Dec turned and saw her looking at him. “We’re talking about a god, not me.”
She smiled, then looked up. He saw the birds had reappeared.
“How the hell do you guys live out here?” He had a better view of them now as they circled the statue. “Rush, these guys really look like swiftlets. I saw them recently in the jungle on a job in Asia.”
“They can’t be jungle birds, Declan.”
He shook his head. “They’re cave birds. The shorter legs are for clinging to cave walls and the shorter beak is for catching insects. They also have a form of echolocation.”
“Like bats?” She scanned around. “I don’t see any caves around here.”
The birds dipped behind the statue and Dec and Layne followed them.
They were gone.
Dec strode forward, frowning. “Look, there’s another set-animal and bird symbol on the ground here.”
Layne stepped up beside him.
The ground beneath them dropped an inch.
Dec froze and Layne did the same. Beneath them, the ground rumbled and vibrated.
“What the hell? Rush—?” Dec was reaching for her when the sand and rock beneath his feet crumpled and disappeared.
He fell straight down. He heard Layne scream.
He looked up and saw her falling with him.
They fell downward, rock walls rushing past them. His heart hammered in his chest, the air rushing at his face.
A moment later, Dec splashed into water.
Layne hit the water and went under. Water filled her mouth and she kicked. Air. She needed air.
Her head broke the surface and she coughed. The water was fast-flowing, the current strong, and she felt herself being swept along.
“Layne!”
Declan’s roar echoed around her. She spotted him, floating down the underground river ahead of her. “Declan! I’m here.”
The hole they’d fallen through disappeared as the underground river snaked through a winding tunnel. Damn, the flow was strong, and even if she could fight it, where could she go? The tunnel was wide, the rock walls smooth and striated. She just prayed it didn’t get so small that there was no air gap.
“Don’t fight the water,” he called out. “Keep your head above the surface, and go with it.” He was powering through the water, trying to reach her.
She held out her hand. Their fingers brushed, but she couldn’t quite reach him. The darkness was growing as they moved deeper into the tunnel.
Her fingers brushed his again.
“Hold on, Rush. Don’t panic. We’ll have to ride this out to the end.”
She swallowed. What if there was no end?
The darkness grew deeper, and soon she couldn’t see him anymore. She could barely make out the rock walls rushing past. “Declan?”
“I’m here.” Then she heard him curse.
“Declan?”
He didn’t answer.
A second later, she felt the water drop away beneath her and she was falling.
An underground waterfall!
Layne screamed. Water filled her mouth and she kicked her arms and legs.
She rammed into the rock wall, pain flaring in her side. But she was still falling, water streaming down over her.
She hit rocks again, and this time, her head slammed into something hard.
She blinked, fighting to stay conscious.
Then the blackness dragged her under and there was nothing.
Dec came to flat on his face. His legs were in water but his upper body was resting on sand.
He pushed up onto his hands and knees, coughing up water. What the hell? Had his SEAL team’s mission gone bad? Or was he on vacation and had drank too much tequila?
He rolled over and sat, trying to get his bearings. Then his gut cramped. He wasn’t on some beach. Above him, a huge cavern rose up, light filtering in from somewhere high above. At the bottom was a large, placid pool of water.
Layne!
It all hit him in a rush. The fall, the underground river, the waterfall. He leaped to his feet, looking around frantically. Where was she?
He splashed along the edge of the pool. For the first time in a long time, he prayed. Let her be okay.
He found his waterlogged backpack but there was no sign of anyone else. He kept looking, refusing to give up.
Then he glimpsed a flash of something pale over by the rock wall in the water.
He splashed through the knee-deep water. No. She was facedown, hanging in the water. Her scarf was long gone and her dark hair drifted around her like a cloud.
“God, no.” He grabbed her, turning her over. She was pale, still.
He hefted her into his arms and charged up the sandy edge. He dropped to his knees and laid her down.
“Layne! Layne, wake up dammit.” He pressed a hand to her chest.
She wasn’t breathing.
A panic like he’d never known moved through him. “Come on, Rush, don’t you dare give up on me.”