Page 182 of Her Reluctant Hero
Bones. He’d prefer not to think their skeletons would be all that was left of them if they didn’t find a way out of here.
The swim and the hole in his arm made him stiff as hell, but he didn’t want to move and wake Mallory, who slept deeply if her breathing was any indication. He’d let her sleep off her exhaustion. The longer she could put off thinking about their fate, the better.
With his free hand, his injured hand, he reached into his dive belt and pulled the cylindrical seal he’d taken from the ship, the one thing he’d recovered. The lack of light made it impossible to see, but he rubbed his thumb over it. The carved design in the ivory was very faint, but it was his. He wouldn’t have the credit for the Byzantine ship, for proving the Mediterranean people had been the first to the New World. Mallory had lost her opportunity to study the symbols on the artifacts they’d discovered.
They wouldn’t be telling anyone what kind of person Valentine Smoller was, what lengths he took for his success, his recognition.
If they didn’t find a way out of here, then he’d brought Mallory to her death after all.
Beside him, she stretched and huffed. How familiar it sounded, even with the echo of the cave around them. She snuffled and he sensed her looking at him.
“Don’t suppose you thought about packing any food,” she murmured.
“No. Not even water.” He shifted onto his side with a grunt. “Damn, we weren’t supposed to be in here.”
She sat but kept a hand on his chest. For contact? He wasn’t sure why, but he appreciated the gesture.
“We’ll find a way out.”
Funny how the dark did sharpen one’s senses. He believed that she believed that. He didn’t want to dim her hope. That was all they’d brought with them.
“How’s your arm?”
“Hurts like a bitch, but I’ll live.” How long depended on how soon they could get out of here. He sat slowly, unsure of how low the ceiling was.
“No doubt Smoller thinks we’re dead.”
“He can’t come after us anyway.” Adrian told Mallory what he’d done to the boats and equipment.
If Smoller did believe they were dead, they were safe. Once they got out of here, anyway. And then…what? They could pursue justice for the loss of Robert and Linda. Adrian hadn’t allowed his thoughts to wander that far. Their priority was getting to safety. “Yeah, so? We can’t swim out the way we came, not with no air.”
“Right, but this area should have sinkholes, too, right?” Her voice vibrated with excitement, with anticipation. “And if we can find one, we can get out.”
He snorted, hating to ruin her plans. “Climb out of a sinkhole? With no equipment and me with a bad arm?”
She tensed. “I could climb out. Get help. Don’t forget, Toney and Jacob are out there.”
He hadn’t dimmed her faith, not that he’d wanted to. One of the things he’d always loved best about Mallory was her ability to hope, be it over a find or over him. But the realist in him had to make her see their chances.
“Wait here.” She shifted away. “I’ll try to swim as long as I can stay above water, see if there’s another ledge like this one, maybe one with a way out.”
“Mallory.” He grabbed her arm to still her. “I won’t risk you.”
“What?” She pulled away, irritation tightening her body. “You can’t do it. Or you’re just going to sit here till we starve to death? I don’t think so. I’ll be right back.” She leaned close and pressed a kiss to his jaw, then his mouth, all by feel.
He grunted again, frustrated with his own helplessness, unwilling to release her. So much could go wrong—she could get lost, drown, become trapped—but what choice did they have? “I wish we had a rope so you could find your way back.”
“I’ll stay along the wall.” She gentled her tone. “I’ll be all right.”
Before he could offer another protest, she slipped into the water.
Mallory’s muscles quivered at the idea of swimming another stroke, but with Adrian wounded, she had no choice. When she’d made her decision to join the expedition, to return to Adrian, she never expected this to be asked of her. She hadn’t thought herself capable. She had to dig down to find the fearless girl she’d been, otherwise she couldn’t get through this.
Keeping one hand on the cool, slick cave wall, she bobbed along until she found another dead-end ledge farther up, but the ceiling dipped down into the water, blocking her path. Discouragement tore at her. She had to dive to move forward, holding her breath, see what she could find underwater. She surfaced, then dove several times before finding an indentation that might be an entrance to another part of the cave.
Adrian called her name, his voice echoing off the rock.
“I might have found something,” she called, and dove again, keeping her hand on the ceiling above her.
And when she emerged on the other side, she was blinking at sunlight, and a hand reached down to her.
