“That was for my family. And for every man you buried to keep your secrets.”
“You think this ends with me?” Everly swayed, eyes wild. Blood soaked his coat, his breath shallow with rage. “You have no idea what’s coming.”
He grabbed for Georgina as he tried to rise.
Alex pulled her away.
Everly stumbled. His shoulder slammed into the support beam. There was a sickening crack.
The wood groaned, and dust poured from above as the post shifted under Everly’s weight. A brittle snap echoed down the tunnel, then another, and another.
Barrington’s eyes widened. “Move!”
The ground shuddered. Somewhere behind them, the wood fractured with a deafening roar.
They ran. Smoke swirled in the tunnel now, mixing with falling debris and choking heat. The air itself seemed to rebel.
Another shudder rolled through the tunnel, this one stronger. Cracks raced along the ceiling. A lantern shattered on the floor, flames licking the walls before vanishing in the haze. A beam splintered above them with a shriek and crashed to the floor just behind Alex’s heels. He didn’t slow. Georgina stumbled. Barrington caught her by the elbow and kept her moving. Georgina kept pace, her breath shallow but steady.
Behind them, Everly groaned.
Alex skidded to a halt and turned back.
“No,” Barrington barked.
“He’s wounded,” Alex snapped. “He’ll die.”
“And you’ll die with him.”
Georgina turned and met Alex’s eyes. “Go. He made his choice.”
But Alex was already moving. He found Everly crawling toward the wall, half-conscious, blood all over him.
“You want to live?” Alex growled, crouching. “Then move faster.”
He grabbed Everly by the arm and hauled him up. Together, they staggered forward.
Barrington had cleared the mine entrance. Simms appeared outside, shouting for them to get out. The last beam groaned like something that was alive. Then the world dropped. The floor pitched sideways. More timber gave way behind them in a thunderous roar, and for a moment, it was as if the entire mine exhaled its last breath.
The earth lifted under Alex’s boots.
Georgina screamed his name.
The mine groaned once more, then fell still. Dust choked the air. No one moved.
The hours blurred. Shouting, digging, prayers whispered to broken stone.
Then came the scramble: boots and tools, urgent voices cutting through the dust.
The rest was sound and silence. Orders barked. Steel on stone. Someone crying. Someone praying. And all around them, the burden of waiting.
And when the sun finally crested the ridge, Georgina stood just beyond the edge of the trees, wrapped in her green shawl, her arms folded tightly against her chest. Her face was streaked with dust and sweat, her knuckles scraped, but her spine was straight.
She had nearly unraveled, but she’d held fast. Like a thread drawn tight. Like the truth itself.
The mine entrance was gone, having collapsed in on itself, now sealed with rubble and ash.
Then a sound. A shout.
