Page 31

Chapter Thirty

I skidded on a jagged surface, then fell several feet to the ground. Excruciating pain shot through my shoulder, and I cried out. Another body slammed hard into me, knocking the wind out of me.

Brie moaned.

I groaned.

Out of everyone, why did it have to be her?

With a grunt, I rolled, pushing her sack-of-potatoes body off me. My breath rushed back in. “Shiiiiittt.”

My first thought was that I had dislocated or possibly broken my shoulder. The right sleeve of my shirt was wet. Please don’t be an open break. I reached for it with my other hand and touched my skin—the sleeve was gone—then brought my finger up to my nose. It wasn’t blood, just wet dirt. If I found the way out of here alive, I never wanted to go into or think about another cave.

Blinking into the almost pitch-black space, I took in the hell basement we’d just landed in. Next to me, a colossal stalagmite stretched upwards. I cursed again. If I’d landed a yard to my right, I’d have died.

I turned my head the other way. Brie was curled into the fetal position and quietly sobbing.

“Are you hurt?” I asked. It was a stupid question. We were thrown like rag dolls down the jagged surface. Of course, she was hurt. Her response was a squeak.

“Anything broken?” I asked.

She whimpered. “I think I broke my back.”

Excellent. The last thing I needed was to take care of her.

“Can you move?” I lifted on my elbows, ignoring the agonizing pain in my shoulder.

She slowly shifted, letting out a few sobs. “Yes, I can.”

“Then you’re probably fine.”

“Are you a bloody doctor?”

Before collecting our flashlights, which were several feet away from us, I took a moment to check my body for injuries: scuffed knees visible through torn pants, scraped arm, and hurt shoulder. Everything else seemed to be okay.

With a great effort, I stood up, staggered and nearly fell. My hands shot for the stalagmite, and I managed to stay upright. I stumbled to our flashlights and picked them up. Mine had a cracked lens, but it worked. Leaning against a timber pillar that supported the mountain overhead, I surveyed the space.

The damp cavern held no skeletons. We must have been the first ones who’d fallen through the floor trap, or maybe the others had made it out of here alive. Or didn’t and their remains were somewhere lost in the tunnels.

All I saw was more rock, stalactites, stalagmites, limestone columns, and passages. And a door. The misshapen wood frame door with an iron ring handle looked like something I had seen on a tour of the gold mines out west. I stilled. It made little sense why someone would build a trap just to let their victim leave. My scalp tingled with discomfort. Maybe it was another ha-ha-gotcha trap, or maybe we weren’t meant to have survived the fall. I strained my neck to look up, and then my eye landed on the sharp stone sticking out of the ground, Brie flat on her back close to it. Were we lucky, or was it a design miscalculation? I shook my head. It didn’t matter. We’d survived.

The beam I was leaning against groaned and creaked faintly. Perhaps putting pressure on a few centuries-old structures was a bad idea. Giving myself several seconds until the pain subdued, I carefully pushed off it and wobbled to the door, dropping Brie’s flashlight near her as I passed.

The door bulged outward as if something was pressing on it from the inside. Wood could bow, but I was sure this wasn’t an unbalanced drying problem. Better leave it alone. We’d return to it as our last option.

Brie was lying on the floor, eyes closed.

“Can you walk?” I asked. “We have to find the way out of here.”

Her chin wobbled, and she turned her face away. “How did this happen?”

I peered up, my flashlight revealing the outlines of the trap. “I’d guess Igor picked up that statue and set this off.”

Did others also fall into other traps, or had they been lucky? My heart squeezed at the thought of William having to deal with more troubles. Taking a deep breath, I expanded my lungs and yelled. “Andrew! William! Can you hear me?” My words echoed before fading into the void, but no one called back. I tried again and again.

“Oh my God,” Brie said. “Stop yelling. You’re hurting my head.”

“Maybe they can hear us,” I rasped.

“Obviously they can’t. Otherwise, they would have answered.” She moaned. “So shut up.”

“You shut up!” I glared down at the skinny asshole on the floor, and rage rose in me. Would it be wrong for me to kick her? Just lightly? “Get up and let’s explore,” I said with anger.

She rolled on her side, stuffing her arm under her head. “Can’t we wait for them to find us? Or maybe you can climb and try to open it back up?”

I scoffed. I liked how I had to climb, not us or her. “I’m not Spiderman. Without a ladder, there’s no way for us to reach that wall.” I pointed with the flashlight to the edge of the suspended sloping wall we’d slid down before dropping about twenty feet.

“Can’t you at least try?”

I rolled my eyes. “Do I have to tell you in six different languages that there is no fucking way to get up there?” I stepped over her. “You stay here, and I’ll go.”

