A non-stop throbbing at the base of my skull felt like someone had climbed inside my head and was using a jackhammer. The intense pain made it difficult to keep my eyes open for more than a few seconds.
My face felt swollen. Sweat and blood slid down my cheek and onto my shirt. Blinking to clear my vision, I looked around the dense space, struggling to breathe.
“Tate,” I choked out, barely able to say his name.
“I’m here, brother,” he said, his voice pained.
I turned my head to the right but couldn’t see more than his shape in the dark, across the small space from me. “Are you okay?”
He released a deep chuckle. “I came to a few hours ago.”
I let out a groan. “Did you see who took us?”
“No. But I heard one of them speak. He had a French accent.”
Dust particles floated in the air. I coughed when one flew into my mouth.
“If we don’t get out of here,” Tate said, “we’ll die from lack of oxygen.”
“Look above you.” I tipped my head back against the rock wall. “See the light?”
He grunted.
“We’re not completely sealed in here. That opening is providing some oxygen to the cave. What we need to be concerned about is the buildup of carbon dioxide. I have a horrible headache.”
“Me too. And I’m dizzy as fuck.”
“Same. Both are side effects of high levels of carbon dioxide. If we don’t get out of here… we could be dead within days. Maybe hours.”
“Are you sure about these timelines?”
“Without a CO2 monitor, it’s hard to say. But yeah, I think my estimate is accurate. This is a limestone cave. Carbonate rocks have high concentrations of carbon dioxide. And based on our symptoms, we’re breathing in too much of it. We could also ingest methane that gets released from decaying organic matter. There’s also the possibility of radon gas and ammonia from bat guano.”
Tate let out a disgusted sigh. “Glad one of us is smart enough to know this shit.”
“I kind of wish I didn’t. Counting down the minutes until our deaths isn’t helping my anxiety.”
I took a few deep breaths, inhaling through my nose and exhaling through my mouth to regulate my rapid heartbeat. My initiation into The Devil’s Knights tested my limits and forcedme to do unspeakable things. They made sure we could endure anything, including torture.
“What’s our worst-case scenario?”
I considered not listing off the ways we could die, but Tate was a straight shooter. “Hypoxia, seizures, suffocation… death.”
“Drake, listen to me. If anything happens to me?—”
“Don’t say it.”
“I have to,” Tate shot back. “There’s a very strong possibility we’re not getting out of here. I need to get this off my chest.”
I wasn’t ready to accept that we might never see Olivia again. Even as my head spun from the gases, I kept her at the front of my mind.
“Go ahead, brother,” I said, head turned to the right, squinting to see his face in the darkness.
I heard the crunch of dirt and gravel as Tate shifted his position, groaning as he moved. “If you get out of here and I don’t, I need you to promise me three things. One, you will take care of Liv and make sure nothing bad ever happens to her.”
“Of course. I already do that now.”
“Two, I want you to tell her the truth. She should know that I’m the reason you’re not together. And three, you better fucking marry her, Drake. My sister has been in love with you since the day we moved into your house. She deserves to be happy. I feel like a dick for keeping you guys apart for so long when it’s been so obvious how you feel about each other.”
