Hey guys, I'm back! Sorry it's been so long between postings lately. I've been going through boughts of depression and dealing with a lot of stress at work. Thank you all for being so patient with me! Please read and enjoy the latest chapter!

Chloe and Sully led the way while I stayed back with Nate to help Charlie who wasn't very happy about the small space.

"Looks like we'll have to squeeze through here," Chloe announced, poking her head into a narrow passage.

"All right, you two go ahead. We'll help Charlie," Nate said. It was slow going through the narrow passage. Charlie kept muttering and would snap angrily any time Nate touched him to try and urge him forward. Nate attempted to calm him down, but Charlie just became more and more agitated.

"All right, we're through!" Sully called. "Oh wait, there's another passage up ahead." I groaned inwardly. It was hard enough getting Charlie through this one, I didn't think he'd take another passage well.

"Just go on. We've got him," Nate called back. We finally exited the first passage, but Charlie didn't seem to calm down. "You go on and catch up to Chloe and Sully, I'll handle Charlie."

"Nate, I don't think that's a good idea," I warned. I didn't trust Charlie in his drugged and agitated state. He could do some serious harm if we weren't careful.

"I'll be fine," he assured me. He gave a quick peck on the lips. "Go on ahead, I'll be right behind you." I still didn't like it, but obliged. I slipped into the passage and maneuvered my way through and found Sully and Chloe waiting on the other end.

"Where's Nate and Charlie?" Chloe asked.

"Still working through the passage. That last one didn't do Charlie any favors," I said. I waited with crossed arms, tapping my footing nervously. What was taking them so long? It wasn't that long of a passage. My head snapped up when I heard scuffling on the other side. A quick glance at the other two told me they heard it too. I wasted no time in scrambling back through the passageway. I gasped at the sight on the other side. Nate was on his knees, Charlie's hands wrapped tightly around his neck. My heart nearly stopped. "Nate!" I ran forward to try and pull Charlie off Nate. Sully joined me, but it was no good. Charlie didn't seem to even realize we were there in his drug induced rage. Chloe called Charlie's name, trying to get through to him.

"Get back," Sully warned, pulling out his revolver and aiming it at Charlie's head.

"Don't!" Chloe cried. She cupped Charlie's face in her hands to get his attention. "Charlie, you're killing Nate. Okay, you gotta listen to me. You are killing Nate. Charlie." Charlie shook his head as if trying to clear it, then let go of Nate's neck. Nate collapsed to the ground, coughing.

I hurriedly knelt next to him. "Nate! Stai bene?" (are you ok?) Nate rubbed his neck, breathing heavily as he tried to catch his breath. I quickly glanced at Charlie who was sitting against the wall a few feet away. Whatever drug had been in his system finally seemed to have run its course as he rubbed his head. I turned back to Nate and helped him to his feet.

"I'm all right…" He tried to assure me, but his voice sounded horse. Sully stepped forward to steady him as Nate stumbled slightly. Nate leaned one hand on his knee, the other on Sully's shoulder to steady himself as he caught his breath. Sully and I exchanged concerned glances before Sully turned a glare to Charlie. Nate straightened and took a few unsteady steps towards the torch he had dropped in the struggle. Charlie got to his feet and approached.

"Nate. Nate, Nate, I'm really sorry," he pleaded. Nate patted his shoulder then gave him a light shove.

"We're even," Nate declared with a cough. He stooped to grab his torch and relit it on a nearby fire.

"Hold on a sec," Charlie said, turning to Sully. "You weren't… You weren't gonna shoot me, were ya mate?"

Sully sighed heavily. "Like a rabid dog." Charlie looked like he didn't know how to feel about that answer and merely responded with 'wow'. The tension in the room was palpable.

Nate coughed again. "Let's try this again. I'll go first this time. Follow me." He slipped into the passageway and I quickly followed, wanting to stay close after the last few minutes' events. I heard Sully telling Charlie to go ahead of him, saying he wasn't ready to turn his back on him just yet.

We followed the passage until we came to an open space, in the middle of which was a giant stone globe. I whistled appreciatively.

"Amazing… that… Is that a globe?" Charlie asked, approaching the stone sphere.

"It would appear so," I said.

Nate inspected the base of the sphere. "Looks like this thing should spin, doesn't it?" I nodded.

"This is more than just a crypt," Charlie announced.

"Yeah, the whole room looks like some kind of ancient device," Sully agreed.

