“Now go,” Seichan ordered.
Trusting them to obey, she fled around the mudpot and dashed down the garden path. As she ran, she made a promise to herself, one she had made earlier, one she intended to keep. She pictured Valya.
Only one of us will walk out of here—or neither of us will.
6:32P.M.
Valya approached the end of the dark tunnel, hugging one side, where stony thorns tugged at her body armor. Nadira flanked the other side. They both kept low and ran dark. Small lights—IR illuminators—were fixed to their rifles and cast an invisible spectrum that their night-vision gear could detect.
The two scanned the next room, careful of the broken pottery underfoot. A pit bubbled and popped with molten mud, spitting and hissing in the dark. A body floated atop the quagmire.
The archpriest’s lapdog.
As Valya had suspected, there must be others besides Seichan down here. Unfortunately, her target knew she was being hunted, evident from the trick with the abandoned flashlight.
A search of this chamber revealed three tunnels leading away. Her sensitive goggles picked up a flare of light rising from the passageway to the right. Nadira spotted it, too, motioning with her hand in that direction.
Valya sidled into the chamber with her rifle raised. She edged toward the tunnel’s mouth, while signaling Nadira to sweep around the mudpit and approach from the other side. Her lieutenant moved swiftly, a dark, silent shadow. Valya waited until they were both in position. She kept high, while Nadira dropped low.
Valya counted off on three fingers. As she curled her last digit, they both leaned out, rifles tucked to cheeks. The light rose from around a curve of the tunnel, retreating away. The glare was blinding, but clearly no one was in sight.
Satisfied, Valya nodded to Nadira and tugged off her goggles. She would not let herself be blinded again. Nadira followed her example. They set off in pursuit, still running dark, using the meager light ahead to guide them. Then she heard a faint echoing whisper: Seichan warning those who were with her to stay quiet.
Valya tightened the grip on her rifle.
The light continued to retreat ahead of them.
Where are you going?
A loud blast and a flash of muzzle fire dropped Valya low. A dark shadow rolled from the floor ahead. Seichan must have lain in wait in the shadows, sending the others ahead with her light.
On her belly, Valya opened fire with a deafening barrage on auto. Her rounds sparked brightly off the sculpted walls. Nadira used the cover to run forward, to get a bead on Seichan as the woman retreated around a curve of the tunnel. As Nadira opened fire, Valya burst to her feet and followed, closing the distance.
Two more thunderous blasts—clearly from a shotgun—pounded Valya’s ears. One slug shattered stone. The second caught Nadira in the shoulder, hard enough to slam the woman back. She struck the wall hard but continued firing, strafing wildly, clearing the tunnel ahead.
Valya reached her, keeping low.
Nadira groaned, but she remained standing. Her combat armor had protected her from a worse outcome.
Valya focused forward. “On my mar—”
Nadira’s rifle slumped, falling slack, then her weapon clattered to the stone.
Confused, Valya retreated a step. Nadira still stood, but the woman’s knees bent under her. Only then did Valya note the black blood running down her lieutenant’s neck—and the spear of rock, one of the sculpted thorns, poking through her throat. While the shotgun strike hadn’t killed her, the impact into that wall had.
Nadira gurgled, then went slack, hanging on that sharp spike.
In the silence that followed, a rapid pounding of boots sounded behind her, echoing from the mud chamber. As Valya listened, she heard frantic whispers. Then the noises receded, fading off into the distance, marking a panicked flight out of here.
Valya sneered as she understood. Seichan’s allies hadn’t been running with her. They had been left hidden behind. Valya stared ahead, calculating. She couldn’t know for sure if one or two allies were still with Seichan, offering support, but her gut told her otherwise.
Valya knew her target.
She’s alone.
A moment ago, Seichan must have rolled her flashlight down the tunnel, making it look as if others were retreating with it—while setting up the ambush that killed Nadira.
Valya growled in annoyance, but she had to respect the tactic.
