Page 39 of Explorer's Revenge
He isn’t wrong. What I saw on that footage before I realized Aiy was going over still haunts me, and knowing he’s going down there with that . . . thing?
Terror claws at my chest until I can barely breathe. He’s all I have. He might be their family, but he’s always been more to me. He’s my everything. I didn’t understand it until this moment, but I can’t live without Aiyaret.
“We are wasting time,” Wilder snaps. “Each second that passes is another that both Aiy and Carter are in trouble. Anchor our ropes here, send out the SOS, and let’s get down there. Logan, Rick, you stay here.”
“Not a chance in hell,” they snap in unison.
“If help comes, we need you up here,” Wilder protests.
“No, you’re trying to protect us. That’s our family down there too. We are going. We’ll send the SOS and leave proof here, but we’ll go down. They won’t be here for days, and you need our help. Maeve will be hurt. You can’t get her up by yourself. Let’s go,” Logan says, sounding more serious than I’ve ever heard him.
I’m in love with Aiyaret, and if something happens to him. . . No.That realization haunts me, distracting me from their arguments as I look at the hole.
Grabbing my bag, I hook in and plummet over the side after him. My heart rips apart with every second I’m separated from him. Their yells follow me down, but I won’t waste another second.
I’m coming, Aiy, just hold on. I’m coming.
TWENTY-SIX
MAEVE
Anoise wakes me up. I must have fallen asleep. I didn’t mean to, but luckily, I must not have been asleep long. I don’t feel like I’m going to pass out at any given moment, which is good.
I try to hear what woke me when there’s a different type of noise. It’s like something sliding across rock, something heavy. Everything in me goes cold, and I don’t know why, but I grab my light and lift it. My mind screams at me, telling me not to even as I sweep it around the area.
The noise gets louder and louder. It’s hard to pinpoint, so I focus hard, until I realize it’s coming from my right. I turn my head slowly, knowing I don’t want to see whatever it is, and shine the light there.
It’s a shape that’s moving oddly and heading my way. For a moment, my brain seems to come to a halt as I notice black and green scales covering the entire form. I trace them with my gaze, trying to make sense of what it is, surprised when I find a large tail at the end of the body. With terror gripping my heart, I shine the light back across the shape, my brain not working properly.
My light catches two large eyes shining brightly in the dark, and I quickly slam my light off and carefully set it down. Myhand scrambles through the sand as I search for what I need while I try to slow my heartbeat.
When I find what I was looking for, I grip the sharp bone.
Terror and instincts urge me to remain as still as possible as the noise only grows closer. My eyelids flutter halfway shut, as if that will stop whatever is coming.
I grip the bone, ready in case that thing lunges at me. I don’t think it will do much, but I’m not going down without a fight.
Just because I taste nice doesn’t mean I’m going to become monster chow, because that thing is fucking ginormous.
My brain seems to pop then, allowing me to remember the pain of teeth in my thigh. I didn’t fall or slip—I was pulled into this place by that thing. I have no idea how or why, but that . . . that crocodile thing tried to kill me.
It probably thought it did. It’s bigger than any crocodile I have ever seen, the snout and body shape distinctive. It suddenly releases a hissing noise that makes my hair stand on end as it keeps crawling closer.
I strain my eyes as it approaches, coming close enough to touch. I smell stale water and rotten meat, making me want to gag. Its tail flicks in the sand, hitting my bad leg, and I bite back my scream. refusing to move or react. If I do, it will turn that monstrous jaw and snap me in two.
Something drops from its jaw and lands in the sand with a thud, and I realize it’s a body—a person.
One of the guys? I don’t look as it lifts its head, making that noise again—a bellow? It’s horrific and beautiful at the same time, but it flashes huge, sharp teeth that have been inside my leg, and I don’t want to feel that again.
I hear another sound, this one farther away than the creature before me.
Voices! It dawns on me at the same time that thing notices.
It spins faster than I thought possible, knocking me over with its tail. The impact causes agony to splinter through me, but I don’t make a sound as I watch it slide into the water and return to wherever it came from. There are no bubbles or movement. I lie still, knowing it could be waiting. When it doesn’t spring up, I slowly slide across the sand. I dare not turn the light on, so my hands search in the dark until I hit a body. Ignoring the pain racing through me, I skim my hands up a chest to a face, feeling it as my vision adjusts again.
Aiyaret.
It’s Aiyaret.