Charlie started patting his pockets. "Where's my notebook?"

"You gave it to Talbot, don't you remember?"

"Wha? No I didn't."

"Yeah, your gun too."

"Ah, bollocks," Charlie cursed. I snorted quietly.

"All right, we need to figure out how to get it spinning," Sully said.

"Look at this channel," Charlie said, indicating shallow channels that ran around the room.

"It looks like they were meant for water," Chloe mused.

I approached a gate at the beginning of the channels. "I bet these control the flow of water. There are probably more around."

"I found a stairway," Charlie announced. Charlie, Nate, and I jogged up the stairs, getting a birds eye view of the globe below.

"See anything up there?" Chloe asked. Nate walked over to a statute with a brazier inside and lit it. A pattern of light appeared on the globe. "They look like some kind of projections. They're marking positions on the globe." Nate and Charlie lit the other three braziers.

"Incredible," Charlie gasped in awe. "The beams don't line up with anything, though."

"They might if we got the globe spinning," I suggested. "We probably have to line the beams up with certains spots on the globe."

"Okay, let's go find the water then," Nate said. The three of us found another staircase down to a small platform with a brazier in the middle. When we arrived, I could hear a familiar hissing sound.

"Is that the water?" Charlie asked, looking around for the source of the sound.

Nate shook his head. "I'm not sure." I was fairly certain I knew what it was. I moved closer to Nate as he lit the brazier. The light illuminated a moving mass of spiders on the wall. My breath hitched and my heart started pounding.

"Oh, no…" Charlie groaned as he backed away. "Please, please tell me that you see them too."

"Oh yeah, I see them," Nate answered. He took my hand as I reached out for him, my eyes trained on the moving mass. "Whatever you do, don't let them touch you."

"Really?" Charlie asked sarcastically.

"Just stay in the firelight." Nate gently moved me closer to the brazier. "Stay here, all right?" I stared at him with wide eyes, my breathing on the verge of hyperventilating, but nodded all the same. He turned to Charlie. "Keep an eye on her."

"What are you doing?" Charlie demanded as Nate moved to the edge of the platform.

"I should be able to make it over to that brazier, if I run for it," Nate said as if it were obvious. I shook my head frantically. He was crazy! Charlie shared my sentiment as he gave Nate an incredulous look.

"You what?"

"I'll clear the way for you once I get there."

"If you get there. You're mental," Charlie accused. Despite my fear, I sent the Brit a glare. Way to instill confidence.

"We have to get the water flowing," Nate pointed out. "You have a better idea?"

"Maybe you could throw the torch down there and light the brazier?" Charlie suggested.

Nate nodded. "Good idea." I stayed huddled by the brazier, watching with my heart beating against my ribcage as Nate jumped from platform to platform, lighting the braziers as he went. Once all the braziers were lit, Nate gave the all clear.

"Why don't you go back to the globe, I'll help Nate with the water," Charlie told me. I nodded, not wanting to spend any more time in the area than necessary. I hurried back up the staircase and back to the globe room. Chloe and Sully looked up as I walked up.

"Where are Nate and Charlie?" Chloe asked.

"Getting the water flowing," I answered.

Sully gave me a concerned look. "You ok, sweetheart? You look like you've a ghost."

"Spiders," I said simply, shuddering slightly. Sully nodded in understanding and patted my back consolingly. A few minutes later, water came flowing down the channels and the globe began spinning slightly.

"Now we're getting somewhere," Sully said with a grin. Nate and Charlie arrived a moment later. "Hey, it looks like those light projections might line up with the land masses." Nate spun the globe for a few minutes, attempting to get the light projections to line up with the correct land masses. Finally, he got it and a spiral staircase dropped down from the ceiling.

"That's gotta be the entrance to the inner crypts," Nate said excitedly.

"I'm getting dizzy," I joked as we climbed the spiral staircase.

"All right, we're looking for a knight's tomb, just like we found in France," Nate informed us. "Now if my hunch is right, he'll be buried with the other half of our amulet." At the end of the corridor stood a stone coffin with a knight carved on top.

"Is that it?" Chloe asked.

"Yeah, just like the one in France," Sully confirmed.

"Amazing…" Chloe murmured in awe. I hummed in agreement, running my fingers over the stone lid. It truly was a work of art.

"Yeah, brilliant. Let's get it open," Charlie said. He and Nate pushed the heavy stone lid off the coffin and it landed on the ground with a thud, revealing a corpse just like the last one. Charlie reached in and grabbed the other half of the amulet. "There it is."

