The Lost Labyrinth

II

Knox still felt nauseous and unsteady from the glancing sledgehammer blow he'd taken. He felt strangely powerless, too. Mikhail had shown even in their brief tussle that he was far too strong for him at the best of times, let alone armed as he was with a sledgehammer, a hunting knife and a boundless willingness to inflict pain. Gaille's cheeks were glazed with tears and she kept shuddering. He put his arms around her and hugged her. 'This is the last time I ever send you away to keep you safe,' he whispered in her ear.

Somehow she managed a laugh. 'Is that a promise?'

'It's a promise.'

'Thank Christ. But what do we do now?'

'The police are on their way,' he assured her. 'We just need to find a way out of here.' Easier said than done. The crevice in the roof was far too difficult a climb. And the floor surrounding the rosette platform was impassable with huge boulders and jagged rock. Which left only the way they'd come, back along the colonnade of axes and then through the cave.

But first they had to get by Mikhail.

He looked back past the stalagmite. His stomach clenched as he saw the faint aura of the golden fleece around Mikhail's shoulders as he advanced towards them.