Vic eyed Eduardo and Eduardo returned the stare as Annja began to look around. From what she could make out in the dark environment, the cavern they were in was part of a much larger series of interconnected caves. Elaborate cave paintings decorated the walls. She could see some type of script but couldn’t make out what lingual family it might have belonged to, if any that she even knew of.

Farther off in the caves, she could make out a few ambient noises that seemed man-made. But for the moment, at least, they seemed to be in no danger of being discovered.

But what time was it? Annja frowned. She’d never known how much a watch meant to her until she didn’t have one. But even then, being aboveground usually gave her a fair indication of the approximate time of day. Being underground, however, was akin to a form of sensory deprivation. She had no idea what time it was.

“I think we’re okay. For now,” she said.

Vic nodded but didn’t take his eyes off Eduardo. Eduardo didn’t blink, either.

Annja sighed. “Guys, maybe you should just kill each other now and get it over with.”

Vic shook his head. “It would cause too much commotion. And that wouldn’t be good for any of us.”

“He’s right,” Eduardo said. “As much as it would give me pleasure to kill you both, it would be like committing suicide. And since I wouldn’t be taking out a lot of high-value targets with me, it would be a waste.”

“Well, when you put it like that,” Annja said, “maybe we should just try to get along and find a way out of here, yeah?”

Vic glanced at Annja. “Did you find something?”

“No. But it seems pretty quiet out there, too. I’m not sure if everyone’s asleep or not. I have no idea what time it might be.”

“It can’t be night again. They would have come for us by now. Even if we don’t know what time it is, I’m sure they know,” Vic pointed out.

“Yes,” Eduardo said. “And Hector seemed very sure of himself that we would be killed at sunset.”

Annja smiled. “Which is exactly why we should make ourselves scarce now. Let’s get moving.”

Vic eyed her. “You’re armed, right?”

Annja simply smiled.

Vic nodded. “At some point, you’re going to tell us exactly how you managed to cut the bindings, right?”

Annja smirked. “Not likely.”

“Obviously, you have a blade hidden somewhere on you. Is it secreted in some dark nether place that you can’t show me?”

Annja smacked him on the shoulder. “I’ll let your imagination run away with that one for a while. But don’t press me on the issue, okay?”

“Okay.”

Eduardo stood nearby. “We should have an order of travel. Someone will need to take point.”

Vic looked at Annja. “You want me to do it?”

Annja shrugged. “You’ve got the most experience creeping through the jungle, so maybe.”

“This isn’t the jungle. This is under the jungle. I have no idea what we might encounter,” Vic said.

“You’re still tops for the job in my book,” Annja replied.

“Yes,” Eduardo said. “You do have the skill to be stealthy. I will grant you that at least.”

“Lucky me.”

Annja pointed at Eduardo. “You’ll go next.”

“Next? I was going to suggest I bring up the rear.”

“I’ll take the rear,” Annja said.

Eduardo smiled. “You don’t trust me.”

“Not one little bit.”

He leaned closer to her and Annja could smell the foul breath caressing her face. “And what will you do if I suddenly kill Vic here? How will you stop me then, woman?”

Annja grinned. “You don’t want to know what I’m capable of, Eduardo. So don’t push me.”

“What you’re capable of?” Eduardo laughed. “What an utterly ridiculous statement.”

“Hey,” Vic said. “She survived out in the jungle with nothing but the clothes on her back. That says plenty to me.”

“She survived because she ran into you.”

“Not right away she didn’t.”

Eduardo started to say something else but thought better of it. He clamped his mouth shut and then just nodded.

“We should go,” Annja said.

Vic led the way out of the small entrance to their cavern. Annja followed behind Eduardo and cast a final glimpse back at their prison. It would have been nice to bring a torch along, but they couldn’t risk the light giving them away as they made their way through the cave complex.

They’d have to do it all in the darkness.

Fortunately, Annja didn’t think that whoever else was down there with Hector would be able to maneuver without a torch. That meant they’d have a pretty good warning of someone approaching them. It might just give them enough time to hide.

She hoped.

Vic eased his way down the path. Annja found it hard following along until she relaxed and sank deeper into her subconsciously aware state. Instead of relying on her conscious mind to guide her via her five senses, Annja allowed her instincts to take over.

