Page 43 of Explorer's Revenge
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 thattemple, 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?”
TWENTY-EIGHT
AIYARET
My head jerks up at Maeve’s words, and I see my entire team turned toward us. My heart slams in relief. I didn’t want to admit it to her, but I was terrified we were alone down here or, worse, something happened to them. They rush toward me, and I pull her back, warding them off.
“Careful, Maeve is hurt pretty badly.” That slows them down before they gather around us. Wilder gives me a look, and I nod before he glances at Maeve, his eyes widening when he sees the damage.
“Fuck,” he hisses.
“Shit, I must look terrible if your expression is anything to go by, or are you that kind to all the girls?” she replies.
Way grips my arm, checking me over frantically.
“I’m okay, just a bump to the head. Maeve saved me,” I say.
“What happened?” Wilder asks, his eyes on Maeve’s leg.
“Oh, you know, I just look so fucking tasty that some ancient fucking monster of a croc decided to eat me,” she replies, and all gazes swing to her. “Not joking.”
“She isn’t,” I murmur. “It attacked me too, knocked me out and dragged me to its feeding ground where Maeve was. I don’t remember much, but it was fucking massive.”
“And angry,” she adds. “We’re lucky to be alive, but I’d like to keep it that way.” She glances over her shoulder into the tunnel, and I get her meaning. We need to get out of here as soon as possible.
“Let’s get away from the tunnel,” I comment, and she nods, taking another step, but Wilder suddenly scoops her up and carries her away, ignoring her protests. He places her gently on a rock near the ropes.
