Free Scream for Me by Cynthia Eden Page B

the remains were covered by a dress. A woman. A woman who’d been hidden down in this giant tomb. If it hadn’t been for the cave-in, would she still be hidden?
    Jason bent down next to Cadence. Kyle frowned at him. The guy needed to get out of there and get some backup for them.
    “There’s something on her,” Cadence whispered as she bent forward.
    Her . Kyle’s breath was cold in his lungs
    “A wire?” Jason said, voice rising. “It is! Looks like it’s pinning her down.” He reached for the wire.
    The fool reached for it.
    “No!” Cadence and Kyle shouted at the same time.
    But it was too late. Jason had pulled on the wire. He glanced up, eyes wide at their shouts, as the detonation began.
    A trap .
    Jason had taken the bait.
    Kyle grabbed for Cadence, locking his arms around her and yanking her back even as Jason lurched forward, surging desperately for escape. Jason shoved against Cadence and Kyle, knocking them to the ground as he ran.
    Then an explosion blasted through the chamber, an explosion that had the ceiling collapsing and the walls falling in on them.
    Kyle held Cadence as close as he could.
    As the rocks hit him.

CHAPTER FIVE
    Darkness. A perfect black that made Cadence wonder if she was dreaming. Or dead.
    Then the pain came, and she knew she was still alive.
    “Kyle?” She whispered his name, afraid that if she spoke too loudly, she might start another cave-in.
    Something heavy was on top of her, heavy and warm. Not rocks.
    “I’m here.”
    He was on top of her.
    His body curled over hers, shielding her.
    She felt the rustle of his breath on her cheek, but she couldn’t see him. The darkness was too perfect and complete.
    “Are you okay?” she asked softly. Cadence could still hear the faint tumble of rocks.
    “Yeah. You?”
    Her back ached. The back of her head throbbed, and she could feel the wetness of blood on her legs, but… “Yes, I’m fine.” Nothing she couldn’t handle.
    “There are rocks on me,” he told her, keeping his voice low. “Give me a minute and let me see what I can do.”
    Then he was pushing up, moving away from her in the darkness, and she heard the clatter of stones as they fell off his body.
    Her heart was drumming too fast in her chest. The air was thick with dust, and when she inhaled, the air seemed strangely stale.
    Cadence fumbled, trying to find her headlamp, but it was gone.
    Lost in the rubble?
    “Don’t move,” Kyle told her. “I’ll find a light.”
    That had to mean his headlamp was gone, too. Every caver knew… always carry three lights . It was the rule for facing the darkness. They’d all come in with three lights each. But those backup lights were in their bags.
    Bags she hoped hadn’t been buried.
    At least the sound of falling rocks had stopped.
    “Jason?” she called quietly.
    There was no answer.
    He could be unconscious. He could have been separated from them by the cave-in.
    Or he could be dead.
    “I got my pack,” Kyle said. Then in the next instant, a glow of white light spilled from his flashlight. He swung the light around, and it hit her.
    “Fuck, you’re bleeding.”
    She scrambled to sit up.
    His fingers reached out and brushed against her temple. She winced. Yes, that was where the throbbing was the worst. She grabbed his hand, stopping him. “Don’t, I’m okay.”
    “No, baby, we’re far from okay.”
    He’d just called her baby . Since when?
    The light swung away from her. Made a slow circle around the space.
    The corridor they’d entered was covered with rocks. Big, thick chunks went from the ground up.
    They were sealed inside.
    “Jason isn’t here,” Kyle said.
    No, he wasn’t. It didn’t mean he’d survived the cave-in. He’d been running toward the exit, desperate to get out. Had that been his mistake? Had he been crushed beneath those rocks?
    “The SOB rigged the place. When anyone touched the bones—” Kyle said.
    “The cavern would close,” Cadence finished. An explosion. One