Then the skyscraper was gone, disappearing into the abyss below, blocking Jack’s view of the falling figure of Zoe, and as he lay there looking down into the abyss, his horror was complete.

His beloved wife was dead.

Jack was numb with shock.

Two sets of hands grabbed him by his jacket’s collar, lifted him to his feet and hauled him away from the edge.

He heard Lily: ‘Dad! You can’t stay here! The exit’s closing!’

Easton manoeuvred himself under Jack’s shoulder and supported him as Jack staggered, dizzy with grief, away from the edge of the broken bridge.

The enormous cavern behind them—now robbed of the hanging skyscraper that had been its centrepiece—yawned glaringly empty.

The only evidence that anything had been here before were the five square entry tunnels arrayed around the cavern’s walls high up near the ceiling.

Jack let Easton and Smiley half-carry him while Lily guided them underneath a lowering slab of stone.

Then the slab closed with a resounding boom and Jack was enveloped by darkness.

The Secret Royal World: The Battlefield, The Bell and The Royal Banker

Alby, Aloysius and Rufus

Outside the Gates to the Supreme Labyrinth

26 DECEMBER, 0903 HOURS

The second ejection seat from Aloysius Knight’s Sukhoi Su-37 came slamming down against the side of the low brown mountain that covered the five entrances to the Supreme Labyrinth.

Huddled together on the seat were Aloysius, his pilot Rufus and Alby Calvin—having shot skyward out of the Sukhoi just before it had been overwhelmed by bronzemen.

Even though it had a parachute, the seat landed hard, and as it hit the side of the mountain, the impact sent the three men on it scattering: Aloysius and Alby tumbled down the rocky hill, while Rufus was thrown onto a nearby ledge.

Alby was knocked out cold. He slumped to the dusty ground.

Beside him, Aloysius blinked, concussed, seeing stars. He tried to shake it off—

‘Freeze, motherfucker,’ a hard voice commanded.

Aloysius looked up to see a Knight of the Golden Eight—Jaeger Zwei, Hunter Two—and some men standing with him gripping Steyr AUG assault rifles aimed at his face.

Aloysius didn’t know Zwei, didn’t know about his three encounters with Jack in Moscow, Jerusalem and here outside the Labyrinth.

Aloysius raised his hands. He glanced surreptitiously around the area, searching for Rufus.

But he couldn’t see his loyal pilot anywhere. He wondered if the gentle giant had been knocked out like Alby when he’d been thrown clear of the ejection seat as it landed.

Jaeger Zwei looked over at Alby’s immobile body and nodded to his men.

‘That’s the kid Sphinx told us about. Albert Calvin. He has value. Jaeger Eins gave me special instructions if we found him. We take him with us.’

Zwei turned to Aloysius.

‘As for you, asshole, I got no instructions for you, which means you’re fucked—’