Page 29 of Explorer’s Revenge

TWENTY-SEVEN

LOGAN

W e follow Aiyaret down as quickly as we can, but it takes us a couple of minutes to anchor in enough rope and get our packs together.

Wilder sends an SOS on the satellite phone before we leave, just in case we get lucky, and then we are over the edge.

Way’s in the lead, his face pale and anxious as he repels faster than he should.

His boots aren’t even on the ground before he unhooks, dropping the rest of the distance. “Aiy!” he screams, swinging his flashlight around as my feet touch the rock next to him.

I unhook and grab my own flashlight as I slap his shoulder. “We’ll find him, okay?”

He nods, and Wilder looks around when he joins us.

“Split up and search for exits. I want constant communication,” he orders.

We are all subdued and quiet for once as we spread out, our headlamps turning on as we walk to the edges of the cavern.

There’s a whistle, and I glance back. Rick looks worried as he holds up Aiy’s rope, showing the torn end. I hurry over and finger the frayed edges. “Did it snap?”

“Impossible,” Wilder murmurs as he takes it from me and plays with the end. “It looks like it was cut by something.”

“A rock maybe?” I suggest as I glance up.

“Maybe,” Wilder responds, but when I look back at him, he doesn’t seem convinced. “Let’s keep looking.”

“Blood,” Rick whispers, and we look at him.

“That’s blood.” We follow his pointing finger, our flashlights shining on what he sees.

A couple of feet away, glistening on a rock, is red liquid.

We all rush over, Wilder crouching as he dips his fingers in it and lifts it in front of his flashlight. “He’s right.”

Way joins us at that moment, and he turns even paler. “Aiyaret! Aiyaret!” His panicked shouts echo around us, and Wilder grabs his shoulders, shaking him.

“Keep it together,” he hisses. “It could be either of theirs. We don’t know, okay? I need you to calm down. I can’t be looking after you while we search for them.”

Way nods, but it’s too fast, and he looks absolutely petrified.

“Okay, we need to play this smart,” Wilder begins, taking charge despite the fact that he’s worried. “I want us in pairs, searching for which way they went, okay? No one goes anywhere alone. We will figure out what happened, but we’ll be smart about it. No more injuries.”

Nodding, I head off with Rick, leaving Way to Wilder.

We start in front of the ropes, scanning the wall with our flashlights for any caves or tunnels, anything to give us a clue as to where they could have gone.

Something catches my eye, and I stop, inspecting the marks.

“Rick, do those look like claw marks to you?”

He turns, shining his light on the wall I’m standing near, and his face pales as he nods. “Come on.” His voice is softer now. “Let’s keep moving. We have to find them. I don’t like whatever is down here.”

“Me either,” I admit quietly as I move closer, fear filling me. “Do you think this is the place from those paintings in that temple, where they were throwing people down here? Human sacrifices?”

“Probably,” he replies, “which means there’s something down here, and I don’t want to be here when it hunts for its next victim, so let’s get our team together and get the hell out.”

We spend the next twenty minutes or so searching for an exit.

There are a few tunnels, but they look far too small for them to have gone through without crawling, and they must be injured, so we discount them for now.

If we don’t find any others, then we will have to make our choice and pick one at random, but none of us seem particularly excited about that as we meet up in the middle.

“He didn’t just disappear,” Way snaps.

“Both of them will be okay,” Wild promises. “There’s something we missed. That’s all.”

“We are going to have to pick one of those smaller tunnels and just go for it,” Rick says, sounding surprisingly logical for once.

“He’s right.” Wilder sighs. “Okay, I found five. We’ll go two by two and set our watches. We’ll be in and out in ten minutes and meet back here to check in, no matter what we find, okay?” Wilder tells us, and I nod, glancing at the wall and trying to pick one.

“Wait, do you hear that?” We turn around at Rick’s urging, and it takes a second or two, but then I hear it as well.

Groaning.

Human groaning is coming from a tunnel we must have missed in the corner, and out steps Aiyaret and Maeve fucking Carter.

She looks up at us, her eyes widening before her cocky, if slightly breathless, voice comes. “Did you miss me?”