Page 66 of Tag
Aponi
The tunnel narrowed until my shoulders brushed the walls. My light flickered, fighting against the thick dark. Every sound echoed—my boots, my breath, the faint drip of water somewhere ahead.
And footsteps. Slow, deliberate.
Graves was close.
I eased forward, pistol steady. Every instinct told me to wait for Tag, but the thought of Graves slipping away into another hole somewhere in the world made my blood run hot.
The tunnel curved, and there he was—standing in an open pocket of the mine, lit only by a swinging lantern. His pistol was in his right hand, low, casual.
“You took the left tunnel,” he said, voice low and amused. “Smart. The right one’s flooded. Would’ve been… unpleasant.”
I kept the gun aimed at his chest. “You’re done running.”
He smiled, slow and dangerous. “And you’re still not ready to pull that trigger.”
Tag
The wall gave way with a sharp crack, and daylight from inside the mine burst through in a jagged slit. I shoved past Gideon, clawing at the loosened rock until there was enough space to squeeze through.
The tunnel beyond was dim, lit by a single glow somewhere ahead. And from that direction—voices.
One of them was Aponi’s. The other made my blood boil.
Graves.
I drew my rifle and started down the tunnel at a run.
Aponi
Graves took one step forward, the lantern’s swing throwing his face in and out of shadow.
“Here’s the choice, Detective,” he said. “You come with me now… or I walk out of here and take someone else you care about. Maybe your brother. Maybe Tag.”
My finger tightened on the trigger. “You won’t touch them.”
He tilted his head, almost curious. “Then prove it.”
Footsteps thundered behind me—fast, closing in—and Graves’ eyes flicked past my shoulder.
For the first time, his smile slipped.
60
Aponi
The second Graves’ eyes shifted past me, I moved.
I fired, but he was already diving sideways, the round sparking off the rock wall. The lantern crashed to the ground, the glass shattering, and the light swung wildly, shadows leaping like predators across the walls.
Tag’s boots pounded into the chamber. “Aponi—down!”
I dropped just as Tag’s first shot tore past where my head had been. Graves returned fire, the sharp crack deafening in the enclosed space. I scrambled behind a half-collapsed support beam, my pulse a drumbeat in my ears.
Tag closed the distance fast, rifle up, his stance tight. Graves fired again, the shot grazing the metal beside Tag’s head. Sparks flew, and Tag didn’t even flinch—he slammed into Graves, driving him back into the wall.
The guns went flying.
