The Survivor (Eve Duncan #30)

Though her head was covered in a golden headdress that was sheathed in ice, her face looked incredibly normal. The skin texture appeared soft and full and almost glowing with health and vibrancy.

Cade was swearing softly. “I’ll be damned. Silvana may have just pulled it off.”

“We don’t know what she did yet,” Riley said. “But I’ve got to tell Eve that she may have to deal with more complicated problems than she has any idea of.” She started to smile. “Though I’ll bet she’ll welcome it.”

“Well, I don’t relish the prospect of being responsible for keeping Silvana in this same shape until we can hand her to Eve and whatever scientists she’ll get to examine her.” He was testing the weight of the coffin as he spoke. “Her gown and headdress are gold, but the coffin is only trimmed. That may give us a break as far as weight’s concerned.” He reached for his phone. “I’ve got to call Kirby and Donal up here to get the sarcophagus out of this tower and onto the Gulfstream ASAP.”

“You didn’t expect this?”

“I thought anything even resembling this would be a stretch. Did you?”

“No, but maybe I should have. Silvana was a remarkable woman.”

Cade was talking on the phone now and walking toward the door. He probably expected her to follow him, but she didn’t move. She wanted to stay here for a little longer.

Then Riley was alone with Silvana, looking down at all the ice and gold and the other more human miracle this unique woman had managed to create in the tower room.

“You got your way, didn’t you?” Riley whispered. “Congratulations. And I’m sorry that we can’t leave you here with your victory, but it might turn into a disaster, and you deserve better than that. But I promise you that we’ll take care to keep you safe and let everyone know what a wonderful warrior and splendid person you were. You’ll be honored, and I believe you’ll come to think we did well by you.”

“Riley.” Cade was standing at the door. “Kirby and Donal will be here at any minute with the protective blanket to wrap the coffin. I need you to get out of here.”

“I’m coming.” She was looking at the small weapons case against the far wall. “Is there any way we can take that with us? I think she’d like that. It’s probably not very heavy. Maya told me Amazons always preferred to fight with lightweight weapons.”

“I’ll bring it myself.” He held out his hand. “If you’ll get out of here. I want you to be a safe distance down that path before your oxygen runs out.”

“What about you?” She was across the room and taking his hand. “You said the three of you would be taking the coffin.”

“We’ll be moving fast. That coffin shouldn’t be that difficult for the three of us to remove. Silvana is as small as most women were during that period in spite of her warrior status.” He gave her a gentle push. “After you pass the death zone, keep on going. When you get outside, your job is to make certain the helicopter is ready for instant transfer. I’ve called down to Galdar and told him to send up more men to help with the coffin and those jewel chests. We should be able to meet them at the halfway mark. I’ll be right behind you.”

“You’d better be.” She was still looking over her shoulder. “Or I’ll come back for you.”

“Go!”

Then she was going down the path away from the tower room.

It was weird, but she realized somehow the fact he’d called that halfway point the death zone when she’d been avoiding referring to it in those terms had made her feel more optimistic. Maybe because it meant the nightmare was almost over and they’d done their duty and were leaving it behind…

But that small moment of reassurance vanished the instant she saw Alex Galdar’s expression when she ran out from the cave beneath the waterfall. The captain was definitely not happy and was snapping orders to his men that were scattering them in all directions. The minute he saw her he grabbed her arm and jerked her back against the cliff. “Take cover. I don’t know what the hell we’re facing yet.”

“What’s wrong?”

“I just got a report from one of my officers patrolling the temple area that he’d spotted several combatant forces on the eastern border who seemed to be coming down from one of the mountain passes. Nadim must have an encampment near there. It’s a sizable force, and there are large containers in the mix. They may be heading in this direction. We’ve got to be ready for them. I’ve already sent a unit to intercept.”

“Nadim?”

“Probably. I don’t know who the hell they are yet. But we’ve got to assume that’s who it is. Even if they don’t realize what’s happening at the waterfall, they might know the temple is nearby and be heading there. Either way the caretaker would want you all protected.”

“And there’s something else that has to be protected.” Her gaze flew to the helicopter. “Cade told me I had to be sure the copter was ready for a quick transfer. Is it?”

“Yes, fueled up and ready to go. But the situation has changed, I need to move the helicopter and bring it back later.”

“No, you don’t. All you need to do is make certain this particular site is safe until we can get that helicopter out of here and start those rotors. Cade and the others should be here any minute. Then you can do whatever you have to do to please Maya.”

But his loyalty was totally with Maya, and he would probably keep arguing with Riley. She didn’t have time for this. “Never mind, I’ll take care of it.” She broke away from him and ran for the helicopter. “You do your thing…”

She heard him call out, but then she was inside the cockpit of the helicopter and started the ignition.

The rotors began to whir!