The Sacred Vault_ A Novel - Andy McDermott [124]
‘Go!’ Eddie ordered Kit, waiting for him to traverse a couple of planks before following. The bridge juddered violently with the extra weight, more ice breaking free and exploding into shards on the hard ground below. ‘Nina, get up to the top!’ She was about to protest when the first guardian reached the ledge on the other side - and sent a chakram spinning at her like a lethal Frisbee. She shrieked and ducked, the disc whistling overhead to clang off the wall. She hopped up and hurried towards the stairs, jumping over the dogtoothed gaps in the stone.
Kit picked his way across the bridge, Eddie right behind him. A plank cracked alarmingly as the Indian stepped on it. He gasped, transferring his weight to the support ropes.
The bridge wobbled. Eddie clutched the ropes as one foot slipped off a plank, the wood painfully scraping the back of his calf. Kit looked back in alarm. ‘Keep going!’ Eddie told him, levering himself back up.
He waited for Kit to reach the second to last plank, then started after him. The bridge’s guitar-string vibration eased as they got closer to the end—
A plank snapped under his weight.
Eddie dropped before catching himself on the ropes, legs flailing helplessly in empty space. The bridge lurched violently, a whipcrack ripple running along its length - jolting his left hand from the ice-crusted rope.
Kit stopped on the final plank, looked back - then turned round. ‘No, keep going!’ Eddie shouted, but the Interpol agent was already returning.
Nina reached the stairs, a series of stone blocks jutting a foot out from the wall, and was about to climb them when she saw Eddie dangling from the bridge. She was on the verge of running back to help when she caught movement in her peripheral vision.
Above her. A man hung from one of the ropes between the uppermost tiers, legs wrapped over it as he pulled himself along. More guardians were starting across on other lines.
If any reached the top level before her, the explorers were doomed.
She ran up to the sixth tier, her eyes searching frantically for the next flight of steps.
Kit reached Eddie. He wound one of the support ropes round his arm, stretching out his other hand. The Englishman strained to lift himself up, his right fist clenching the quivering rope.
The bridge swayed. Another crack from under Kit’s feet. The plank was breaking—
Eddie lunged - and caught Kit’s hand.
The Indian pulled him up, the board moaning and splintering. Eddie brought up his foot and found support - not on the wood, but on one of the ropes supporting the planks. ‘Okay, get across, go!’ he shouted. Kit turned to complete his crossing.
Eddie looked for Nina. She was almost at the stairs to the top level—
What the hell? He saw a man seemingly hanging in mid-air, before realising he was traversing a rope to the top tier.
And would reach the ledge in front of Nina.
Kit reached the far side and stopped to wait for him. ‘No, go and help Nina!’ Eddie shouted as he continued across the bridge. ‘They’re gonna catch her!’ Kit saw the men on the ropes, then ran for the stairs.
Nina arrived on the highest tier. The top of the broken stairway leading to the statue was beyond its far end. She would have to jump the gap to reach it, but it looked an achievable distance.
If she could get there. The man on the rope was making alarming progress. She started to run. He was only ten feet from the ledge, effortlessly pulling himself closer. She ran faster, feet slithering in the snow. He would be at the ledge in moments. She had to get past him—
His hands reached the stone.
The guardian swung himself on to the ledge, revealing a sheathed sword across his back. Nina was still a few yards short. She tried to swerve past him before he could get to his feet - but he drew his sword and swung it to block her path.
She skidded to