with the meteorite fragment, there was a danger that the Group’s plan could be still carried out—with the worst person imaginable now in charge.
She scrambled up to the top of the slope, about to follow her—
Another seismic shock made her reel as the broken stones shifted underfoot—then a section of the tier ahead fell away and crashed down onto the level below, cutting her off from the lava tube. On the far side, Sophia reached its entrance and looked back at her with a mocking smile, then disappeared into the darkness.
The gap was too large to jump across. “Son of a bitch!” Nina snarled.
“Over there,” Larry gasped as he caught up, pointing in the other direction. “There are stairs at the far end—we can go up to the next level, then jump down by the tunnel.”
It appeared that he was right. They would have to scale a tilting pillar to reach the undamaged stairway, but it seemed negotiable. “Okay, you go first.” She turned to look for her husband as Larry began to climb the column—and saw that he was in trouble.
Stikes had backed Eddie perilously close to the edge of their lava-lit arena. The gases rising from below were painfully hot, and parts of the shuddering ledge looked on the verge of plummeting toward their source. Eddie knew he had to make a move, and quickly. The safest maneuver would be to try to break past Stikes for less dangerous ground, getting clear of the edge before resuming the battle.
Instead, Eddie charged straight at him to attack head-on. The best way to end the fight was by doing the unexpected—
Stikes twisted aside.
He had predicted the move, expected the unexpected—and now Eddie paid for it as the other man’s elbow smashed against his temple. He staggered, senses sloshing glutinously inside his skull …
Stikes’s arm locked around his neck, vise-tight.
The mercenary had grabbed him from behind in an unbreakable hold, crushing his windpipe. Eddie tried to claw at his face, but could only reach with his wounded arm, the pain sapping the strength from his strikes. He tried to bend forward to flip his opponent over his shoulders, but Stikes was too well braced.
Nina was about to run back down the pile of fallen stone to help him—when she saw a chunk of the ledge only yards from the two men split away and fall toward the lava.
The remainder of the rocky outcrop would follow at any moment.
“I always win, Chase,” the former officer hissed. The pressure on Eddie’s neck increased, blood pounding in his head. “I always win!”
The gloating words flooded Eddie with anger. He was not going to be beaten—not by Stikes! He shifted his feet. “Not … this … time!”
Stoked by fury, he straightened his entire body—and lifted Stikes on his back.
He only raised him by a couple of inches, but it was still enough to unbalance the mercenary. Eddie took full advantage of the moment and bent at the waist, pulling his enemy over with him—then threw himself backward with every remaining ounce of strength.
Stikes gasped, winded, as he thumped down on his back with Eddie on top of him. The Yorkshireman smacked a reverse headbutt into his face, then, drawing in choked breaths, managed to stand.
A few steps away was a piece of the meteorite, a jagged chunk about two feet across. He picked it up. Pain burned in his injured arm as he raised the heavy rock above his head, about to smash it down on Stikes’s skull—
Another section of the edge dropped away into the liquid inferno below—and a crack lanced across the ground near the temple. He heard Nina’s voice over the volcano’s thunder. “Eddie! The ledge is gonna collapse!”
Survival outweighed justice. He threw the rock at Stikes then ran, scooping up the Jericho as he raced for the temple. Behind him, more chunks broke away from the ledge and tumbled down the shaft, luminous splashes exploding from the lava lake as they hit.
Stones rattled and slipped underfoot as he shoved the gun into his jacket and clambered up the makeshift ramp. Nina was at the top, waving him on. “Nina, come on!” Larry shouted. “We’re running out of time!”
She reluctantly turned away from Eddie to climb the pillar. The constant quakes almost jolted her loose, but finally she was within reach of Larry’s outstretched arm. He grabbed her hand and helped her up the final few feet.
Eddie reached the summit of the slope and started to climb after her. Nina reached down,