The Milestone Protocol by Ernest Dempsey (best books to read in your 20s txt) 📕

“One question first.”

“Yes?”

“You couldn’t find the diamond all this time. But you’re showing your hand now.” Sean saw the realization hit Tommy and Adriana as their eyes simultaneously widened. “You know where the master control is for the pyramid network.”

“Astute, as always, Sean.” Magnus turned sideways as if he might pace back and forth, but it was only for a second, then he faced the others once more. “We were lucky, honestly. Svalbard is, after all, in a remote Norwegian archipelago. It was one of the last places I would suspect to house a great ancient pyramid, much less the one that activates all the others.”

“Svalbard?” Adriana whispered. “Because it’s so remote?”

“Yes,” Magnus said. “That’s what we suspect. We discovered it while expanding one of our diamond mines. Prior to that, I’d honestly had doubts about the entire story around the cataclysm engine. But once we found that, I knew it was real, and I knew I had to locate the lost keystone.”

“And it fell right into your lap when Dr. Clark found it,” Sean realized.

He felt his phone vibrate in his pocket, but the abrupt buzzing didn’t startle him, and no one else in the room heard it.

“Okay, Magnus,” Sean surrendered. “You win.”

Tommy looked over at his friend with confused disgust. “No,” Tommy complained. “We can’t let this guy win, Sean.”

“You heard him, Schultzie. He has a team outside surrounding the house. There’s no way out except as his prisoners.”

“I’m hurt, Sean. I would never treat you as a prisoner. You two will build the foundation of history for generations to learn. Yes, you’ll be kept under close watch, but your work as historians and archaeologists will continue.”

“There’s nothing we can do,” Sean said in response to a pleading look from his friend. “He’s got us.”

Tommy hesitated, still fantasizing about a wild shootout that got all of them out of there with guns blazing. He could tell Niki was thinking the same thing and was still hurt by the comments. Tabitha and Adriana didn’t throw in the towel either, not at first.

“Trust me,” Sean said. “This is the only way, guys. We can’t let him kill Kevin.”

Tommy sighed. He knew Sean was right, even though he didn’t like it. He bent down and set his pistol on the floor. Tabitha followed suit, raising her hands in surrender.

Adriana waited the longest. With painful reluctance, she lowered her weapon to the ground and laid it at her feet. Her eyes, though, still fired arrows at Magnus.

“That’s better,” the Swede said.

As if on cue, the gunman released Kevin, who stepped forward, discarding the feigned look of fear he’d worn only seconds before. He drew a gun from his own coat and pointed it at Sean.

“Always so honorable, Sean,” Kevin drawled. “And so predictable.”

The epiphany blasted through the room like a hurricane.

“So,” Tommy realized out loud, “it was you.”

39

Russia

“Don’t look so surprised, Tommy,” Kevin said. “Honestly, I’m surprised you were dim enough to believe I had nothing to do with the killing of my team in Volgograd.”

“All those innocent people,” Tommy said, his voice distant. “You murdered them in cold blood. And for what?”

Kevin drew back his head in surprise. “Uh, for the single greatest, most powerful discovery in the history of archaeology. Not to mention safe passage when we start up the machine.”

“Dr. Clark has been an excellent addition,” Magnus praised. “The discovery of the lost keystone was all his doing. Giving him safe harbor for the coming storm was the least I could do. My bunker in Svalbard has enough supplies for two thousand people to live comfortably for more than twenty-four months.”

“Your ark,” Adriana said.

“Yes. And you four will be joining me. Well, you two,” Magnus corrected himself, pointing at Sean and Tommy. “I can’t have a Shinobi and a rogue MI6 agent in my bunker. That’s just asking for trouble.”

He turned to Kevin and the gunman. “Kill them both. Bring Sean and Tommy when you’re done.” Magnus looked Sean in the eyes. “I’m truly sorry, my boy. I didn’t want to kill her. I know how you feel about her.”

No tears formed in Sean’s eyes, and he made sure that Magnus noticed.

Niki started to make a move for his weapon, but the gunman turned and took aim at him.

“No,” Sean said, holding out his hand. “Don’t. He’s one of your own, Magnus.”

“He’s a street urchin and a traitor,” the Swede spat. Turning his attention to Niki, he blasted the young man. “I gave you everything. Everything!” Magnus shouted the last word, startling nearly everyone in the room. “I took you in as my own, and you betrayed me. Why? For what? You have become one of my best, Niki. Yet after all I’ve done for you, you folded within seconds. Why? What could they have possibly said to you to turn you against me and my will?”

Magnus turned to the gunman. “Kill him, too.”

At that moment, Niki’s heart broke. He’d been living a lie for all those years since his parents’ murder. The man he looked up to like a father had just ordered his execution. It was the ultimate betrayal.

“She saved me,” Niki said, torment filling his words.

Magnus had begun to pivot away from the group, but the young man’s words froze him. He twisted his head, wearing a scathing expression on his face. “What did you just say?”

“The people who killed my parents. They imprisoned me. She was the one who set me free that day you found me on the streets of Corfu.”

“And because she opened one door for you, that’s reason enough for you to ignore all the other doors I opened for you? Is that it?” Magnus looked over at the gunman and nodded. “Kill him. Bring Sean and Tommy with us.”

“Big mistake, Magnus,” Sean said coolly.

The Swede rolled his eyes. “And why would you say that, Sean?”

The answer came in the form of a thunderous boom from outside the farmhouse. The unexpected sound vibrated through the