level with them. They had scythes. They had shields. They had…flails.

Leon shot two of them in the head before Jill could do more than stare.

Gathering herself, she ran for it. She boosted herself up to the walkway as Ashley shouted and ran from the ones that advanced on her.

Jill kicked the first one she came up on off the walkway and spun low to miss being grabbed by another.

On the main level, Leon was picking them off and backing up. When the Magnum went dry. He swung the shotgun up and blasted the first one with a shield. They staggered and went to one knee. He shot them again to send them down on their back in a heap.

Jill leap frogged beautifully over the shoulders of one in front of Ashley and spun a back kick at him. He flailed, she jerked the scythe from him and swung it. It hit neck, sliced through bone, and cleaved neck and head from each other in a spray of blood.

She whistled, Leon glanced up, and she tossed it down to him.

He caught it, braced, and swung it. It caught two of them across the neck and chest in a lovely burst of blood and shouting. Jill shot the third one to his right between the eyes while he hacked.

Ashley let out of a cry as she was lifted, kicking and fighting, over the shoulders of one of the ones in red. He wore a mask made a goats skull. The horns jutted out from the naked bone. He carried her over his massive shoulder while she struggled without any signs of caring.

Jill shot him in the knee from behind. He went down and spilled the girl to the floor beside him. Ashley kicked him twice in the face and chest from the ground and scrambled away, running for it.

The shotgun went off again on the main level and Leon blasted another three of them back from him. They'd forced him back to the water now. Ashley reached the crank on the other side and started rolling it.

Jill whistled and tossed a flashbang down into the mess of them advancing on Leon.

It went off and Leon started swinging the scythe with a vengeance. It was beautiful, in a purely visceral way. He cleaved and killed like the grim reaper. He took no prisoners, left no man standing, and just decimated them in all with a natural killer instinct. Where he struck; they fell. Where he swung; they died. It was almost like a dance between one partner and another. Only this dance ended in blood and destruction.

Jill vaulted over the side to the ground beneath when the silence fell around them.

Ashley eased over the edge and Leon caught her.

They carefully crossed the platforms that waited to guide them out of the long corridor and found themselves in another hallway. This one had stone busts that dangled from the ceiling in a somehow beautiful display of craftsmanship.

The long corridor eased before them, lit by red and blue torches. It was less exquisite here. It felt vaguely claustrophobic. There was an edge to it that breathed…cult. Maybe it was the columns that reminded one of altars. Maybe it was the robes. Maybe it was the chanting.

But "the enlightened ones" were clearly worshiping something terrifying and surreal.

Leon said as if someone had asked, "The hornless goat is traditionally a human sacrifice. The use of the chimera: goat, serpent, lion…denotes the combining of the three parts of their belief, clearly, some form of justice, wisdom, and likely guardianship. They wear goat masks…assuming that the goat mask wearing ones are cult leaders of some kind."

Jill glanced up at him as they moved down the corridor. She watched him work the puzzle of it in his mind. There was that feeling again. More than a pretty face. More than that body. It was HIM. It was that brain of his. It was ALWAYS working something out.

He mused, "Is the goat wisdom? Is the hornless goat a sacrifice for wisdom? Death, they chanted, are they worshiping death? Are they offering it to whatever god they serve? I wish I knew."

Jill smiled a little. "You'd be the only person I know who'd care that much, Leon. They are terrorists, in a way. They are fanatics. Does it do any good to try to figure out what drives zealots to their insanity?"

He glanced down at her. He looked introspective. "Yeah. It matters, Jill. You have to know your enemy to defeat them. You can't just toss a grenade and walk away. You have to know what it is you're destroying to make sure it doesn't rise again from its own ashes."

She stopped to say something else and the door beside them opened. They both turned, guns aimed.

Luis Sera came through the door with hands up.

"Hey hey! Que pasa?"

Jill lowered her gun. Leon didn't.

Sera stopped, head tilted. "Amigo?"

Leon said, "Start talking, Sera. Now. How long you been working for Saddler?"

Intrigued, Sera grinned a little. "Damn. How did you know? Who spilled the beans? And why are you so smart? Americanos. Intelligente."

Leon kept the gun on him. Ashley and Jill stepped back a little.

Leon answered, "I started suspecting it when we first met actually. I had my handler do some digging. Turns out you left the Madrid P.D. because of some rumors that you'd been dealing dirty on the side. The last speculation had you stealing a sample from the lab. But no one could prove it. And no one could find you again to question you about it. Convenient. Wouldn't you say? You mentioned seeing a sample of the T-Virus. That raised the first red flag. You sell the sample to Saddler?"

Sera grinned again. "Close. But no cigar. I didn't sell Saddler anything. He hired me after I left the force to do research for him. The sample that went missing in the lab wasn't stolen by me. I left to pursue the man who did take it. I didn't find him. I couldn't. But I started working with Saddler. When I found out he was making BOWS, well…even I have my moments of being a hero, amigo."

Sera winked at Jill who rolled her eyes.