I walked to the enlarged tunnel, which had man-made chisel marks. Could this lower cave be another passage network that led to and from the palace? It wasn’t all just nature; it had many human touches: cut stone, timber framework, leftover lumber. What if these were emerald mines? Colombia was famous for the precious gem. I just didn’t know if we were in the right part of the country. If we were, maybe Pérez made his fortune by robbing other ships, but this was the primary source of his wealth and the reason for keeping it so secretive.

The moan, then shuffling behind me, made me turn. Brie slowly approached me. Her light brown pants were torn at her thigh, and her blouse had a gaping hole around her right boob. She wore a lacy bra. I wouldn’t wear these kinds of bras unless it was a special occasion or cold weather so I could hide the unevenness of the fabric.

“I don’t want to stay here alone.”

One of her front teeth has broken off in half. Dirt covered her face, and her blond hair stuck out in different directions. I winced and held in a laugh.

She scowled at me. “What is that face for?”

“I cannot be held responsible for what my face does when you’re talking.” I ran my tongue over my teeth. My appearance wasn’t any better, but at least all my teeth were whole.

“Seriously,” she snapped. “Why are you looking at me like that? You look like shit too.”

I pulled a smile and pointed at my mouth. “You’re missing something.”

Her mean expression dropped, and her tongue touched the broken tooth. She sank to the ground, and the sound she released nearly burst my eardrums. She was an ugly crier. With every passing second, the question of what Andrew had seen in her pounded harder in my brain.

“I hate this,” she wailed. “I hate Richard. He made me come on this trip!” Brie patted her face and looked at me with huge Puss in Boots eyes. “Do I look horrible?”

Something moved in my heart. Pity? I had to admit—as much as I hated it—she was still pretty, but her character ruined her beauty. Right now, she looked like a sad and tired teenager.

I shook my head. “No. You can fix that tooth when you’re back in London.” Would it have killed me to say more to make her feel better? Yes. I didn’t like her and wasn’t trying to become friends.

Leaving Brie to collect herself, I searched for a rock that I could use to leave markings in the tunnels. I picked up a smooth, large pebble and scraped it on the wall. It left a faint streak. I dropped it and chose a stone with sharper edges. It wouldn’t fit into my pocket, but it left a fat mark when I ran it over the surface.

“What are you doing?” Brie’s voice came not far behind me.

“We should indicate which way we came from so we won’t get lost if we need to return. It also ensures that we aren’t making an infinitive loop. Try to find a good rock or two.”

To my surprise, after several minutes, Brie returned with three stones. “I’m thirsty.”

Until she said that, I hadn’t realized I was, too. And I needed to pee. “Maybe we’ll come across an underground spring. Excuse me for a second.”

Brie stood by the door when I came back. “Were you not going to tell me about this door?”

“I assumed you weren’t blind and saw it yourself.”

“Where does it lead?”

“What am I, Google Maps?”

“You’re the one who said you knew the way around here.”

“I knew the way around at the level above us.” Saying I knew was a stretch, but I’d not give her the satisfaction of knowing that. My torn sleeve hung over my wrist. I ripped it off and stuffed it into my back pocket. “Ready?”

“Don’t you want to check this first?” Her hand went to the handle.

“Brie, don’t.”

She yanked on the iron ring, and it ripped off, sending her back on her ass. The bowed door burst, releasing a flood of boulders and dirt. Fear and anger rushed through me as I watched Brie scrambling backward like a crab in horror. The rockslide stopped shy of her boots. Thank goodness. The last thing I needed was for her to get more hurt and slow me down. My heart insisted Andrew and William were alive, and I was determined to find my way out of this and find my men. I wanted to hug William, and I needed to feel Andrew’s warmth.

“There, now you know!” I snapped. “It’s a dead end. You can follow me or try to dig your way through that.”

I was expecting her to say something snarky, but instead, she got up and dusted her butt off as if that could make her pants any cleaner. “Fine.”

Our footprints left a trail behind as we followed the cave vein, leaving marks at every turn. Every so often, we passed lanterns, which meant someone had used these tunnels before. Twice, we came through the same intersection. It was our only stopping point to rest before continuing into a different passage. After some time, we came to an open space with trickling water on one side. My mouth turned cotton-dry at the sight. I rushed to it and pressed my hands into the cold wetness, then without thought, I brought my lips to it. Water ran down my chin, neck, and chest, soaking my clothes.

“What if it’s bad?” Brie yanked on my arm. “You can die.”

I didn’t care. This unfiltered, full of earth minerals—and maybe some bacteria—water was the best thing I’d ever tasted, better than the complex Opus One cabernet.

“God, this is good.” I wiped my face. “Drink. This might be your last chance.”

