“Seems our roles are reversed,” the man said coldly.
Turov simply lifted his palms. As he stared into the hard eyes of these two men, he recognized how badly he had underestimated his enemy—even when forewarned by Valya Mikhailov.
He stiffened with this thought and searched around, realizing who was still missing.
Where is that woman?
53
May 14, 6:24P.M. ANAT
East Siberian Sea
Valya hunted along a tunnel carved with a snarl of vines on one side and a swirling seascape on the other. She had paused briefly with Nadira when a deafening boom had blasted, briefly turning ice to fire behind them. But the world fell back into darkness, and they continued onward.
A firefight had followed, too, so brief that Valya had never slowed.
Her focus remained ahead.
Earlier, she and Nadira had hidden at the city’s edge after Sychkin came howling out of this passageway, without Yerik, hauled by a wounded soldier. Something lay hidden back here, but that was not Valya’s goal. After the archpriest had returned, Valya had counted on her true target to show herself, to come searching for answers to the man’s screams.
This proved true when Valya spotted a lithe figure dart out of hiding, dance through the icy shadows, and duck in here.
Valya and Nadira had quickly followed. Once into the dark tunnels, they had donned their night-vision gear and trailed the flare of light that marked Seichan’s passage. They kept their distance, wary of any allies.
For now.
6:25P.M.
Seichan fled along the carved tunnel, her heart in her throat. She had heard the gunfire behind her. It had to mark the assault by Gray and Tucker, but had they been successful?
She took a deep breath and shoved her fear down. It served nothing. If the Guild had taught her any useful skill beyond murder and terror, it was to remain focused upon the task at hand, to look forward and not back.
But that did not mean to put on blinders.
Her ears remained attuned to her surroundings. She heard the cracking of ice behind her, loud and more regular now. The huge explosion must have weakened the waterfall. This was confirmed by a resounding crash behind her, crystalline and bright. The waterfall was coming apart even faster than she’d thought.
If it should collapse, her only exit would be blocked by thousands of tons of ice. She and the others would suffocate before any rescue could be mounted, poisoned by the sulfurous air.
Recognizing this, she ran faster, her light bouncing across the walls.
As she did, she heard a scuff of sandy rock behind her. She might have missed it—except she had been holding her breath at the thought of suffocation. Plus, the acoustics of this tunnel amplified even a whisper.
She kept her pace steady, so as not to alert those behind her. She knew who must be sharing this tunnel. Though she had never spotted Valya among the Russians, it had to be her. No plodding Russian soldier moved so silently. No doubt Nadira was with her, too.
Seichan took the only action available to her.
While still running, she bent and gently touched her flashlight to the floor, abandoning it there. She then fled onward into the dark. She needed time, more than she needed light. She ran her fingertips across the carvings, feeling the thorns of the plants, letting the tortuous garden lead her forward.
Behind her, the abandoned flashlight should slow Valya. It would force the woman to proceed more cautiously, thinking Seichan hadstopped or had reached the end of the tunnel. Plus, the dazzle of the brightness would make Valya pause. Those two hunters would need time to abandon their gear and let their eyes readjust to the dimness.
Taking advantage of this, Seichan ran onward until starlight glowed ahead of her. She blinked, trying to understand it—then did. It was the lights of the others, flowing from wherever they had holed up.
As she rushed forward, strategies flashed behind her eyes. Panicked, she momentarily forgot her training.
Her left leg struck a low boulder and sent her into a wild roll. Behind her, the crash of pottery revealed the true nature of the obstacle.
One of those damned sculpted jars.
