-

CHAPTER

21

MATTHEW HAULED HIMSELF UP ONTO the ground next to Robyn, with Alex and Cal following. The ceiling here was about eight feet above his head, and the landmass was composed of rock and sand. His legs felt like jelly, and from the looks of everyone else, they were catching their breath. Well, all except for Jasper, who may as well have just gone on a leisurely stroll, rather than an hours-long swim. Matthew looked at his watch. It had been an expensive accessory, but its manufacturer claimed it was indestructible.

What do you know? The damn thing is still ticking.

He smiled at his investment, which told him they had been swimming for close to four hours. He looked at the others. Alex had her canteen to her lips, Cal was setting the module and the antenna on the ground, Jasper had his back to Matthew, and Robyn was standing with her eyes shut, panting.

No one seemed to notice that he’d looked at his watch, so why bring it up unprompted? If anything, it might discourage them more.

Robyn opened her eyes and met Matthew’s gaze. “I’ve never seen so many snakes in my life.”

It seemed they’d gone off, doing whatever it was snakes did. “I think they’re gone now. We’re safe.”

Robyn stepped back. “Safe? No.” She shook her head. “We’re far from safe, but…”

He’d never seen her quite like this before. Showing her fears was something new for him to witness, as she typically liked to suck them up and make out like nothing was getting to her. And she was normally the group’s cheerleader.

“They are asps,” Jasper interjected. “One bite can kill you. Even if you get help quickly.”

Robyn swigged water from her canteen, her eyes pinched shut. Matthew sensed she was trying to distance herself from the situation.

“Sounds like a good reason not to let them bite you,” Cal said drily.

“I’d say so,” Matthew agreed.

Jasper carried on, either obtuse or insensitive to Robyn’s fear. “They’ll only attack if they feel threatened or if you have the wrong energy.”

Robyn used the back of her arm to wipe her mouth. She grimaced and dropped her arm, probably because she realized her skin was wetter—and dirtier—than her lips. “The wrong energy?”

“Remember how I said part of being a snake whisperer is attitude? You have to mask your fear. If you don’t, like most things in nature, they’ll smell your weakness and exploit it. Heck, you could say that about some humans, too.”

“The less evolved of the species, anyhow.” Alex stepped up next to Matthew. “We should probably get moving, figure out where this goes.”

“Oh, we know where this goes,” Jasper said, squaring his shoulders and alluding to absolute confidence as if he’d been there before.

“Let’s hope the rest of the map is right.” Alex’s gaze dropped to the ground.

“This is not a good time to be entertaining doubts. Hello?” Cal waved his hand to get Alex’s attention. “I’m just sayin’…”

Matthew put a hand on her shoulder. “He’s right, Alex.”

She shifted her gaze to him. “I know. It’s just…” She paused. “I can’t help but think about Reda. He’s probably dead. And all because of me.” Her words hinted at a breakdown, but otherwise, her demeanor struck Matthew as composed. “All I wanted was to discover something important, and it’s going to get us killed.”

“You couldn’t have known the tunnel was going to cave in,” he offered as delicately as possible.

Alex eventually nodded. “You’re right.”

He smirked. “Of course I am.”

She laughed. “We might have to work on your modesty.”

Matthew loved the sound of the word we coming from her lips. For that matter, he loved the sound of her laugh. And he loved the way her wet hair cascaded over her shoulders, already drying into soft curls. But Alex seemed unaware of his admiration and walked away.

He picked up the module and antenna from where Cal had set them down and went to follow, but he sensed eyes on him. He looked around and found that Robyn was watching him. She rubbed her cheek against a shoulder and pressed her lips together. For a brief second, he’d almost peg her as jealous of Alex, but that was ridiculous. He and Alex were friends, just as he and Robyn were. But he had wished for a romance with Alex in the past, and it had been poor timing. And Robyn, well, the romance between them was long in the past, buried like some of the relics they uncovered. She was dating other men, and he dated other women.

Robyn smiled at him and tucked a strand of hair behind an ear. He smiled back and tilted his head in the direction the others were walking, encouraging her to follow. Then he turned and started after them.

More snakes were curled up on the sand and stone, their tongues flicking the air, smelling their visitors and assessing if they were a threat. But the snakes made no move to attack.

There was a wall on the right, and as they rounded a curve in the landmass, a wall appeared on the left.

“The cave,” Matthew said.

“I’d say this qualifies.” There was a lightness to Alex’s voice, and he detected she was smiling, though she didn’t look back at him.

As they moved along, the terrain didn’t change, and it made Matthew think of pictures he’d seen of the moon—barren with nothing but rocks and dips and valleys. Here, the latter would be closer to knolls and traps for twisting your ankle. The fine layer of sand that coated the stone made it slippery, too.

They carried on walking for an hour or so before stopping to take a rest. They gathered in a circle, and Matthew took everyone in. When he met Alex’s eyes, he realized she was doing the same thing, and they smiled at each other.

“I don’t know about anyone else, but I’m hungry,” Cal said.

“I think we all are,” Matthew conceded. “But I don’t think any of us has food on our person.”

Alex shook her head, and her chin quivered ever so slightly.

Matthew gripped her elbow. “None of this is your fault. Please know that.”

She sniffled and ran a hand under her nose. She nodded. “I know. I just feel like I should have known better.”

“You couldn’t have known, Alex. Jeez.” Jasper shook his head, impatience oozing from the man. “Reda’s dead. There’s nothing any of us can do about it now, and there’s nothing any of us could have done to prevent it.”

Matthew glared at Jasper. It wasn’t exactly the best pep talk he’d ever heard.

