‘But if you leave them trapped,’ Cheng reminded her, ‘it’ll be like torturing them for eternity.’ A fearful look crossed his face at the reminder of what had almost certainly happened to his mother.

‘It’s better than being dead,’ she replied. ‘And they survived all this time down here. They might survive another hundred thousand years, and eventually wake up. The Veteres are gone, and we probably will be too by then. Maybe they’ll finally get the chance to live that they’ve never had.’

‘Let’s worry about the present before the future,’ said Eddie impatiently. ‘What are we going to do?’

‘I have to get to the tracker,’ said Nina. ‘I’m the only one who can stop Gadreel’s attack – and maybe prevent a genocide.’

‘I’m going to get Macy,’ Eddie said firmly. ‘We need to split up.’

‘Yeah, because that always goes so well, huh?’ They shared a resigned smile. ‘Okay, Cheng, you come with me. I might need your help with the Nephilim language – and the Chinese, for that matter. I can’t read the text on the tracker.’

Barney looked askance at Eddie. ‘So I guess I’m coming with you to take on a heavily armed commando team?’

‘You want to take on the army of giants whose guns make people explode?’ the Englishman shot back.

The Australian was not happy. ‘Sounds like I’m screwed either way. And I thought tourists were a pain in the arse.’

Flashlights were shared between the two groups. ‘Okay,’ Eddie said to Nina. ‘I’ll save Macy, you save the world.’

‘I don’t know which is going to be harder,’ she said. ‘Let’s . . . let’s get her home safely, huh?’

‘Yeah. With both of us.’ He embraced and kissed her, then let go. ‘Let’s all get home safe,’ he said to the two other men, before looking back across the bridge. ‘Okay, it’s clear.’

‘Good luck,’ said Cheng.

‘You too.’ A last touch of Nina’s hand, then he started across the narrow bridge, Barney behind him. He glanced down. Gadreel and Sidona were at the bottom of the spiral, the female Nephilim entering another chamber inside the crystal pillar while her husband crossed the larger bridge to the cathedral-like room. Higher up, Zan was still struggling to carry the heavy tracker down the walkway—

The Chinese slipped, reeling towards the edge before lurching back against the crystal with a frightened yell.

The noise draw Gadreel’s attention. He looked up, spotting the panting translator on the spiral—

And the unexpected figure on the higher crossing.

Eddie hurriedly pulled back, but it was too late. A commanding shout echoed up the shaft. ‘Buggeration!’ he barked, readying the rifle as he looked down again. It was a long shot, but if he could take out the Nephilim leader before he organised his forces—