‘And?’
‘And…’ She paused, still not quite able to believe it herself. ‘As far as they can tell, the infection is in remission. The tumours are shrinking — the cancerous cells are dying.’
He cocked his head, wary of false hope. ‘So what does that mean?’
‘It means that maybe… Kroll was telling the truth. The water from the Spring of Immortality really does cure diseases.’
He glanced back through the door. The silver jug currently resided in a cupboard, having been sealed until they could decide what to do with it; revealing its existence would only risk sparking a new search for the spring. ‘But you didn’t drink any of it.’
‘Not from Andreas’ jar, no — but I swallowed about half a gallon when Kroll tried to drown me. It didn’t even occur to me at the time, but now…’
‘The stuff actually worked?’
‘I can’t think of any other explanation. The doctor wants to do more tests, but based on what he’s found so far, I really am getting better. There’s another thing, too. I had some, ah… symptoms of something else. I just checked to see if I was right. And… I was.’
‘About what?’
She hesitated, then took a pen-sized plastic object from the shelf above the washbasin. Eddie did a double-take as he first identified it — then saw the two dark lines in the testing kit’s little window. ‘Is that—’
‘Yeah, it is. I’m pregnant.’
He stared at her, unsure if he had heard her correctly — then broke into his first smile of the day.
About Andy McDermott
Andy McDermott is the bestselling author of the Nina Wilde & Eddie Chase adventure thrillers, which have been sold in over 30 countries and 20 languages. His debut novel, The Hunt For Atlantis, was his first of several New York Times bestsellers. Kingdom of Darkness is the tenth book in the series, and he has also written the explosive spy thriller The Persona Protocol.
Andy’s novels have received critical acclaim for their epic globetrotting scope and non-stop thrills, described as ‘pulse-racing adventure’ (Northern Echo) with action scenes that ‘explode off the page’ (Daily Express), while Andy himself has been called ‘a new master of the genre’ (Le Figaro) and ‘one of Britain’s most talented adventure writers’ (Evening Post).
A former journalist and movie critic, Andy was the editor of respected UK magazines DVD Review and the iconoclastic film publication Hotdog. Born in Halifax, he now lives in Bournemouth.