Grabbing the napkin from the cognac I’d ordered an hour ago, I shredded it as my heart worked double time. My side bellowed and a fever dotted my brow. Timelines and countdown clocks swarmed my mind as I worked out how far ahead Nila was.
At best, eight to nine hours.
At worse, ten to twelve.
Nila might’ve been spared pain and rape.
She might still have time.
But three-quarters of the way over the Atlantic Ocean, I knew I’d run out of minutes.
They’d arrived atAlmasi Kipanga.
She was on her own.
Chapter Five
Nila
I STOOD ON the lip of a colossal mine.
The teeth of the earth yawned wide, its tongue and tonsils butchered by spades and diggers, its innards exposed to the night sky in the hunt for diamonds and wealth.
Staring into the pit hurt something deep inside. It wasn’t for the broken trees left to rot unwanted, or the ebony-skinned workers toiling in the muck. It wasn’t the stagnant air of degradation and robbery. It was the sadness that something as precious and rare as diamonds—that the earth had created over millennia—had been so callously stolen with no grace or thanks.
“Impressive. Isn’t it?” Cut slung his arm over my shoulders.
I flinched but didn’t move away.
Not that I could.
A coarse rope bit into my wrists, wound tightly by Cut when he’d come for me.
I’d expected the Third Debt to be carried out the moment Cut returned from whatever errands he ran. I’d sat on the bed, pricking the tips of my fingers with the hidden knitting needle, never taking my eyes off the entrance to my tent.
My stomach grumbled. Energy depleted. But I’d refused to fall asleep. I would face my nightmare while awake.
It was the only way.
The cool African night had gnawed on my skin; goosebumps prickled as thehumph humphof lions echoed through the fabric house.
They sounded so close. So hungry.
Then, all at once, it seemed as if an orchestra conductor arranged a quartet of laughing hyenas, bays of zebras, and hoots of owls.
The animal song raised my stress levels until I’d shivered with terror.
“Are you listening to me?” Cut’s voice sliced through my thoughts. I hadn’t rested or slept in forever; my reactions were sluggish.
I blinked. “You were saying something about quantity and how much—”
“No!” He jerked the rope around my wrists. “I was telling you how deepAlmasi Kipangagoes. In centuries of mining, we’ve found seams and seams of stones. We continue to expand and the mine is currently half a kilometre below earth. Can you comprehend that?”
I shook my head. All I could think about was how dark andclaustrophobic it would be. A tomb just waiting to fall like countless dominos, smothering anyone inside it.
Daniel smiled. “That’s years of digging. Millions upon millions of diamonds carved out of the dirt. If a seam dries up, a new route is planned.” His teeth flashed. “One lucky worker is given the job of setting explosives to disrupt any loose landslides or cave-ins.”
“What happens if the explosives set off a disaster and he gets crushed?” My eyes widened at such a dangerous occupation.
