Page 193 of Empire of Shadows

She plucked his hand from her neck and threw it back at him.

“You are an absolute rotter,” she informed him.

“Light another match.” He sounded not the least bit ashamed of himself.

Ellie fumbled the tin, but managed to catch it. Her pulse thundered at the thought of what might have happened if she had dropped it in the water.

Her hands shook as she took out another match and lit it.

Adam stood right in front of her. He was grinning… and proudly held a dark bundle of sticks in his hand.

“What the devil!” Ellie exclaimed.

“Light it already!” Adam pressed urgently.

Ellie thrust the match forward, setting it to the sticks. In the glimmer of illumination, she could see that they were tied together with rope made of strips of bark.

The tiny flame licked at the wood, and then anchored itself there. Ellie stepped back as it blossomed into a brighter, steadier life.

“That’s a torch,” she pointed out a bit numbly.

“Yup,” Adam agreed. The soft orange glow revealed his form once again.

“But what on earth is it doing here?”

“Dunno,” he returned. “I just found it in the basket.”

“Basket?” Ellie echoed in surprise.

He pointed, and there it was.

The lake in which they stood ended at a rocky shoreline. More stalagmites sprouted from the stone, interspersed with areas of loose scree. Here and there, Ellie spotted pale, unexpected glints of bone. Most of the fragments looked like the exposed ribs of fish—some of them recent, others crusting over with mineral deposits.

The creatures living in the lake must have been left exposed when the water fell during the dry season, she thought uncomfortably.

The basket was made from reeds woven together with more bark rope. It sat on a slight platform made from a broken stalagmite.

“How is that here?” she demanded.

“Good question,” Adam replied meaningfully.

Ellie met his eyes across the glow of the torch.

“Someone else has been here,” she said.

“Sure looks like it,” Adam agreed.

He pushed the torch into Ellie’s hands. She grasped it instinctively and realized that he had another, yet unlit, in his other hand. He tucked it into the back of his belt.

“But how could anyone have carried that basket through the tunnel from the cenote?” Ellie pressed.

“Seems like a stretch, doesn’t it?” Adam flashed her a meaningful look and Ellie’s heart skipped.

“There must be another way down here,” she concluded.

“Yup,” he agreed as his eyes glinted warmly. He sloshed through the water with her until they reached the shore. “Let’s get our boots back on and see if we can find—ow!”

He jumped back, hopping awkwardly on one foot.

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