"What did I tell ya?" Nate said.

"Let's see the other half." Charlie held out his hand for the other half of the amulet.

"We don't actually have it," I admitted, sheepishly rubbing the back of my neck.

"What?" Charlie asked incredulously. "Where is it?"

"Talbot has it."

Charlie sighed. "Really?"

"Yeah, I told you how he ambushed us at the chateau," Nate explained. "That's when he took it."

Charlie threw his hands up. "Well, why did we even bother then?"

"Hold on," Nate protested, reaching into his pocket for his journal. "Give me a little credit." He held out his hand for the other half of the amulet. "There. You see?" He held up the other half to the sketch. Charlie and I leaned closer to see the completed inscription.

"And with the inscription complete…"

"We know exactly where to go in Yemen," Nate finished.

"Nicely done," Chloe complimented.

"Yeah, yeah, all the same. I think I'll hold onto this one," Charlie said, reaching out to take the amulet from Nate.

I raised a brow and crossed my arms. "Charlie, you literally gave Talbot your journal barely thirty minutes ago."

"I was drugged!" Charlie protested.

"My point still stands," I pointed out. Charlie huffed as he stuffed the amulet inside his jacket.

"All right, let's get the hell out of here," Nate said. We had barely gone more than a few steps when we were alerted to voices down below. Sully swore.

"They must've followed us," Charlie said.

"Well, we better hope there's another way outta here," Chloe said. We moved further into the crypt until we came to a dead end. "Ah, there's a draft over here." I wandered over near Chloe and sure enough, I could feel cool air. I followed the air current to one of the walls.

"It's coming from this wall," I announced, holding up my hand to feel the breeze. Nate walked over and pushed on the stone which moved slightly under the pressure.

"It's got some give. Charlie, help me with this," Nate called. Charlie moved forward and the two of them pushed against the wall. It collapsed and we hurried on, Charlie taking a gun from the dead mercenary under the rocks. Unfortunately, we didn't get very far when Talbot and some of his men appeared in front of us. All of us pulled our guns and aimed them at the opposing group.

"Drop your weapons," Talbot ordered. I scoffed. As if.

"Yeah, I don't think so," Nate replied.

"Well, then. What a dilemma. We seem to be equally matched," Talbot said with a smirk, completely unbothered by the situation. "Until the rest of my men show up, that is."

"We can wait," Sully declared, tightening his grip on his revolver. I noticed Charlie moving out of the corner of my eye and glanced at him. My eyes went wide as he lowered his gun, shaking his head slightly.

"Oh, no. Guys -" Chloe warned. Nate took a step towards Charlie to check on him, but stopped when Charlie aimed his gun at him.

"Merda!" (crap) I muttered. Maybe the drug hadn't worn off like we all thought.

"Now that changes things a bit doesn't it?" Talbot mused. I gritted my teeth and clenched my fist around my gun. I so badly wanted to shoot that smug little grin of that stronzo's (asshole's) face. "Now drop your guns."

"Why don't you go -" Nate started to shoot back.

"Cutter, shoot him," Talbot ordered. Both Chloe and Sully protested.

"Wait! Just stop, okay?" Sully pleaded. He reluctantly tossed his revolver into the ditch in front of us. Chloe and Nate followed suit. I hesitated. I didn't like being unarmed, but with Charlie still under the influence of whatever drug he was injected with, Talbot was holding all the cards. With a low growl, I tossed my gun with the others.

Talbot smirked. "Now that's better, isn't it?"

"Vai all'inferno," (go to hell) I growled. I know Talbot didn't understand me, but the tone of my voice was meaning enough.

"Shoot her," Talbot said.

"No!" Nate protested.

"You son of a bitch!" Sully shouted.

"My pleasure," Charlie replied. Instead of turning to me, he turned and shot Talbot, knocking the man to the ground. "Run!" We didn't need to be told twice.

"Head for the tower!" Sully yelled. We bolted across the ramparts, avoiding the rain of bullets from Talbot's men.

"Why on earth did you drop your guns?" Charlie demanded

"A heads up would've been nice," I shot back. "A wink or something."

"Well I didn't expect you to give up quite that easily, did I?" We reached the tower and followed Sully and Chloe as they jumped onto a nearby wooden platform. As soon as Nate landed, the platform collapsed behind him. Up on the tower Charlie skidded to a halt. Sully urged Charlie to follow.