"I brought you a gift to prove it." He patted his vest and crinkled his forehead. With a sigh, he turned back the way he'd come. "Shit. I must have lost it running from them. I will go back for it. But I'm not the bad guy here, Leon. We're on the same side…I have to go back for what I lost. I'll catch up to you again, I promise. Look…inside the chest in the storage room beyond the caves. If you make it that far…I left my research, there. Take it with you. You'll see what I mean. I'm not a bad guy. I'm just a pendejo trying to make it right."

Sera studied Leon and his gun. "You won't shoot me. You're a good guy. Good guys don't shoot unless they have to. I'll catch up."

Jill said, "Hey. I'll come with you."

Sera tilted his head, studying her. Leon glanced at her too.

Finally, Luis shook his head, "Tempting. Tempting. I enjoy the company of beautiful women. But you stay with, Leon. He's better with the ladies, no? I won't be long."

And Sera was gone through the door he'd come from.

Leon lowered the gun, sighing. "I don't know what to think about that guy. Is he fucking with us? Is he legit? Who the hell knows."

Ashley said, "He seems like a weirdo, no lie there. But I don't get a bad guy vibe from him. A creeper who looks up your dress with a mirror? Maybe. A bad guy? No."

Jill nodded, "Agreed."

Ashley said, "He may have a point about S—" And she started hacking. It was bad hacking. It was wet like pneumonia and fluid in the lungs hacking. She coughed so hard she spattered her hands with blood from it.

Leon went to touch her and she knocked his hands away.

"Oh god…oh my god…" She shook her head, she panicked, she backed up from them, "Don't touch me. Don't. Get away from me…before I turn into one of those things and kill you! Oh god!"

She turned and ran down the long hallway in front of them.

Leon and Jill rushed after her.

Jill called, "Ashley! Honey, stop!"

Ashley turned back to say something, and the floor shook. They staggered. Enormous spears of metal drove up from the floor beneath them. Leon barely ripped Jill back and they jutted up where she'd been a moment before. They kept on driving them apart. They were spears, bursting forth from the triggered mechanism clearly within the confines of the stone.

Ashley was forced to the end of the hallway, Leon and Jill were forced the other way.

Ashley threw herself against the wall and flattened there. "What the hell!?"

Leon called, "Wait there! Don't MOVE!"

Shackles burst from the wall and slapped over her, binding here with a clang of steel. Ashley cried out, terrified, "Leon!?"

The wall groaned, it grated with a whir of gears, and it spun – taking her away from them in a single bold move. Ashley could be heard crying out on the other side.

Leon shouted, "Don't panic, Ashley! Don't panic! We're comin for ya!"

And, just like that, they were alone in the hallway.

The spears sank into the floor and silence pervaded.

Jill whispered, softly, "Oh my god. We have to get her back. We have to find her."

"We'll find her. They won't hurt her. They need her alive to extort money from the President. They won't hurt her. And they won't stop us." He glanced at the door way beside them. "You with me?"

Surprised, she met his eyes. "Of course. Where else would I be?"

He lifted a brow at her, "You seemed all hot and bothered to chase after Luis back there."

She blinked at him. What was that in his voice? What was it?

Jealousy?

Warm in her belly, Jill answered, "It seemed wise to not let a potential traitor loose to run around behind our backs. I figured: better to tag along with the enemy than leave him to his own devices."

Leon shrugged a little, refusing to look at her.

Jill considered him as he eased open the door in the wall beside where Ashley had disappeared. She stopped him with a hand on his arm. He paused, glancing at her face finally.

She said, "Give me your hand."

He lifted a brow but offered her his left hand. She spread his fingers over her chest and slightly inside the white tank top she was wearing. He could feel the hammer of her heartbeat there beneath her breast. Speaking of breast, he mused, if he shifted his hand just a little to the right...he'd be able to cup one in his hand.

Jill's voice was terribly amused as she instructed, "Eyes up here, hotshot."

And Leon darted his eyes from her breasts to her face.

Her eyes twinkled. "I didn't just run five miles right?"

He lifted a brow at her. "Not in recent memory."

"Yeah. Exactly. So that hammering heartbeat happening there? That's all YOU. That's how it feels whenever I'm around you. All the time. Don't be jealous of that idiot."

They held eyes for a long moment. Somewhere in the castle, Ashley Graham was waiting for them. They did NOT have time for romance. Dancing around each other was killing them both.

And yet he still wanted to slide his damn hand down and cup her breast. It was monumentally insane being a guy sometimes. The dumbstick was the master of his existence. Clearly. Genius IQ his ass. He was just a guy with a crush. And it was making him stupid for her.

He dropped his hand. She stepped back a little.

And he said, "Ok. Shit."

Jill lifted a brow at him now. "I don't really have to. But I can give it a shot."

Leon laughed and shook his head. She snickered a little. It broke the tension like someone had farted.

He held her eyes now, "Let's get the President's daughter and get the fuck out of here."

"I think I like that idea better than shitting. Just saying."

He was kinda laughing as they opened the door and cleared through it to the other side. And she was kinda laughing too as she followed him through the door...and she was kinda looking at his ass too.