Brie wrinkled her nose and shook her head. I shrugged. Cupping my hands, I washed my face and neck, feeling the earlier pain and fatigue wane. It was like coming home after a long, strenuous day at work and taking a lukewarm shower.

Rejuvenated, I stepped back, not bothering to wipe the water drops off my skin. “You don’t know what you’re missing.”

“Can we continue now?” Brie jerked her chin at the path.

I pulled my flashlight from my back pocket where I’d stuffed it earlier. “Okay.”

The route went straight for a while, and then we rounded four bends. After another turn, we entered a deep passageway with a neck-breaking vaulted ceiling. A foot-wide fissure in the ground divided the path. Neither Brie nor I would fit through to fall to our death, but the issue was the further the pathway went, the wider the crack became, separating the walkway into two paths hugging the rock.

“Look at that,” Brie said, her voice echoed off the surrounding rock.

I turned and looked where she was pointing above my head.

A stone lantern was built into the wall. From it, a chiseled-in half pipe ran along the path on both sides. It was like old-fashioned runway landing lights. I cautiously lifted my hand and touched inside. I rubbed my fingers together, they were covered in a blackish fine powder mixed with grit and dust. This must have been some burning goo they used to light the way.

“This is so cool.” I wiped my hand on my pants. “This has got to be the right way.”

“Can we light it up?”

I arched an eyebrow. “Do you have a lighter?”

I doubted the flaming compound would burn after hundreds of years even if she did.

“No. Do you?”

“I’m not Inspector Gadget. Besides this,” I raised my flashlight, “I’ve got nothing.”

“Why are you so sardonic all the time? Either say nothing or give a valid answer.” Her lips went into a flat line.

“Around you, sarcasm is all I know.” I turned my focus onto which side to pick.

“Which way do you think we should go?” I asked, not sure why.

Brie hummed. “Left.”

I went right.

“Oh my god.” She threw her hands up. “Why ask if you weren’t going to take my advice?”

“I tried to be nice and hoped you’d say right, so you’d think it was your decision.”

First, we walked side by side, but soon Brie shuffled behind me. The gap in the ravine grew the deeper we went, and the path narrower.

“How long have you known Andy?” she asked. I rolled my eyes at the way she used that nickname again. She did it to irritate me, but I wouldn’t give her the satisfaction to see it bothered me.

“Feels like my whole life,” I said honestly.

A yearning unwrapped in my aching heart. Andrew and I had been together just shy of two weeks, but I was sure he was my soulmate. I could no longer deny that I was in love with him. I had to tell him that. And I had to tell him I would move to the South Pole as long as we could be together.

“You can stop your pretense that you’re married. You aren’t even engaged to him.”

I haltered but then kept going. How did she know it?

“Why would you think that?” I said, cautiously navigating a new turn. By now, the paths ran parallel, a six-foot, dark, deep gap splitting them.

“Andy said he would propose with his grandmama’s engagement ring. It’s some old Victorian junk.”

My stomach hardened with jealousy that Andrew had spoken to her about engagement. I also couldn’t believe she called it junk. Then a swell of tenderness expanded in my chest. I was sure it was beautiful, and I wouldn’t expect anything less of Andrew. He’d ask for marriage with a ring that was special to him.

“Why would you even pretend?” Brie said. “It’s so stupid.”

“What does it matter to you?” What I wanted to ask was why he’d even told her. Had he been thinking of marrying her?

“Just curious. Are you engaged to someone else?”

“No.” I am not a cheater like you. “This is my man repellent.”

The vertigo-inducing pathway narrowed to the point I wasn’t comfortable walking without my shoulder grazing the cliff. One misstep could plunge me into the cleft. I pressed my back against the cold stone and shuffled my feet sideways, my left-hand fingers clinging to every crevice and cranny.

“Does it work?”

“When a man is a pig, nothing can stop him.”

“That’s so true.”

Who would have guessed that we’d agree on something? It didn’t mean we were BFFs, but it gave me a boost to ask something that had bugged me for a while. “Why did you leave Andrew for Richard?” Out of all the men you had to pick from, I wanted to add.

Brie was silent for a while as we carefully navigated. Was she coming up with a great excuse? Or did she know there weren’t any.

“I was lonely,” she finally said. “His parents had died, and he was sad for months. Yes, it sucked, but I thought he’d get better after a while. And then Charlotte gave birth and he moved her and her daughter into his house. He also gave up his inheritance to some educational charity.” She sighed dramatically. “Do you know how much money that was?”

“I don’t care,” I said with a bitter tone. My leg ached to trip Brie and let the dark ravine swallow her.

“Well, it was a lot. I was already getting tired of his gallantry. Gifting that money was the last straw for me. I was angry with him and went to a pub. Richard was there. And one thing led to another.”

