“Annja!”

She heard the voice but it buzzed in her head like the annoying mosquitoes that surrounded her in the jungle. She tried to ignore it, focusing instead on how lovely it felt to be sleeping in the pitch darkness of her mind.

“Annja!”

And just like the mosquitoes, the voice was not going away. Annja moaned and opened her eyes, squinting as she did so to ward off the possibility of bright light greeting her.

But she wasn’t in sunshine at all. And it was only a little bit lighter now than when she’d been asleep.

Asleep?

Annja’s mind swam as she tried to remember exactly what had happened. She was in the jungle. Running away from terrorists. And then…Vic? She’d fallen out of a tree.

Annja glanced around. For some reason, her arms felt weird. She looked overhead and saw that they were stretched out akimbo. At least five feet separated them from each other. And she was suspended off the ground somehow.

“What happened?” she asked.

“Annja, wake up and pay attention.”

She turned her head. Vic was strung up in a similar fashion. All of his equipment was gone. He wore only his camouflage clothing and boots.

Next to Vic was another man who looked Filipino.

“Who’s that?” she asked.

Vic shrugged. “Would you believe one of the bad guys?”

Annja saw a swirl of images coming at her as her memories returned. “I thought I saw him in the jungle. Right before…”

Vic nodded. “Yeah. Right before we were taken down by the blowguns. Nice, huh? Whoever said high-tech wins wars never went to battle.” He frowned. “Anyway, we’re here now, although I have no idea where here is.”

“Why is it dark? Is it nighttime?”

“I don’t know. I only woke up a few minutes ago.” Vic struggled to move but his binds had been fastened tight and he could barely arch his back, let alone do anything else.

“Where is the rest of that guy’s party? I saw several more of them,” Annja said.

“I think it’s safe to assume they’re dead. I’ve only seen us since I woke up. And no one has been by to check up on us. I think if any of his guys were still around, they’d be here with us. They’re not, which probably means—”

“They’re dead.”

Annja watched as the Filipino lifted his head and looked at them both. He coughed once and licked his lips. “They’re dead. Their heads were severed from their bodies as we were taken. For some reason, they only knocked me out. I don’t know why.”

“They were decapitated?” Vic asked.

Annja nodded. “I remember seeing some of the guys who got us armed with something that looked like scythes or razor blades or something. Whatever it was, they looked pretty nasty.”

The Filipino smiled. “Cut right through the neck and didn’t even topple the head. That’s how sharp those things must be. It was impressive, to say the least.”

“Lucky you,” Vic said. “You get stuck here with us.”

The Filipino spit. “I will not ally myself with you.”

“I wasn’t asking,” Vic said.

“You don’t have much choice,” Annja said. “Given the condition we’re in right now, I hardly think they intend to become best friends with us.”

Vic smirked. “Maybe invite us over for tea later?”

“Exactly.”

Annja looked at her hands again. Unless she could bring them together, she wouldn’t be able to conjure the sword, and even if she could she probably wouldn’t be able to use it for anything. She closed her eyes for a split second to check on the sword. It hovered right in the space it always did, and just seeing it made Annja feel better.

When she opened her eyes again, Vic was looking at her. “Everything okay?”

“Yep.”

He nodded. “Good. Whatever the hell that means.”

Annja looked at the Filipino guy again. “What’s your name?”

He eyed her for a second, seeming to fluctuate between hating her and realizing that they were in a bit of a jam here. “Eduardo.”

“You were sent to find me?”

Eduardo shook his head. “No, I was sent to find him.” He spit in Vic’s direction, but it failed to carry the distance and fell between them with a dull flop.

“Seems personal,” Vic said.

“You killed our leader.”

“Did I?”

Eduardo nodded. “He was a good man. Luis didn’t deserve to die with a bullet between his eyes.”

Vic sighed. “Let me tell you something. If he was a good man, he wouldn’t have been in my sights. Dig? Your pal Luis was some bad stuff. And he was one of the guys who had to go.”

“My men will find us and when they do, you will die a very painful slow death,” Eduardo said.

Vic sighed. “Yeah, like I haven’t heard that before. Good luck carrying it out. I don’t know where the hell we are and I doubt very much that your friends will find us, either.”

“We know this jungle.”

“Yeah, well, something tells me the guys who took us know it even better than both of us put together. And I don’t think they’ll let themselves be found unless they want someone finding them.” Vic leaned back as much as he could. “May as well make peace with the fact that you’re stuck here like the rest of us.”

Annja looked at Eduardo. “Did you know about me?”

