A muttered reply, nothing comprehensible, but thrilling to hear nonetheless. Devon hit his mic to the surface. “Alisha’s found the mark. Anders, get in position. We’re not far from the surface.”
“Stretcher?”
“I’ll let you know.”
Alisha had continued to talk to the lost, now found, researcher. Devon fed out line and worked to get extra ropes in place for Alisha to secure the victim.
The speaker connection between them crackled. “Conscious and alert. He’s been bumped around but he’s good to move without a stretcher. Bring him up, Devon.”
For the next fifteen minutes Devon pulled and worked his muscles to the maximum as he lifted the man to the midlevel platform. He was dirty from head to toe, his jacket and pants cut in places from the rocks he’d slid over. One foot in a boot, the other in a dirt-streaked sock. Blood marred one side of his face, the wound on his temple already covered with a quick bandage Alisha must have slapped in place.
Devon checked him over quickly, shining his light into the man’s eyes to watch his pupils react. “What’s your name and how are you feeling?”
A momentary flash of panic faded as the man pulled himself together. “Paul, and dark places aren’t my favourite. Otherwise, I’m okay.”
Devon nodded. “We’ll get you out of here as quickly as possible. Hold tight.”
He wasn’t going to leave Alisha waiting in the dark any longer than he had to, either. It was a bit of a teeter-totter, making sure the researcher was roped to the wall, then adjusting lines to get back to Alisha to hoist her up. Devon worked as rapidly as possible, the occasional comment over the microphone the only thing assuring him Alisha was safe.
It seemed like forever before Devon finally was in position. “You ready?”
“No worries. I was doing my nails.”
The researcher chuckled, and Devon smiled. Yeah, everything would be—
Static shot out from his handset followed hard by Xavier’s overly loud response.
“Crap. Lock into position guys, incoming.” His breathing increased in tempo as if he were running. “We lost another chunk of the mountain and it’s rolling in.”
Devon held a hand to Paul, keeping his voice calm and controlled in spite of the unknown factors barreling toward them. “Don’t panic. We’re good here. Let me get my partner, and we’ll all bunker down.”
Paul nodded, his fingers white around the ropes holding him to the wall.
“Haul ass, Alisha,” Devon ordered.
“Already halfway there, sugar.” Alisha peeked around the corner, her bright purple helmet shining at him. “I’m ready to fly.”
Fly she would. Devon gave her the word, then put all his strength into not just supporting her as she headed into the wide arc between them. He lifted her, making her cover the distance in half the time it had taken for her to leave him.
The rock underfoot shook slightly; sounds of the secondary rock fall carrying to them from the surface. Deep underground in the darkness where they were—that was all he concentrated on. On getting Alisha to safety. Like he’d promised . . . like being a partner always promised.
His biceps were screaming, but he brought her all the way up until he could catch her chest harness and lock her against him.
She blinked, half in surprise, half delighted, it seemed. “Well now, that was a lot of fun.”
God. Devon would have laughed at her enthusiasm if they hadn’t had a wide-eyed witness. They hurriedly shuffled toward Paul. “Anders, what’s happening up top?”
“We had to retreat for a minute. Cover your heads, and I’ll be back as soon as the leading edge settles.”
“We’re all fine.” Alisha answered this time, totally calm, as if she’d been suntanning on the beach all afternoon with a relaxing cocktail in hand. “Anders, Devon and I are going to take a break for a minute, then you can lift Paul, okay?”
“No prob.”
Devon stepped around Paul, putting the man into the middle of the huddle. Even as he worked like crazy to secure them all, Alisha carried on talking to Paul. She caught Devon’s eye for a second and winked before teasing Paul about his girlfriend and the added value this adventure would give him.
Alisha was incredible. Once again proving she deserved every single accolade she’d gotten.
Above them the sunlight faded, and a torrent of dust and debris slipped into the crack. Devon turned his back on the surface and covered Paul. Alisha did the same on the other side, their arms cocooning the man as small rocks found their way into the opening and bounced off the walls.
“Slide mainly to the left of you,” Anders informed them. “It’s pretty dusty up here, but give it a minute and we’ll be in position to get your new buddy up.”
“There, see? Not bad at all.” Alisha smiled up at both Paul and Devon.
Devon was distracted by a new sound, one not coming from the surface, but from the wall behind them. “Alisha, take over tying Paul in. I need to check something.”
She frowned, but nodded.
He didn’t do anything stupid like unrope and go explore, but he did loosen off enough to step away from the others.
Devon placed his ear to the rock. The rumbling increased.
At the same moment his headlamp caught a glitter in the distance. Devon’s mouth went dry, but he forced himself to speak normally, no matter that everything inside was screaming for him to rush. “Alisha, is he ready?”
She gave a thumbs-up, patting Paul on the arm as she spoke into the mic. “Anders, take it away.”
Usually Devon would be intently watching the victim until the man had reached safety, the way Alisha was doing.
Only not this time.
This time something else demanded his attention.
Devon swooped in on Alisha, looping his rope around her twice. Her verbal protests cut off when he pointed at Paul to warn her not to scare the victim, but she didn’t simply give in.
“What are you doing?” she bit out in a whisper.
“The slide opened a stream. Brace yourself.” That glitter in the distance was approaching faster than they could escape. “Once the first rush is past us I’m betting there will be enough room that we can climb out.”
Her eyes widened, mouth gaping open until she snapped it shut. “A stream?”
She turned her head back toward the tunnel, headlamp shining out, and Devon swore. The glitter was no longer in the distance.
“Hold your breath, Alisha.” He caught the back of her neck and held her face to his chest. His other hand wrapped tight around the anchors while he hoped like hell the rock lip they were crouching beside would deflect the worst of the first impact.
CHAPTER 4
The dull echo that had surrounded them since they’d lowered into the cavern increased, the voices above them growing fainter as the building roar of water raced toward them. Devon used the rush of adrenaline surging in his veins to take a tighter grasp on the ropes, and to surround Alisha more firmly as the whistle in the distance became a thunder.
Alisha caught him around his torso, burrowing in even as she shrank against the wall, trying to protect him in reverse. Drawing him close enough that they would present the smallest possible surface area to the impending deluge.
A fine mist hit before the light vanished and icy coldness poured over them. The current swept from left to right, crashing into the rock and breaking like a wave overhead, dousing them a split second before the rest of the torrent surrounded them. Devon tucked his face into the crook of his arm, pinning Alisha against the rock. Darkness enveloped him, as if he’d leapt from a dock and plunged to the bottom of a lake. Only in contrast to the lake, however, here there was no calming silence, no peaceful bubbles. Instead, dangerous currents attempted to claw him from his perch. Watery fists pounded them, attempting to sweep them from safety into the endless fissures threading through the roots of the mountain.