Regret for asking stabbed in my gut because I hated this woman more than I did five minutes ago. And I was afraid I would find a way to hurt her.

I made another turn and haltered to a stop. “Shit.”

A treacherous wooden walkway haphazardly pieced together out of planks replaced our granite path for several feet. There was no way to cross it in one move.

“What is it?” Brie asked, most likely afraid to lean in and look around me. I didn’t blame her.

“It’s a bridge. About six feet long.”

“What?”

Could it hold us?

Pressing my body hard into the stone, I bent my shaky knees and slid down into a squat. I probed the planks with the hard edge of my flashlight. It felt solid. My hands changed the hold of the torch and shook the bridge with my hand.

“Can we walk on it?”

“We’ll find out.” I gradually straightened. My heart beat dangerously hard. I tapped with my right foot lightly on the bridge, then pushed harder. The bridge held together. Good start. “If I die and you make it, please tell Andrew and William I love them. And tell Andrew I’d move to England.”

“So, you’re not only sarcastic, you’re also a pessimist?”

“I’m a realist.”

I scrutinized the bridge once more. Slow or fast? Or did it even matter? Was it all about the weight? If I moved fast, there was a better chance I could cross to the other side before it collapsed. I studied the wood planks for a while, then turned off my flashlight and secured it into my bra.

“Are you crazy?” Brie hissed. “You can’t see.”

“I feel better if I have free hands. Shine your torch so I can see where to step.”

Sweat soaked into the back of my shirt as I made the first step with my right foot. The bridge groaned but didn’t tremble. My feet, however, did—a lot. I placed my left foot on it and held my breath, my palms flat against the wall, fingers digging into narrow cracks.

Okay. Now. Move faster.

Right foot. Left foot. Right foot. The plank cracked.

“Fuck,” I screamed, adrenaline propelling me to do a broad side jump. My body molded into the wall, and my chest heaved.

With trembling fingers, I pulled out my flashlight and turned it on.

“Your turn,” I said, my voice shaking.

“If I die, it will be on your conscience,” Brie muttered, stuffing her flashlight between her boobs.

“Nobody asked you to follow me,” I said hoarsely between breaths.

“I said we should pick the left side.”

“You’re welcome to go back.”

“Fuck you.”

I laughed, but inside of me, everything trembled, and I wanted to cry.

Facing the ravine, Brie first shimmied slowly, then more quickly.

Right foot. Left foot. Right foot… straight through the wood.

Her high-pitched scream ricocheted off the walls. She bent forward and her flashlight flew out into the ravine. I grabbed her forearm and yanked her backward, hot pain piercing through my shoulder. She stumbled but pulled her leg out and landed on the edge of the stone path, throwing her head and back into the wall.

“This place is a death trap,” Brie said when she caught her breath.

“No shit.”

A nervous laugh bubbled up in me. Brie started laughing too. Like idiots, we laughed until tears streamed down our cheeks. I wiped my nose. She wiped hers, too. If Brie and I became friends, we could reminisce about this adventure over tequila shots in years to come. But it would never happen.

Several minutes passed before we felt ready to move forward. After another few feet, luck smiled upon us, and the footpath widened to where we could walk normally. Me leading. Her following. The pathway on the other side dead-ended into a wall. I took pleasure in pointing that out with the flashlight. Brie flipped me off. The passage became at least three yards wide, but we stayed close to the wall.

After a turn, a distant babel reached my ears. I froze, closed my eyes, and concentrated. The thrill expanded in my ribcage to the point it hurt. I could distinguish Andrews’s voice. My heart raced faster than when I had to cross the goddam wooden walkway.

“Do you hear that?” I whispered.

“I do,” Brie said, her voice for once laced with enthusiasm. “Where are they?”

My eyes darted everywhere, following the light of my flashlight, searching for any open space where they could be, but finding nothing.

“Maybe it is further down?” I charged ahead, just barely restraining myself from skipping and jumping and doing a cartwheel. There would be time for it later—I hoped—when we were on solid ground. Excitement at the possibility of soon being in my brother’s presence and feeling Andrew’s embrace moved my legs at a rapid pace.

A cool breeze caught me off guard when I came across a hole in the wall large enough for an adult to climb freely into. Their voices traveled out much clearer, but so did another uproar. A rush of water. A river. A waterfall. I couldn’t understand what they were saying, but it didn’t matter. They were alive. And they were somewhere up this crawling tunnel.

I stuck my head into the hole and called their names at the top of my lungs. I yelled again and again until my throat hurt. Then I listened. Blood pulsated in my ears. My stomach turned into knots. No response. But it was them. I was certain. I pushed inside.