Eduardo frowned. “I heard you escaped.”

“They were going to kill me,” she said.

Eduardo shook his head. “What do I care about the life of one American? Your country inserts itself where it is not needed or wanted. Your leaders seem to think they have some God-given right to act as judge and jury for the world’s affairs. They do not. What they propose to accomplish in the name of goodness is merely a front for the fact that they are all motivated by only one thing—money. If there is no money to be made, America will ignore you. Look at the situation in the Sudan. Did America get involved? Of course not. No money to be gained. But if you threaten oil or an ally in a region that has other resources, look out.”

Annja looked at Vic. “He makes a convincing argument,” she said.

Vic smiled. “I think it’s illegal for me to have this conversation.”

“Right.”

“No, really. I think the Uniform Code of Military Justice prohibits me from saying anything disparaging about my country or its leaders.”

Annja’s eyes narrowed. “You’re being serious?”

Vic nodded and closed his eyes. “My lips are sealed.”

Annja heard something and turned her head in time to see the last face she’d seen as she was being knocked out. The old man with the white beard walked toward her.

“Awake now?” he said.

“Apparently,” Annja replied.

“You traitor,” Eduardo said.

The old man grinned. “What do I care what you think? You are all alike. You would destroy the jungle and its beauty for the sake of your little wars. That’s not something I can allow to happen.”

Eduardo struggled against his bonds. “You will be killed when my men find me.”

The old man kept smiling. “And you think they will find you?”

“Yes.”

“Then you are a fool. And they will only die in the process. And your little scheme will fail, as well.”

Vic’s eyes opened. “What little scheme?”

The old man regarded him. “Didn’t you know? I assumed that is why you were sent to kill Luis.”

Vic frowned. “Luis was part of an overall mission profile to eliminate the leaders of Abu Sayyaf factions operating in this area.”

The old man nodded. “Ah, well, then why should I be the one to spoil the surprise?”

“Because it will piss Eduardo off if you do?” Vic said.

The old man laughed. “I like your sense of humor.” He walked closer to Eduardo. “What do you think of that? Should I tell him about your little suitcase nuclear device? The one you intend on detonating in the Makati district of Manila?”

Annja caught her breath. “You’ll kill thousands of people,” she said.

Eduardo looked at her. “So what? They are all living off the fat of the people. The wealthy deserve to die. The masses are clamoring for it, even if they don’t realize they want the change.”

“But so many innocent lives. What about the children?” she pleaded.

“The cost of war.” Eduardo glanced at Vic. “Surely you understand collateral damage.”

Vic shook his head. “I don’t operate that way. In my line of work, we kill who is supposed to die and don’t accept anything else. Indiscriminate killing is one of the reasons I’ve been assigned to hunt you assholes down.”

The old man shook his head. “It’s a good thing you’re all tied up. I fear you might kill each other if I let you.”

Annja looked at him. “Where are we?”

“You are in a cavern located far beneath the surface of the jungle. Surely you’ve noticed the change in temperature?”

Annja took in a breath. He was right. The humidity was far less than what it had been in the jungle. The air was cooler here. And she wasn’t wet anymore.

“We’re underground?” Vic said.

The old man nodded. “There is a network of tunnels all over this part of the island. It’s how we’re able to move as stealthily as we do.”

“‘We?’” Annja asked.

“My tribe.”

Annja frowned. “So I did see other members of your tribe.”

“Of course. It was necessary for you to see them in order for me to sneak up on you, distract you and then enable my fellow hunters to knock you out.”

“Great.”

Eduardo struggled against his bonds again. The old man shook his head. “You’re wasting your time. The cord we tied you with shrinks as it dries and the knots become almost unbreakable. You would need to be a lot stronger than you are in order to break free.”

Eduardo glared at him. “I will break free, just wait. And once I do, I will kill you for betraying us all.”

Vic sighed. “Hey, Einstein, you might want to lay off the threats.”

“Don’t tell me what to do.”

“You keep threatening him and he’s liable to just kill you now and be done with it. You ever think of that?”

Eduardo fell silent. Vic sighed again.

Annja looked at the old man. “What do we call you?”

“My name is Hector. Whatever you call me matters little to me. Your fates have already been sealed the moment you were chosen by me and my men.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Annja asked.

Hector started walking away. “You are to be sacrificed to our gods at sunset tomorrow.”

“What?”

Hector stopped. “It has been ordered by the spirits. Your deaths will help pave the way for an era of peace on the island. And your petty squabbles will end as your lives will.”

He walked away leaving Annja, Vic and Eduardo to ponder his words.