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CHAPTERSEVENTEEN
God, when would it be over? Huddled with her arms around her legs, nerves alive in her stomach, Gemma felt sick.
She shivered and wrapped her arms tighter around her body. It was cold in the tunnel.
A sound echoed off the rock walls. The screech of rusty hinges.
She shot to her feet.Boone was back. Her heart raced.
But beside her, Atlas growled, his strong body turning stiff. Then she heard the rumble of deep voices.
“Find her. She can’t be far.”
It was a familiar Romanian accent.No. Her stomach turned over. It wasn’t Boone, it was Radu.
Shit. She glanced around. What should she do? Her fingers clenched on the gun Boone had left her.
It would be best to stay hidden. She couldn’t fight off Radu and his mercenaries herself. She eyed the dark tunnel ahead of her.
“Come on, Atlas.”
She set off, with Atlas right beside her. She was careful to block as much of the light from her flashlight as possible. She didn’t want the mercs to spot it, but she wouldn’t take the risk of trying to navigate these old tunnels in the dark either.
The tunnel inclined, going up the hill. The walls and ceiling were rough, and in places, had deteriorated. There were small piles of rubble dotted on the uneven ground.
She reached a spot where the tunnel was almost completely blocked by rock.
“Crap.”
Atlas bounded up the pile of rocks, sniffed around, then wriggled his body into a narrow gap and disappeared.
Gemma carefully stepped over some large rocks and reached the hole. “Please don’t collapse on me.” She pulled herself in, sucking in her breath as she climbed through.
Atlas was waiting on the other side.
“Come on, boy. Let’s keep moving.”
Tapping down her panic rising in her throat, she kept walking through the tunnel. She just had to hide long enough for Boone to come.
She knew he’d come.
The tunnel widened, and she saw the dilapidated mine building ahead. This tunnel opened into it. Maybe she could get out of the mine and run into the trees to hide.
Voices echoed behind her in one of the side tunnels.
No. Her heart leaped into her throat. She flicked off the flashlight. It took a few seconds for her eyes to adjust, but thankfully she saw faint light leaking in from the mine building. She gingerly moved forward.
Suddenly, Atlas made a sound.
“What is it?” she whispered.
There was a creak overhead. Without warning, rocks tumbled down on top of her.
With a cry, Gemma threw herself to the ground, covering her head with her arms. Rocks pelted her, and she breathed in dust and coughed.Dammit.
A sudden pain spiked through her left leg, shooting down her calf. She bit her lip to stop from crying out.
The rockfall stopped as quickly as it had started. She waved a hand to dissipate the dust. Thankfully, none of the rubble looked very large. She glanced down and gasped.
