Cade sighed and sat back on his haunches.

Amber wiped at her face, then settled on the floor beside him. “So what now?” she asked.

Cade bit his lip and stared around the room. By now, his eyes had adjusted to the darkness and the worst of the dust had settled. Beyond the plain, stone-carved coffin, the only features were six enormous metal doors at equal intervals around the room.

“Abaddon left these guys here as a reward for whoever ventured this deep into the tomb,” Cade said. “There might be more beyond those doors. We just have to pick one and hope we find something that can help us defeat the slavers.”

He motioned at the six metal doors. It seemed Abaddon had been doing some construction of his own, for they were uniform and plain.

A string of curses erupted from behind him, and Cade turned to see Atticus being lifted to his feet. His head was bloodied, and his eyes were wild with anger.

“You had that weapon the whole time?” he demanded.

Cade held up his hands, too tired to get to his feet. “I found the explosive on a body. And this,” he said, lifting the gun. “How many bullets does this kind of gun hold, Codex?”

The Codex responded once it had finished translating his words. “Remnant is a Sig Sauer P226 produced in 1980. It holds ten 9mm rounds.”

Cade held it like it was a snake. He had handled weapons aplenty since he had arrived on Acies, but never a gun. The weapon felt … wrong. To hold so much power in something so small. To be able to point it at someone and just … end them.

An involuntary shudder ran through him, but he kept his grip on the gun, finding the small nub on its side and clicking it through to the other side to release the safety. That was why he had not fired it before.

After a moment’s pause, he clicked it back. Better safe than sorry.

“Ten what?” Atticus asked.

Cade considered the question. “Think of them like small metal arrows, but far more accurate and powerful. They can go through just about any kind of armor. You simply point … and pull the trigger.”

He demonstrated, miming the act of firing a gun.

Atticus waited for the translation, then muttered a curse under his breath.

“Not enough to even the odds,” he growled.

Cade shrugged. “They don’t know we only have ten bullets,” he said. “It might encourage them to back off.”

Atticus inclined his head. “Fine,” he said. “But whether they tunnel in or we tunnel out, our mission is not complete. Your … Sigsore is not going to win us another round. What do you propose we do now?”

Cade motioned to the doors with his free hand.

“We go deeper,” he said.

CHAPTER

48

Behind the doors, each entrance was different, most a simple stairway into the ground or a mausoleum-style entrance complete with a stone plaque blocking the way. The Codex confirmed what each one was.