Read Online Claimed (The Flash Gold Chronicles, #4) by Lindsay Buroker - Free Book Online

her close as he lowered her. She seemed too casual about the idea of poking around amongst these snakes. She hadn’t seen people die out in the desert after being bitten, not the way he had. Better for someone with a powerful respect for them to do the poking about.
    “Stay here,” he said. “I’ll look.”
    He thought she might argue, but all she said was, “Bones as a last resort, please.” She was breathing audibly, through her mouth. The stench must be worse down here, or it was getting to her regardless of her position. “They’d have to be whittled down and wouldn’t be as effective as metal,” she added. “And they’re... disturbing.”
    “That they are.”
    Another rattle buzzed, this one nearby. Cedar pulled out the kerosene bottle again, grimacing at the level of liquid remaining. He wished he had been less liberal with his first application, especially with all of Kali’s gear waiting outside.
    He dampened his hands and the tip of his Winchester with the cool liquid, then lowered himself to his knees. He crawled into the darkness, using the weapon to probe the ground ahead of him. Again, scales rustled as snakes slithered away from his approach. He forced himself to angle toward the rotting carcasses of those who had fallen for the trap before, instead of veering away as he would have preferred. He patted down the mostly devoured bodies, searching for belts, knifes, guns, or other items that might be fashioned together into a hook. He had his own knife he could add to the effort, but Kali would probably need a few items to be used as prongs.
    Light appeared, startling him. His first thought was that Kali had risked a match, but he couldn’t imagine her being so foolish. The streaky nature of the light wasn’t anything like a flame, and the source dawned on him. He had seen it before.
    “I didn’t know you had any of that with you,” Cedar said, using the opportunity to examine their surroundings for the first time. What he had imagined proved quite accurate; they were indeed in a pit with dimensions close to the ten-by-ten feet he had estimated. Fist-sized holes dotted the first few feet of wall—snake holes. No less than twenty snakes were coiled along the edges of the pit—several had shifted away from the fluctuating brightness of the small flake of flash gold in Kali’s vial. Four dead men occupied the space as well, though they were more skeletons than corpses at this point. The Mounties wouldn’t have been able to identify them as the missing men anyway, unless one could figure out who they were by their effects.
    “I don’t know if I can think of a way to use it to help with a grappling hook,” Kali said, “though it did belatedly occur to me that it would make an effective light source, one that shouldn’t ignite the kerosene.”
    “ Shouldn’t ?”
    “I haven’t caught myself on fire with it yet,” Kali said. “Admittedly, I don’t make a habit of handling it when I’m wearing kerosene cologne. As long as it’s in the vial, it will be fine. Tarnation, this is a hideous hole.” Lip curled, she looked like she regretted illuminating the space.
    Cedar hurried to gather knives and weapons, then deposited them at Kali’s feet. She already had a small spool of copper wire out, along with wire cutters and pliers. He could only guess at what tools remained in her pack. She studied her “raw materials,” then set to work without hesitation. Cedar smiled, the light brightening his mood—and his confidence. Though he could now see that the tilted floor that marked the opening of the trap was high overhead, he was certain they would find a way out.
    Keeping one eye on the snakes, he crouched beside Kali and picked up the vial. As he had seen it do before, the flake of flash gold pulsed with power, occasionally sending tiny streaks of lightning up and down its glass confines.
    “Are you thinking of something crafty?” Kali asked as she pried a knife blade out of its hilt.