CHAPTER 31
She plunged into darkness. Tiny bubbles swarmed around her, rising toward the surface as if being sucked to the top by a vacuum cleaner. She let herself float, wallowing in the freedom of silence and weightlessness. If only it could free her from all the pain.
But the only thing that could make her forget, at least for a little while, was revenge. And she wouldn’t get her revenge floating in the sea.
Faris would not win.
The bottom of the boat hovered above her like a dark cloud, growing smaller and smaller. Remembering the instructions, she slowly, steadily, exhaled and let herself sink just a little bit. Once certain she was deep enough, she double-checked the pressure, then took in a slow, calm breath of pure oxygen, the sharp, cold air strangely itchy in her throat. She swallowed back a cough, then tipped herself toward the island and kicked herself into motion.
She counted the number of seconds she inhaled, then how many seconds she exhaled until she found the rhythm. Three seconds in, four seconds out. Satisfied, she held the glow-in-the-dark compass in front of her face, recalling Pete’s description of finding the entrance. Twenty-three feet deep. A pear-shaped hole, about six feet across. Swim inside, then follow the tunnel for a hundred yards.
Sounded easy enough.
With her pulse thrumming in her ears, she scissor-kicked toward the island. The invisible current pulled her sideways, out to sea. She angled herself to the left and pumped her legs harder, trying to cut through the unseen force. It was too dark to see how much farther she had to go.
A zing of panic shot through her. What if she was way off course? She glanced up at the glimmering webs of the surface above her, the moonlight swirling gently through the waves. She couldn’t be that far away. Another peek at the compass told her she was still heading in the right direction.
She kicked harder. Air bubbles crackled in her ears as a school of fish billowed past, their silvery scales shimmering in the faint beams of moonlight. Why had she never gone scuba diving before? Even though it didn’t change the fact she’d lost so much these last few days, this was peaceful. Therapeutic even.
A dark form drifted into sight, though she was still too far away to see what it was. Some fish—a large one. Her heart thudded. From what she knew, the Aegean wasn’t a shark danger zone. It was mostly inhabited by smaller ones that tended to swim away from humans rather than try to eat them.
But, just in case, she said a silent prayer. I’d rather not find out today if it’s true. At least, not until I’ve killed Faris.
She swam on, keeping her eye on the dark shape. It matched her pace, following her path while keeping a safe distance to her right. She could just make out its movements, the tail swishing side to side.
Great. I am being stalked by a shark… and it’s probably hungry.
She started counting again, three seconds, four seconds, three, four. Short breath in, short breath out. As long as she stayed calm and didn’t make any panicked movements, she’d be fine. Right? Where was her knife? After another ten seconds, the phantom flicked its tail and vanished into the darkness.
Movement below drew her gaze downward. Seaweed fluttered calmly in the current with fish darting in between the ribbon-like leaves. The sea floor hadn’t been that close a few minutes ago. She checked her gauge, making sure she was still at thirty feet, but the numbers read twenty-five. So, the bottom was rising. She must be getting close to the island.
Scanning the shadowy distance, her hunch proved to be correct. A black wall loomed ahead of her. Granted, it was dark everywhere, but this seemed to be a solid kind of darkness. Certain that it would be safe now that she was close, she traded the compass for the underwater flashlight. As she switched it on, its beam illuminated a jagged wall of rock before her, turning the clear water an eerie shade of green.
She stopped and beat her legs against the current, which continued to pull her away from the wall like a magnet and looked the rocks up and down. The rough, rocky frontage rose toward the surface, shooting through the waves as if to reach the moon. Seeing no hint of a cave entrance, she continued to the right, searching for that pear.
The current switched and started pushing her toward the wall. She kicked, pushing back to give herself a little more space before she got smashed against the rocks. She swam through a lethargic school of fish, the creatures dispersing in all directions as she cut through them.
Up ahead, the shadows in the rock wall curved in a fashion different from the rest. Smoother, deeper. As she neared, the shadows deepened, the light of her flashlight flickering into the crevices. Wondering if she’d found the hole, she swam closer. Round on the bottom with a cone-shaped crown on top, the opening loomed before her. It did indeed remind her of a pear. Even though it was a lot smaller than she’d thought it would be, it looked wide enough for her to swim through. It could perhaps fit two people side by side.
She shined her flashlight into the hole. The cave continued for a dozen yards, fairly straight, despite the uneven walls. Her heart froze. More rock appeared at the end of the beam—a dead end.
Don’t panic. Maybe the tunnel curves? All she could do was go in and check it out. She glanced at her oxygen level. She’d already used a hundred of her two hundred bars. With a hundred left, she should have enough for another half-hour of swimming before she’d have to switch to the back-up tank. She floated a moment by the opening, all the possible mishaps spinning through her mind. What if she got stuck in there and drowned? What if something lived in there? What if it took too long and both tanks ran out of oxygen?
If only she weren’t alone.
But there was nothing she could do to change that now. She was so close to finding her family, finding Soliman, and she didn’t come all this way just to be scared off by a tunnel—a narrow, creepy underwater tunnel, but still.
Just go, Xander’s voice seemed to speak to her. If he were here, he’d already be halfway down that shaft.
Before she could talk herself out of it, she kicked her flippers and swam inside. She immediately regretted it. The green walls looked slimy in the cold flashlight beam. Thankfully, there was some space on either side so her shoulders didn’t brush against the algae- and barnacle-covered rock.
Despite the extra space, a twinge of panic rose in her chest. The deep unknown of the sea was spooky to think about, and she definitely preferred being in the open instead of in this narrow cavity. In here, if something came at her from ahead or behind, she had fewer options of escape. In fact, there were no options.
She swallowed back the unsettling thoughts, counted her breaths, and swam on. The tunnel curved, rose, fell, and curved again. Oxygen three seconds in, four seconds out. Was this tunnel ever going to end? Maybe turning around wasn’t such a bad idea…
Something fluttered in front of her. Something long and green dashed out of a hole, straight toward her. Leila flung up her arms over her face, biting down on the mouthpiece to hold back a scream. The creature swished past her elbow, darting into the pitch blackness behind her.
It was just an eel.
Leila floated for a moment as she resumed counting, getting her breath back under control. No matter what, breathe steady.
Once the shock wore off, she resumed kicking, though her mind screamed, Turn around. Forget it. This is stupid. Go back to the boat and stay there until you die.
Then, the tunnel ended. Now what? She stared at the craggy wall in front of her, then turned around. Webbed light reflected against the rock. She glanced up. A fuzzy yellow orb, distorted by the choppy waves, winked above her.
Relieved, she pushed her way toward the surface, praying there wouldn’t be anyone waiting for her. Slowly, she eased her head above water. The tunnel widened into a pool, the narrow cave now a cavernous cathedral of limestone.
She’d made it.
She pulled off her goggles, removed the mouthpiece, then glanced around the cavern. A naked light bulb hung above her. Light struck stone and shadows darkened behind the jagged rocks protruding from the walls. As far as she could tell, she was alone, even though the glowing light bulb indicated others knew about this spot.
After a deep breath, she stepped out of the water, the waves sloshing around her legs. She plopped down on the cavern floor with a squish, then pulled off her flippers, goggles, and oxygen canister.
She sat for a moment, waiting for her heartbeat to settle. The water rippled and her heart longed to see Xander rise from the waves, dressed in scuba gear, and sit next to her as they planned the next step. Her throat tightened painfully, and she gasped for breath.
You can do this. Keep going, Xander’s voice urged.
With a palm on her chest, she nodded. Yes, keep going. Kill Faris. Find Mom and Sami. Find Soliman. The escape, she would improvise.
