‘Get off of him!’
Suddenly the immovable weight of Lillian’s body vanished, and Oppenheimer lurched upright and out of the water. He sucked a huge volume of air into his lungs. His vision returned as he sagged backwards onto the damp rocks just in time to see Saffron hurl Lillian Cruz to one side.
Ethan burst into the chamber just in time to see Lillian Cruz staggering to her feet, water pouring from her arms. Oppenheimer sat in a drenched huddle beside the pool, Saffron standing protectively over him.
‘We’ve got to get out of here!’ Ethan yelled, grabbing Lillian and propelling her out of the chamber. ‘Get to the surface!!’
Lillian glared at Jeb Oppenheimer and Saffron, but she obeyed and dashed out of the chamber. Ethan turned to Saffron.
‘It’s time to go,’ he said.
‘I’m not leaving him here,’ Saffron shot back.
‘Fine!’ Ethan shouted, losing patience. ‘Let’s just get out of here!’
Jeb Oppenheimer struggled to his feet.
‘I’m not leaving without samples,’ he insisted, gesturing at the huge crystals with his cane. ‘Help me get them before we leave.’
Ethan almost laughed.
‘Like hell,’ he said, and grabbed Saffron’s arm. ‘Come on, let’s go.’
Ethan had almost turned his back when he heard the sound of a gun’s mechanism being cocked. He turned to see the old man holding a small, snub-nosed pistol in his right hand. Ethan froze as Oppenheimer smiled grimly.
‘I never leave home without one,’ he said. ‘Now, get up there and get me some of those crystals or I’ll put a bullet in you.’
Ethan stared in disbelief as Oppenheimer walked away from the pool and positioned himself between the chamber exit and Ethan and Saffron.
‘Are you really that insane?’ Ethan demanded. ‘We could be buried alive in here at any moment.’
‘Best hurry then!’ Oppenheimer cackled, gesturing with the pistol. ‘Move!’
Ethan shook his head.
‘No. You’ll never be able to climb up there on your own, so without me you’re screwed.’
Oppenheimer’s face wrinkled up on itself in furious defiance.
‘Not quite.’
Oppenheimer shifted his aim and before Ethan could even register what he was about to do, he fired a single shot that rang out deafeningly loud in the chamber. Saffron cried out as the bullet thumped into her belly and out through her side, ricocheting off nearby rocks and zipping away into the chamber.
71
Ethan lunged forwards and caught Saffron as she toppled sideways from the impact, her eyes wide with shock and disbelief and her face suddenly pale. He lowered her down as gently as he could, pushing fist-sized rocks out of her way before setting her down. He let his hand fall on one of the rocks as he spoke to her.
‘Don’t panic,’ he said desperately. ‘Keep your heartbeat as slow as you can, so you don’t bleed too quickly.’
‘It’s a stomach wound,’ Oppenheimer cackled, moving closer. ‘She’ll leak the contents of her gut into her bloodstream and die from blood poisoning. You’ve got about five minutes before it’ll be too late to save her.’
Ethan let go of Saffron’s body and turned to glare at Oppenheimer. For a moment he considered simply doing what the old man said, but suddenly he was overcome with an intense desire to deny the old bastard what he wanted once and for all.
‘Go to hell,’ he uttered. ‘I’d sooner die.’
Oppenheimer glared at Ethan.
‘Get up there and collect those crystals or I swear I’ll shoot you where you stand.’
‘Do it,’ Ethan said. ‘You’ll never get them, not from me and not from Saffron. You’re finished, Jeb, totally finished. At least let Saffron live even if you kill me.’
Oppenheimer turned slightly and pointed the pistol at Saffron again.
‘Do it, you cretin, or I’ll shave another few minutes off her life.’
Ethan looked down at Saffron, who stared up at him through her pain and shook her head vigorously. Ethan looked back up at the crystals and then turned, swinging his arm to hurl the rock in his hand up into the cavernous vault of the chamber. The rock smashed into the ceiling above and instantaneously the giant flock of bats screeched in unison, spilling from the chamber’s roof in a screaming black avalanche of wings and teeth. Ethan ducked down as the bats raced past in a thick black fog and blasted into Jeb Oppenheimer as they raced for the cavern exit. Ethan heard the old man curse and drop his cane as the bats slammed into him, the pistol firing a wild shot in Ethan’s direction.
Ethan launched himself forward and crashed into Oppenheimer, pinning the pistol between them as they smashed into the rocks. Oppenheimer gagged in agony as sharp stones stabbed through his dirtied suit and punctured his skin, flecks of saliva and mucus spilling from his mouth as he cursed and scratched at Ethan’s face with his nails. Ethan pulled away from the attack, keeping hold of Oppenheimer’s gun and twisting it from his grasp. The old man cried out in fury, reaching down to one foot with his free hand. Ethan glimpsed a small knife that Oppenheimer grabbed from a sheath at his ankle and whipped around toward Ethan’s flank. Ethan reached out for the blade but he couldn’t move quickly enough to block the blow. Something grated against his ribs and vibrated through his flesh as the blade plunged hilt deep into his side with a dull thud. He jerked away from the blade and rolled off the old man as he grabbed the blade’s handle. Oppenheimer scrambled to his feet, the pistol still in his grasp as he aimed it between Ethan’s eyes and glowered down at him as his chest heaved for breath.
‘Nice knowing you,’ Oppenheimer cackled, and squeezed the trigger.
‘Grandpa!’
Ethan glanced behind Oppenheimer, to see Saffron on her feet and looming behind Jeb. The old man whirled in surprise, just in time for Saffron to catch his gun wrist in her left hand and twist it violently upon itself. Saffron’s shrill scream of anguish echoed through the chamber as she yanked Oppenheimer’s arm down and brought her knee up into his elbow. A crack like the snapping of a twig echoed through the cavern as Oppenheimer’s arm broke mid-joint, the pistol clattering to the rocks at his feet.
Ethan, pain searing his body, watched as Saffron glared down at her grandfather as she held him by his broken arm.
‘My grandmother would have hated what you’ve become,’ she hissed at him.
Oppenheimer, his voice tight with agony and fear, pleaded with her.
‘This is worth it, Saffy,’ he croaked. ‘Every step of this journey, it’s worth it.’
Saffron twisted his arm harder, provoking a squeal of pain.
‘Not for me.’
Saffron drove her knee into Oppenheimer’s gut. The old man’s eyes bulged as a blast of foul air spilled from his lips. Saffron spun on her heel and pulled hard, hauling his wiry body over her shoulder. Jeb Oppenheimer screamed in pain as he was flipped over her body and plunged backwards into the pool, Saffron’s weakened legs buckling as she fell on top of him and clasped her hands around his throat.
Ethan dragged himself up onto his elbow to see the old man thrashing hopelessly in the water, his white suit weighing him down and his broken arm useless by his side as he sank below the surface in Saffron’s furious grasp. Above the thrashing water of her grandfather’s desperate death throes he could hear Saffron crying, and then the water fell still beneath her, expanding ripples drifting out toward the distant reaches of the chamber. Saffron stared down at the roiling surface of the water and cradled her bleeding stomach. Ethan struggled over the pain in his side, and clambered up the rock face beside him to regain his feet and limp across to her. He looked down into the pool, where Jeb Oppenheimer sank slowly away to sprawl motionless on the bottom, staring up with wide, lifeless eyes.