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Aleksey looked despairingly around at the bleak emptiness. Visibility had lowered dramatically in the few minutes they’d been standing there. The snow was gusting now, blowing in increasingly strong volleys and settling in earnest. Despite being southern England, Dartmoor was not a place you messed around with.
He needed to get higher to see if anything was familiar. He had not wanted any of this, and was regretting going to visit Stefan. He should have known Ben would anticipate he would go there. But then Radulf would have tracked him anywhere, he supposed. He gave the dog a small glare of annoyance but got a much more effective one back, so began to scramble over some low rocks to reach the summit of the tor. Ben and the dogs inevitably followed.
The top levelled off and there was a small collapsed sheep fence with a broken sign swinging in the wind. Whatever had been written on the triangle of wood was now obliterated by the effects of time and weather. Aleksey squinted against the cold blast, turning in all directions to see if he could recognise anything. Ben jumped up onto one of the rocks to get a higher vantage point. “Come on. Let’s go back to the road.”
Aleksey was shivering.
He was completely lost.
He kicked angrily at some pieces of the fence and replied tetchily, “You don’t—“
And then he fell.
The ground just opened up and swallowed him whole.
* * *
Chapter 60
Four Months Before April
Ben didn’t even see it happen. He heard Nikolas start to speak and then a soft crump, and by the time he turned around there was no one beside him, just trickling earth falling in a newly made crater.
He flung himself to his belly at the lip of the hole. “Nikolas!”
“I’m okay.”
Ben’s heart rate stabilised a little at hearing the familiar voice. “How deep is it? Are you hurt?”
“I don’t know, and no. I’m not at the bottom. I got caught up on some debris, but it’s unstable.”
“Grab onto something. I’m coming down to get you.”
He slithered over to the rocks once more and climbed onto one, pulling off his sack. He told the dogs to lie down by the useless fence, a slightly unnecessary command as neither dog had gone anywhere near the strange opening.
Ben uncoiled the rope. He’d brought it with some vague remembrance of handcuffing Nikolas once. Sometimes, his belief in fate was entirely justified.
There was nothing to secure the rope to. He tried fastening it to the rock, but it just slipped up and off every time he put some weight on it. Finally, he eyed the broken fence. There was one horizontal piece longer than the diameter of the cave-in, that was obvious, but the hole was ragged-edged and crumbling as he watched, and the wood was old and had already lost its usefulness as a fence. He didn’t rate its chances as a hold.
But he had no choice. He tied the rope to the middle of the plank and laid that over the top of the cavity. Gingerly, he allowed a little of his weight onto the rope. Everything held.
He peered down into the darkness.
“Okay?”
“Define okay.”
Ben couldn’t help but smile. It was still Nikolas, despite this latest hiccup. He’d pull this infuriating man out of the darkness he’d fallen into, literally and metaphorically, and they’d go home. He’d even endure the sauna for a few hours to let the annoying one warm up.
“Catch the rope.” He chucked the loose end in. “Got it?”
“No.”
“Why the fuck not? You fucking moron!”
“I’m fucking holding onto a fucking root. If I fucking let go, I’ll fucking fall the rest of the fucking way.”
“Oh. Fuck. Sorry. Well hold on. I’m coming down.”
