Page 42 of Explorer's Revenge
My chest rises rapidly—not in fear but exhaustion. I close my eyes, focusing on the softness of his skin and his warmth, letting it calm me until I can breathe normally. When my eyes flutter open, Aiy’s face is so close to mine, I back up so we don’t touch. His hand slides behind my head, protecting it from hitting the rocks. “Are you okay?”
I nod, and he lapses into silence for a moment, but his eyes never leave mine, and I realize we are touching. “I’m so sorry. I swear there isn’t more room. If I could?—”
“It’s okay,” he whispers. “Surprisingly, it doesn’t bother me.”
I don’t know what to say to that, so I glance into the tunnel. When there is no more noise, I slip out, but he reaches to pull me back in. “It’s okay. I think whatever made the noise is gone. Come on, we need to warn the others.”
We don’t get far, however, before my leg gives out. I crash into the rocks, sliding down to my ass. Gritting my teeth against a cry of pain, I glance at my watch and release my tourniquet. The blood flow is instantaneous, and it hurts so badly tears squeeze from my eyes. I count as I wiggle my toes before tying it off again. When I lean back, I find Aiyaret waiting for me.
“Are you okay?” he asks.
“Fine, just hurting,” I admit, something I hate. “My leg is slowing us down. You need to go warn the others. I’ll catch up.”
Crouching down, he covers my good leg with his hand, eyeing me. “I’m not leaving you, so tell me how I can help.”
“You can’t,” I reply, and he frowns. I stumble to my feet, but he catches me again when I struggle. I try to pull away, but he keeps hold of me, the tunnel allowing us to lean into each other.
“Come on, I’ll help you walk,” he offers.
“You hate touch,” I remind him, though I don’t know why.
“Like I said, I don’t hate yours, not as much as I expected. Maybe it makes me feel less alone and scared right now, or it’sbecause we need it, but I’m fine.” He seems surprised by his own words.
“You’re scared?” I whisper as we move faster. I don’t have to use my bad leg as much with Aiyaret helping.
“Everyone would be in this situation. I’m not foolish enough to pretend like I’m not. I’m scared of whatever that thing is, that it hurt my family, and that I won’t be able to get you out. Doesn’t mean I’m not going to try, though, but yeah, Maeve. I’m scared.” He looks down at me, and I meet his gaze once more before focusing on the path in front of us.
“I’m scared too,” I tell him, “but I promise, Aiyaret, that I’ll get us all out of here. I won’t let anything happen to you.”
“You know, Maeve Carter, you were born to be one of us. Shame it might never happen.”
“Yeah, shame,” I say, and we share a small smile.
TWENTY-SEVEN
LOGAN
We follow Aiyaret down as quickly as we can, but it takes us a couple of minutes to anchor in enough rope and get our packs together. Wilder sends an SOS on the satellite phone before we leave, just in case we get lucky, and then we are over the edge. Way’s in the lead, his face pale and anxious as he repels faster than he should.
His boots aren’t even on the ground before he unhooks, dropping the rest of the distance. “Aiy!” he screams, swinging his flashlight around as my feet touch the rock next to him.
I unhook and grab my own flashlight as I slap his shoulder. “We’ll find him, okay?”
He nods, and Wilder looks around when he joins us.
“Split up and search for exits. I want constant communication,” he orders.
We are all subdued and quiet for once as we spread out, our headlamps turning on as we walk to the edges of the cavern.
There’s a whistle, and I glance back. Rick looks worried as he holds up Aiy’s rope, showing the torn end. I hurry over and finger the frayed edges. “Did it snap?”
“Impossible,” Wilder murmurs as he takes it from me and plays with the end. “It looks like it was cut by something.”
“A rock maybe?” I suggest as I glance up.
“Maybe,” Wilder responds, but when I look back at him, he doesn’t seem convinced. “Let’s keep looking.”
“Blood,” Rick whispers, and we look at him. “That’s blood.” We follow his pointing finger, our flashlights shining on what he sees. A couple of feet away, glistening on a rock, is red liquid. We all rush over, Wilder crouching as he dips his fingers in it and lifts it in front of his flashlight. “He’s right.”
