Chapter Eighteen

Eve opened her eyes and released her grip on the spear.

Sliding her hands between them, she thrust as hard as she could. Yuri slid off and lay on the rock floor, staring up out of surprised-looking eyes. She swallowed down her nausea as she studied the body. The spear was still lodged firmly in his chest. It looked like it had gone in low in his belly and then upward, piercing his heart.

She’d killed a man. She’d slept with him, shared her secrets, introduced him to her goddamn children. And now she’d killed him. But no way was she sorry.

He’d tried to kill her first. He had killed John.

She pushed herself to her feet and winced as agony sliced through her. She’d almost forgotten she’d been shot. The shock of everything else had masked the pain, but now it ripped through her side like fire, and she clutched her hand to the wound. She stood for a minute while she fought for control, then peered down. It was hard to tell which blood was Yuri’s and which was hers. She didn’t want to look at the wound, but she forced herself to peel open her jacket, then pull up her shirt.

Ugh.

The bullet had caught her just above her waist, but she couldn’t see much past the blood. She spotted her rucksack where she had entered the cave and hobbled over. She pulled out the bottle of water, opened it, and poured a little over the wound, washing away the blood. She twisted around so she could see her back and poured more water. The bullet had gone right through. The ragged hole was oozing slightly, but not bleeding. She’d been lucky, though maybe “lucky” wasn’t the right word considering her circumstances.

She had a spare T-shirt in her rucksack, and she folded it into a pad and pressed it to the wound, tucking her shirt in tight to hold the makeshift bandage in place. It was the best she could do.

Yuri had said he’d blocked all the exits. But there had to be some way out. No way was she going to lie down and fucking die in this goddamn hole in the ground. She pulled out the map and studied it. Found a second tunnel leading out of the chamber. It continued on past the boundaries of the map, but there were no more chambers.

Was she mistaken, or was the light dimming? The torch batteries must be running down.

She had to move.

She took a mouthful of water, then glanced around, her gaze skittering off the body. But she wasn’t leaving without the thing she had come for.

Avoiding looking at Yuri’s face, she grabbed the smooth wooden shaft. It was harder to pull out than to put in—Yuri’s body did not want to give up the spear, even in death.

“Shit.” Gritting her teeth against the pain, she rested her booted foot on his body while she pulled as hard as she could.

Finally, it jerked free, and she almost fell over backward. She wiped it clean on the arm of Yuri’s jacket.

There was only one way to go. She already knew the way she’d come in was blocked. That left the second tunnel directly opposite. Bigger than the one she had come through, but not by much. Her claustrophobia had left her, and she crawled into the tunnel, with the torch tucked in her jacket pocket, the spear gripped in her right hand. She was heading downward; she didn’t know if that was good or bad. She was in the mountains, so it didn’t necessarily mean she was heading deeper underground.

The light was dimming, and she ignored it, kept moving. Her side was on fire, the pain constant. She tried to ignore that as well.

Her hands hit the icy cold of water. She stopped abruptly and swallowed. Panic awoke and hovered at the edge of her consciousness.

She crawled on, but with each foot she traveled, the water got deeper. Freezing cold, her hands and knees were soon numb. Then she came to a place where the tunnel dropped quickly. The water rose to the surface, and she came to a sudden halt.

She closed her eyes and she was back in the past. Drowning as they held her down, the water filling her lungs so she couldn’t breathe. The pressure building and building…

Not real.

That was twelve years ago and she’d been helpless. She wasn’t helpless now. She had a choice. She could go back and die in the darkness, and Yuri would win. Or she could put her faith in…she didn’t know what. She’d never believed in God. But maybe in the Eternal Blue Sky.

The light was dying. The water looked black and treacherous.

Eve took a deep breath—and dived in.