“I know you’re right, but…” Alex sighed.

“Listen, it’s not doing you or me, or any of us—” Jasper swept his arms over everyone “—any good to bemoan what happened. We just have to keep moving forward. In fact, that’s our only option.”

Something thudding against the ground drew Matthew’s attention away from Jasper. He walked in the direction the noise had come from. And there it was again. He treaded lightly and slowly, despite his urge to rush to investigate.

“What is it?” Robyn asked him.

“Does anyone else hear—” And more thudding.

He stepped around a stone formation that made him think of a stalagmite and found the source of the thudding noise. He looked back at the others. “Snakes are dropping from somewhere. But they can’t be coming through the rock… Maybe the sand?”

Jasper rushed in front of Matthew. “The door…” He took out his snake hook again, but the snakes were slithering away from him. Still seeming unafraid, Jasper went up to the wall as if a snake wouldn’t be popping its head out at any second and wiped it down. “I think it’s the door.”

Matthew didn’t need another invitation to join him. As he ran his hand along the wall, his fingers dipped into a crevice. He looked at Jasper. “You’re right!”

“The snakes are coming through a gap on this side between the stone door and the frame,” Jasper concluded.

The flow of snakes coming out of the wall seemed to have stopped, and it was a blessed miracle.

Matthew and Jasper worked to clear the sand from around the doorframe. For the most part, only a fine crack outlined the door. Where the snakes had come in, the crack was about three inches wide.

“How are we supposed to move the door?” Cal asked, coming up behind Matthew and Jasper. “It’s not like there’s a handle and hinges.”

“Look.” Jasper was standing to the right of the door now, running his hand over the wall there. “Stone blocks like the ones in the tunnel.”

“We can pry those out and find a way in.” Alex sounded confident, and when Matthew turned to look at her, she was holding a compact shovel.

“Where did you get that?” He hadn’t seen it on her person, and it seemed to have manifested out of nowhere.

“I grabbed it before we headed down into the tunnel. I keep it here.” She tapped her lower back. “It clips onto my belt. You probably just didn’t notice it.” She went over to Jasper, who stepped back to give her access to the bricks. She wedged the point of the shovel into the wall and worked to pry the crack wider. She took a few stabs at it and seemed to get a good hold on her fifth attempt. She spread the blocks apart about half an inch and pushed the shovel in farther. “Can you get a grip on one of the blocks?”

Matthew wasn’t sure if she was talking to him or Jasper, or if it mattered who responded. Matthew got there first and grabbed on to the stone, working his fingers into the smaller crack on the left of the block.

Eventually, by her shimming the shovel in the crevice between the blocks, they shifted the blocks enough that he could really get his hands firmly on the one. It was jutting out about half an inch at the top. He put his hands around it and pulled. Very little movement. Maybe they were thicker than the five-inch ones used in the tunnel.

“Here.” Jasper took the shovel from Alex and came to where Matthew was working. Matthew stepped back, and Jasper put the shovel into the left side of the block and shimmied it looser still.

Alex grabbed her end, and Matthew moved in to help her. Their hands touched, and their eyes met. For a fraction of a second, it seemed as if time had stopped.

Matthew cleared his throat and did his best not to get caught up in the floral overtures of her perfume, which somehow still clung to her after all that time in the water. He looked back at the block and pulled again. It shifted outward, then fell at their feet.

“It’s always that first one that’s the bitch.” Jasper passed the shovel back to Alex and grabbed hold of another block. Matthew watched it come out easily. He followed Jasper’s lead and took out another block, as did Alex.

Matthew looked over his shoulder at Cal and Robyn. They were watching intently, smiling and eager.

“You guys aren’t ready to get out of here yet, are you?” Matthew laughed.

“Oh yes, we are,” Robyn fired back. “I just hope there are no more snakes on that side.”

“I wouldn’t count on it,” Jasper replied.

By the time Matthew looked back at the wall, six blocks had been removed—three horizontally, two vertically. They’d have to get down on their knees, but it was passable.

The five of them moved to the opening, scrunched in next to one another, and bent down. Their headlamps cast light into the hole.

A large cobra was staring back at them. It lifted its head.

“Oh no!” Robyn shrieked and backed up, prancing in place and fluttering her hands rapidly.

“Stop moving,” Jasper growled barely above a whisper. “And keep quiet.” He unclipped his snake hook again. “The rest of you step back nice and slow.”

He didn’t have to tell any of them twice.

Matthew sensed dueling energies within Jasper—one dominant and one submissive. The snake’s attention went to Jasper. Watching Jasper work with the snake made him think it really was mind over matter, and maybe that was exactly what he was witnessing. Still, he wouldn’t want to be the one trying it.

Jasper held out his free hand, his index finger pointed again as he engaged in a silent battle of wills with a deadly reptile.

The snake shot its head forward, but it seemed to be intended as a warning rather than an attack. But it had moved closer to the opening, regardless. The snake sprang ahead again, and Jasper got it on the hook this time. He maneuvered his body away from them, and the snake’s tail flicked through the air. But its attempts to break free of Jasper were futile. He stepped away from the group and tossed the snake away from him, as he had with the others.

Matthew was the first to brave it back to the opening, and this time, he got a better look at what was on the other side. He didn’t see any more snakes, but he made another observation. “There’s another tunnel.”

“Let’s hope it shows us a way out,” Cal said.

“Oh, I’m hoping for a lot more than that.” Alex grinned and then slipped through the opening.

“Me too.” Matthew followed right after her, eager to uncover what they’d come to Egypt to find in the first place. And for a brief moment, his mortality and their dire predicament faded from his mind.