As soon as she did so, she could feel Eduardo’s presence in front of her and beyond him, Vic. Moving in this fashion, she knew how fast to travel and when to slow down. Vic didn’t keep his pace constant, but would sometimes slow down if he needed to check up ahead.

Vic was nervous. She could sense it in the way he moved. Here and there, he made small noises that she knew he wouldn’t have made if he’d been totally comfortable in his environment.

But if Vic was nervous, Eduardo was utterly terrified. And Annja didn’t think his fear stemmed solely from their predicament. He seemed to be scared of the darkness itself.

That worried Annja. His fear could give them away if he didn’t do something to control himself.

Annja sensed Vic stopping. She heard Eduardo whisper a message back to her. “He’s checking something out.”

Annja nodded. “Are you all right?”

The fear in Eduardo’s voice vanished. “I’m fine.”

“You’re not. You’re terrified. I can tell,” she said.

“How can you tell?” His voice was a harsh whisper now, and Annja felt anger and wounded pride beginning to color his timbre.

“I just can. Don’t worry about it so much. None of us can see.”

“Vic doesn’t seem to have a problem.”

“Only because he’s used to operating in near darkness. But even he’s nervous. Trust me.”

Eduardo paused. “Who are you?”

Annja smiled. “No one special. Just take some deep breaths and you’ll feel better about all of this. Vic will get us back up top and then we’ll be fine.”

“You really think so?”

“Sure.”

Eduardo sighed. Perhaps he wasn’t so evil after all, Annja thought. She frowned. No. She wouldn’t let herself think that. She’d been too optimistic about humanity in the past and knew that people were capable of concealing their true nature if they thought it would help their cause.

If I was in Eduardo’s position, she thought, I’d be doing exactly the same thing. He needs a friend right now. Otherwise, Vic will most likely kill him once we get out of here. But if he befriends me, he’ll think I might intervene long enough for him to either escape or kill us both.

She knew she’d have to watch him carefully.

Eduardo’s voice came back to her again. “Thank you,” he said.

“You’re welcome.” But Annja wasn’t sure what to make of him. She sensed Vic returning and then they started moving again.

Annja’s hands passed over cave walls that felt incredibly smooth, almost as if water had worn down all the nooks and crannies over the years until the stone felt like cool marble.

Had an underground river carved this network out of the jungle?

Annja wished she had a light source to see what they were passing. No doubt, it would have made for a great story on Chasing History’s Monsters. If only the threat of being sacrificed to some unknown deity hadn’t figured so prominently into it. Annja didn’t relish losing her life for the sake of good television. There were plenty of other saps who would aspire to that.

They moved slowly for the better part of fifteen minutes. Annja felt sweat break out along her brow, even though the air here felt much less humid than it had aboveground.

It’s the pace, she thought. Plus, the stress of not being able to make noise. Together, it would make anyone sweat.

Well, she thought. Maybe not Vic.

She sensed him getting more comfortable as he led them on past more tunnels and caves. Twice, they had come to an intersection, a choice where they could have gone either left or right. Both times, Annja checked the direction against her instincts and both times she felt Vic had chosen wisely.

But there was only one way to find out, she decided. And that was to keep on going in the direction they were headed.

Scattered bits of noise reached her ears now. Was there something going on up ahead of them?

Annja assumed they’d only traveled a few hundred yards in total, so they still weren’t that far away from their prison cavern. Was it possible that they were coming into a more populated area?

Perhaps Hector was rousing his tribe and getting them ready for the sacrifice.

Vic stopped moving suddenly.

“Someone’s coming,” Eduardo said. “Hide.”

Annja shrank back against the rock, trying to find a way to press herself into some kind of niche. But the rock was as smooth as what they had been passing so far.

“There’s no place to hide,” she whispered.

She sensed more movement. Vic’s voice appeared in her ear. “Three men are coming with torches. If they pass by us, they will see us. We need to hide.”

“Where? We can’t see,” she said.

“I know. I was hoping you might have an idea.”

“Me?” Annja frowned. “How would I—?”

“I don’t know,” Vic said with an edge in his voice. “But you’d better figure something out. I’m all out of ideas and those guys are coming closer.”

Annja leaned closer to Vic. “Okay. Follow me.”