Chapter 3

Shane's gaze fell on my bloodied hands, and his brows drew together. He asked the team medic for a tube of ointment and tossed it at my feet.

"Leila, if you had any sense at all, you'd know to stop giving Mira a hard time. Otherwise, I promise it'll hurt a lot more next time."

I ignored him and carefully treated and bandaged my hands, hoping they would heal quickly. After all, the Holcroft family graves were going to be opened that night.

Once darkness fell, Professor Bastow went over every inch of the Holcroft burial ground.

When he came out, his expression was grave, and he gave me a nod. "I've already contacted the military unit stationed in the area. Once we dig everything out tomorrow night, they'll move it immediately."

The tightness in my chest eased a little. My judgment had been right after all, and this time the Holcrofts were truly finished.

The next morning, the sky cleared, and Mira could not wait to lead everyone down through the entrance I had dug the day before.

My fingers still throbbed with a dull ache, but with lives at stake, I spoke up to stop her anyway. "After yesterday's heavy rain, the entrance is muddy and could cave in. You can't—"

Before I could finish, a loud slap landed across my left cheek.

Mira giggled and blew on her hand. "Leila, I let it slide every time you came after me before. But I already led everyone to plenty of finds yesterday, and you're still questioning me. Don't blame me for not being nice anymore."

Shane gently rubbed Mira's hand, and the look he shot me was full of warning. Even most of the teammates who had braved danger alongside me for five years were speaking up for Mira.

"Leila's overthinking it. This tomb isn't that deep. Nothing major's going to happen."

"Exactly. Mira just got back from overseas, so she needed a few days to adjust. She did a great job leading us yesterday."

"If you ask me, she's just bitter and trying to stir up trouble."

"Trying to scare us with a cave-in? That's hilarious."

I closed my eyes for a moment. My head was still full of calculations on how likely a collapse was, but there was no point in saying any of it.

All I could do was silently pray that we would be lucky enough not to get trapped at the bottom of the tomb.

Yet no amount of luck could make up for someone who was determined to do something stupid.

I watched helplessly as Mira directed everyone to dig at the very center of the tomb floor. I dug my nails into my palms so hard that my bandaged fingers started bleeding again.

In a tomb at risk of collapse, that was the one spot no one could ever touch. Digging there was practically a death wish!

Seeing that I was about to step forward, Shane yanked me back with impatience written all over his face.

"Leila, do you have a death wish? How many times do I have to tell you to stop going after Mira?"

"She's the one with the death wish! Don't you understand that if this place caves in, we'll be buried alive?" I wrenched myself free of Shane's grip and tried to rush toward Mira.

A second later, a thunderous crack came from the ceiling of the tomb. The ground beneath my feet began to shake, and gasps and screams filled the air.

The worst had happened after all! The team panicked and surged toward the only exit.

Amid the shoving, the entrance collapsed faster and faster. Someone knocked me to the ground, and a burning pain shot through my ankle.

Clumps of dirt kept falling from above, and I knew full well that if I did not get out soon, I would die down here.

"Shane, you—"

I wanted to tell him that the baby I was carrying was his flesh and blood too, and that all I needed was a hand up. Yet he never gave me the chance to say it.

Without a moment's hesitation, he shook off my hand, hurried over to scoop Mira up from where she had fallen, and rushed toward the entrance.

He did not spare me a single glance.

Gritting my teeth through the pain, I crawled toward the entrance on my stomach, but the collapse was happening too fast, and the entrance was almost completely sealed off.

The light grew dimmer and the air grew thinner, yet the entrance was still so far away.

Just when I was on the verge of despair, Professor Bastow arrived and threw me a lifeline. "Hurry, get Leila out! She's a core member of our confidential project. Nothing can happen to her!"

…

When I opened my eyes again, Shane was sitting by my bed.

"You're awake? I told you you'd be fine, but your advisor insisted on making a fuss. Still, you're pretty stupid. Everyone else made it out, and the genius consultant was the one who nearly got buried in there."