I broke the surface and took a gulp of stale, heavy air. It stank of salt and steam, and I didn’t get enough oxygen out of it. I clung to the rocks, desperately sucking in air.
After a minute or so, my heart stopped racing and the spots stopped dancing in front of my eyes. The air was close here, but it wasn’t going to kill me.
And I saw a light. There was a very faint light coming from somewhere above me.
I laughed aloud. Light. Just seeing it up there gave me strength.
The cave was vertical here. I grabbed the nearest rock and began to climb. The rocks were wet and slick, but I moved slowly and steadily toward the light.
Partway up, I caught the Uzi strap on a rock. I had a sudden chill thinking about what would have happened if it had caught while I was under the water.
I reached the top of the wall and crawled over the lip. Ahead, I could see the bend in the cave. Light was coming from somewhere around that bend, and I crawled to it. The air was fresher here, but it was also thick with steam. I stood. The roof was too low for me, but I hunched along, going farther and farther upslope. There, against the wall and spattered with mud, was the tarnished silver wire.
I followed the bend in the tunnel, checking my pockets for the ghost knife and the silver knife. They were both there. I tilted the Uzi this way and that, draining as much of the water out of it as I could.
The tunnel exit was narrow. I peered through it. Below me was a broad cavern made of volcanic rock. A thin stream of water ebbing back and forth along the far wall and clouds of steam billowed against the roof, just above my head. The whole place was lit by a bright, flickering source of light from somewhere to the left.
I squeezed through the opening into the cavern. Charles Hammer was not in sight. There was a second cavern to the left. Maybe he had already gone toward the source of the firelight.
Beside me a path ran along the upper edge of the cavern, but there didn’t seem to be any way down except by free climbing the cavern wall or flying. I wasn’t about to do either.
At that moment, I heard a pained grunt echo against the rocks. I stepped back into the narrow opening behind me. Charles Hammer climbed through a small opening in the far right wall of the cavern, then ran along a wooden walkway. He went straight for the second cavern on the left.
The bastard had taken the other path. He must have gone the long way around because he thought the way I went was impassable.
It was too far to shoot accurately with a submachine gun, even if I thought it would do some good. And he was definitely too far for me to throw the ghost knife.
I started along the high ledge, trying my best to match his pace. He was quick though, and the ledge was slick and precarious. Even with the shortcut I had taken, he was still ahead of me.
My biggest advantage was that he hadn’t seen me yet. I lifted the gun and rushed ahead. Hammer reached the opening into the second cavern.
I came to the end of the path. Below me was a long flight of stone stairs chiseled into the wall. I started down. I could hear Hammer’s sneakers thumping against the wooden boards.
After about fifteen feet, I came to a break in the wall. It was a little window into the second cavern. I looked through.
I saw it.
Not very long ago I used a stolen spell to reveal the predators that move through the Empty Spaces, searching for worlds full of life like our own. They were strange creatures made of stone or color or motion-terrifyingly alien creatures living in a terrifyingly alien environment. What I saw through that opening in the cavern wall gave me chills. I was looking down at one of those predators.
It was a huge wheel of fire, maybe 150 feet tall and partially submerged in a pool of ocean water. Steam billowed up around it, filling the cavern and dripping down the walls.
Charles Hammer approached the creature. From within the wheel, a huge flaming eye opened up and looked down at him.
I ducked down below the opening and held my breath. Goose bumps ran up and down my whole body. It was alive. The wheel of fire was alive and it was here, on Earth. I peeked through the opening again and saw what I’d expected to see-a thick circle of shining silver surrounded it. The silver was inscribed with sigils, and it was untarnished. From where I stood, it looked clean and new. I noticed the silver wire running through the opening, down the cavern wall, and toward the silver ring. By squinting, I could see where it connected. I jerked my hand away from the wire. What if the wheel could sense me touching it, the way a spider could sense movement on its web?
Christ, what was I supposed to do about this? I slid to the steps, ducking down out of sight. This was the source of Hammer’s power, and I was sure it had been here for decades.
I took out my ghost knife and held it up. It was just a piece of laminated paper. What good would it be against that massive wheel of fire? The silver knife wouldn’t be much better. And that assumed that I had the nerve to cross the silver ring that held it in place. What if attacking it also set if free?
Annalise was right. I was completely out of my league.
Charles Hammer stood before the ring, his arms raised above his head. He was shouting to it, imploring it the way a man might plead with a cruel god, but the echoes in the cavern garbled his words so thoroughly that I couldn’t understand them.
I felt a sudden spasm in the iron gate on my chest, the most powerful one yet. I could feel waves of power flowing out of the wheel of fire, pressing hard against me.
On the cavern floor, Hammer had fallen to the wooden walkway. He writhed in agony, clutching at the same spot on his back where Cynthia had her iron gate. Then, suddenly, he relaxed, rolled onto his knees, and pressed his
