Now he tells me that.
A gear-shifting sound reverberated through the chamber and my bones. A loud clack sent my pulse and mind into total panic. If the floors started shaking, I was out of there. With or without Andrew.
The compression around my wrist lessened, and I yanked my arm out. The bracelet loosely dangled, no longer locked. I was free at last. I viciously shook my body, hitting my clothes everywhere, trying to get rid of the nasty bugs.
More mechanical racket erupted, the clink clank of gears moving like a phantom behind the walls. My eyes darted around the dim space, trying to follow it. Blood rushed to my ears and I had to swallow a lump of fear to clear my hearing. I inched back until I was flattened against Andrew. His hand gripped mine, and he veered me to stand behind him.
The air changed, and the stone door moved, rupturing the interconnecting fine vines.
We staggered back, Andrew’s body blocking mine, our boots crushing the skeleton’s bones.
The door opened more, then stopped, leaving enough space for one body to pass at a time. Everything became deadly silent. Andrew’s heavy breathing and my drumming heart were the only sounds.
And just for shits and giggles, my brain had to hurl in the image of Hodor blocking the door with crazed white walkers on the other side. The same shudder that had swept through my body at the realization of the root of his namehold the doornow washed over me again.
What if we were not supposed to open this door?
ChapterTwenty-Eight
My blood had circulated what felt like over a million times in the last minute. No white walkers. No zombies. No animals. Not even a sound rounded the corner.So far, so good. The next step was to peer into the darkness behind the half-open door.
My hands clasped Andrew’s forearm as he shone his flashlight inside the new path, but it was impossible to see anything from where I stood.
Andrew ran light over the foot-thick edge of the door. “You stay here.”
“Why?”
“Just in case.”
“Ofwhat?” I barked. I didn’t mean it to come out as an accusation, but my nerves were jagged. And then it hit me. “In case the door closes. So instead of both of us getting stuck inside, it will be just you. But then what?” I pointed to the stairwell. “I go look for help?”
Andrew’s throat worked as he swallowed hard and pushed the rifle into my hands. Anxiety stabbed at the base of my ribs. I didn’t want to stay alone here with the remains of a Spanish soldier. Actually, he didn’t bother me as much anymore, but the vast jungle above us did. “You realize there’s a good chance I’ll get lost in the jungle? And end up like him.”
“Yes, but there’s a chance you won’t, and you can call for help.” He tilted his head. “Or you could reopen the door.”
Oh. Right.
I let go of his arm and pulled a water bottle out of my bag. I gulped some of it, then handed it to him. “Might as well take this one. Just in case.”
Andrew shook his head. “Keep it.” He threw his backpack on his shoulders and then winked. “Don’t go anywhere.”
“Don’t you want a kiss? In case it might be your last one?” I joked with a timid smile.
He adjusted his hat. “I’ll get it once I’m back.”
And he stepped inside.
“Please keep talking to me while you’re in there,” I called after him, a fear tightening my gut into a firm knot. “Andrew, tell me what you see?”
Footsteps accompanied by flashes of light echoed from the gap.
“I’m in a fifteen-by-fifteen space with large cobwebs,” Andrew finally said, “and one huge open-face sarcophagus.” There was a pause, and the soft footfall stopped. “And two very dead skeletons… and… that would be it.”
Defeat popped my bubble of excitement, and I deflated like an old balloon. “No trunks?”
“No.”
“Any other secret passages?”
