Wu rounded angrily on her. ‘And you did not warn us?’

‘It wasn’t exactly the foremost thing on my mind!’

The colonel also gave Nina a nasty look, but pointed impatiently along the passage. ‘We move on. Go.’

Nina again took the lead, following the corridor around. To her relief, no exploded human remains awaited. A flight of steps led up to somewhere behind the armoury, but Gadreel signalled for her to continue past. Side rooms turned out to be other barracks and storage areas, whatever they contained long decayed to dust, but at the end of the passage more stairs led upwards. She warily ascended.

Her footsteps started to echo as she neared the top. She shone the flashlight around. A throne room, on an even grander scale than the one she had seen previously. The domed ceiling was adorned with elaborate reliefs in precious metals, another egg-like chamber set behind three gold and orichalcum thrones. Several altars were arranged in a semicircle in front of the seats, facing the elongated crystalline windows. Only dirt and stones were visible beyond.

She advanced into the chamber, the others entering behind her. On the room’s opposite side she saw another set of stairs leading downwards – in the same relative position as in the smaller fortress. They would have reached the throne room much sooner had they turned right at the first junction. Her suspicion of Gadreel’s motives deepened. He would have known that – so why had he taken them the long way round? To make sure the armoury and its contents were still intact?

Before she could voice her thoughts, a harsh command from Colonel Wu made her turn. Gadreel had started towards the front of the throne room, heading for stairs that Nina assumed led to another mausoleum, only to halt when his escort raised their guns. The Nephilim regarded the commander with hostility as he spoke. ‘I want to see my people,’ Zan translated.

Colonel Wu’s reply was both negative and devoid of sympathy. He waited for the soldiers to place bright LED lanterns around the room, then signalled to the men carrying the qi tracker. They brought it to the central altar.

Major Wu took Nina by the arm, directing her towards it. She angrily tugged free. ‘What are you doing?’

‘You will use the resurrection key to activate the fortress,’ Wu replied, holding up a satchel containing the ancient artefact.

‘Like hell I will.’

‘If you do not, your daughter and husband will suffer.’

‘You fucking bitch,’ Nina snarled. She glared at the Chinese officer’s companions. Her father was stony-faced, having approved of the plan, or even conceived it. Hui, on the other hand, displayed shock at the turn of events. ‘What for? Why do you want to power it up?’

The colonel spoke. ‘To give China most powerful weapon in world.’

Nina blinked. ‘Okay, not the answer I was expecting.’