Uncharted The Fourth Labyrinth - By Christopher Golden Page 0,120
tighten on the grip of his gun. “You came after us in New York. In the van. You set Luka’s apartment on fire.”
“I coordinated,” Corelli said, correcting him. He glanced at Perkins. “You can hire anyone to do anything if you know who to call.”
Drake turned to Perkins. “If those were your guys, they were pretty sloppy.”
“Not my people,” Perkins said. “This is my first time working for Mrs. Hzujak.”
Henriksen winced at the words, this confirmation that Perkins was taking orders from Olivia instead of from him.
“I’m the one who hired you, damn it!” Henriksen snapped at the mercenary commander. “How the hell is she paying you?”
“What you offered them is nothing compared to a cut of what’s waiting for us in the treasure chamber,” Olivia said, her eyes alight with greed and zealotry.
“It’s a calculated risk,” Perkins admitted. “We consider it an investment.”
Massarsky shifted uncomfortably. When Drake glanced at him, the huge ex-soldier shrugged.
“Sorry, man.”
“Yeah.” Drake laughed drily. “No hard feelings.”
“Enough,” Olivia said, tilting her head toward Jada. “Get the girl’s pack.”
When Corelli came forward, keeping his weapon trained on Drake, Jada started to shuffle away from him, dangerously close to the edge of the ravine.
“Give it to him,” Drake said. “She wants your father’s journal and the maps. They’re useless to us down here. Luka never made it this far. If he guessed the fourth labyrinth was in China, he didn’t write it down. There’s nothing in there that can help us.”
Olivia laughed. “Nothing can help you.”
“God, when did you become so cold-blooded?” Henriksen asked.
“Says the man who’d stab his own brother in the back to get what he wants,” Olivia said.
“Never literally,” Henriksen said. “I’ve never killed anyone.”
“Too bad you missed your chance,” Olivia said.
Perkins cleared his throat. “Can we just get on with this? It’s a long climb down and up again, and we’ve gotta do it again coming back.”
Olivia shot him an irritated look, then gestured to Corelli.
Corelli lifted his gun and pressed the barrel against Drake’s temple. “Drop the gun, dumbass. You’re slightly outnumbered.”
He snickered. That, more than anything, was what flipped the switch inside Drake.
“Dropping it,” he said. “Just don’t talk anymore. Your breath is terrible.”
Corelli shoved the gun against his temple. Drake held his gun away from him and bent down slowly, lowering it to the ground.
“This guy,” Corelli said, glancing over at Olivia. “Can I kill him now or what?”
The second his gaze shifted away, Drake knocked his arm back, throwing off his aim, and kicked him in the chest. Corelli staggered backward, arms pinwheeling, right over the edge of the ravine. He screamed on the way down and pulled the trigger twice, but the bullets vanished in the darkness above them.
“Son of a bitch!” Olivia shrieked, striding toward him, leaving Garza and another mercenary to cover Henriksen.
Perkins and Massarsky were on Drake instantly, guns pointed at his head, but Drake wasn’t stupid. He didn’t try picking up his weapon, just laced his fingers at the back of his neck.
“Come on, guys,” he said. “Tell me you weren’t tempted to do that yourself. I mean, I know you’re going to shoot us, but that clown had to go first.”
“Nate?” Jada said quietly.
His bravado failed when he heard the crack in her voice. But he didn’t regret what he’d done. Corelli had been about to kill him, which meant he’d bought them a couple of extra minutes of life. And now Olivia had no sidekick, no one to share her plan, no one else who knew where to find what they were looking for. Perkins had just become her best friend, but he cared only about the gold. Olivia was alone, and she deserved that.
“What are you waiting for?” Olivia snapped, glancing at Perkins even as she kept her weapon aimed at Henriksen.
“What’s wrong, Olivia?” Henriksen said. “Afraid to get blood on your own hands?”
Drake had been fighting his instinct to like the guy. But since they were both about to be shot, he figured that put them on the same side, and he couldn’t help but admire the big Norwegian’s fearlessness.
“Just waiting for your order,” Perkins said.
Fourteen mercenaries and one coldhearted witch, all with guns aimed at them. Drake felt a terrible sadness grip his heart as he thought about Sully and realized that whenever they caught up with him, they were going to kill him, too.
He stood, ignoring the mercenaries who shouted at him not to move, and reached out to take Jada’s hand. Hell, they were family. She squeezed,