"He can't make it," Nate realized.

"Okay, what can we do?" Chloe asked frantically. She looked at us all desperately. I shrugged helplessly. There was nothing we could do, not from here and not without guns.

"You didn't get very far, did you?" Talbot said casually as he approached Charlie. "Hand it over."

"Piss off," Charlie snapped. One of Talbot's men hit him with the butt of his gun. Charlie yelped and dropped to his knees with a groan. Nate surged forward, but Sully grabbed his arm.

"There's nothing we can do, kid," Sully told him solemnly.

"This is unbearable," Chloe murmured as we watched Talbot rifle through Charlie's pockets until he found the other half of the amulet. I hummed in agreement. Talbot backed off as Marlowe showed up.

"Oh, Cutter. I had such high hopes for you," Marlowe said with mock sympathy.

"Yeah, right," Charlie scoffed, getting to his feet.

"It's true. You had potential. Now…" Some men came forward and started dumping gasoline on the timber. I frowned. What were they doing? "Well, it's funny how things work out, isn't it? You betray my trust…" Marlowe pulled out a match. My eyes widened. "And now we find ourselves here. As if it were in the cards all along." She lit the match and threw it on the timber. She and Talbot left as the roof went up in flames. Charlie backed up to get away from the heat. He looked down, judging the distance.

"Charlie, don't," Nate said quietly. He had no choice. It was either burn to death or risk the jump. Charlie closed his eyes and jumped. "Charlie!" We all ran down to him. Thankfully, the jump hadn't killed him if his swearing was anything to go by. His leg, however, was bent at an odd angle. I winced, it definitely shouldn't be pointing that way. "Don't move!" Nate warned, attempting to check on Charlie's leg.

"Don't touch it!" Charlie snarled.

"It's broken!"

"I know it's broken," Charlie growled. He continued swearing quietly to himself, hands fisting in the dirt.

"Just easy does it, mate," Chloe soothed. She noticed something in Charlie's jacket pocket and pulled it out, holding it up for us to see. "Look at this." In the place of the amulet was a Tarot Tower card.

"What the hell…" Sully muttered. Voices interrupted us.

"Okay, we gotta move," I urged.

"Just leave me the gun. I'll kill those bastards," Charlie snarled.

Nate shook his head. "No way. We're getting you outta here." He and Sully helped Charlie to his feet.

"I got him," Sully said as Charlie groaned at being moved. "You cover us."

Chloe, Nate, and I covered Sully and Charlie, picking up guns on our way. After going through what seemed like an entire company of Talbot's men, we finally made it to the front gate. There were a bunch of tourists milling around outside, all waiting for the place to open.

Chloe waved cheerfully at the tourists, trying to act casual as we headed for their bus. "Morning. Not worth the price of admission, folks." Sully helped Charlie limp onto the bus and set him down on one of the benches. The rest of us clambered on as Sully moved to the driver's seat.

"Sully, get us outta here!" Nate urged. We peeled out of the area just as Talbot's men arrived. I let out a breath and flopped onto a seat. "You doing all right?" He asked Charlie.

"Oh fabulous," Charlie snapped sarcastically.

"That was too close," Chloe said.

"He'll be okay," Nate assured her.

"No, I mean the whole thing," Chloe clarified. "It just isn't worth it, Nate. Let this one go."

"No, no, no - you can't just give up," Charlie protested. "If you let these bastards win - after this - I will never bloody forgive you."

"Don't you worry, Charlie. There's no way I'm letting them win," Nate assured him with a pat on the shoulder.

"What is it with you? What are you trying to prove?" Chloe demanded.

"I'm not trying to prove anything." Chloe scoffed, not convinced. I remained silent, but I shared Chloe's sentiment. After the close call in France and now here, if I wasn't seriously questioning the whole escapade before, I certainly was now. I would of course back Nate, but was all of this really worth it? Nate leaned against my seat, staring at the road ahead.

"So what's the plan, kid?" Sully inquired.

"I guess I'm going to Yemen," Nate replied. "You up for it?"

Sully glanced at Nate with a look that said 'are you kidding?' "Course I am." Nate turned to me.

"I'm certainly not letting you go alone," I said.

"All right, we gotta find a quick way in. No hassles," Nate said. I smiled as I knew exactly how to get in.

"Guess I got a call to make then." Nate gave me a questioning look as I pulled out my phone and scrolled through my contacts. "Elena, long time no see! Listen, I have a favor to ask."