For one long second, the whole world seemed to stop. Boon Voss leveled his revolver directly at my chest. My hand hovered near my own gun, but there were two of us and nearly 20 of them. No matter how fast I was, there was no way I could gun them all down. Cade Seya whispered behind me.
You can't fight all of them. I have to try. They'll kill you. Then I'll die protecting what I love. Boon's expression changed.
Love? He gave a cruel little laugh. You actually fell in love with the slave? My jaw tightened. She is not a slave.
I stared him straight in the eye. She's a free woman. How touching, Boon mocked. Then his smile vanished. And how pathetic.
He pulled back the hammer of his revolver. Last chance, cowboy. Step aside. Walk away right now, and I might let you keep breathing. No.
His eyes narrowed. Then die. Boon began squeezing the trigger. But before the shot came, Seiya cried out, and everything changed. The walls of the temple began to shake.
At first, it was only a faint tremor beneath our boots. Then, the entire structure groaned. Chunks of stone broke loose from the ceiling and crashed to the floor. The Voss riders shouted in confusion, then in fear. "What the hell is happening?" Boon roared.
I turned toward Seiya. Her eyes were shut tight. Both hands were pressed flat against the temple wall. "Siya!" I shouted. "What are you doing?" Her answer came through clenched teeth.
"Saving you!" The shaking grew stronger. The ground bucked under our feet. More stone rained from above. One massive piece crashed down onto a Voss rider. Another man lost his footing and went sprawling across the floor.
"Get out!" someone screamed. The whole place is coming down. The Voss riders broke formation. Men who had entered the temple ready to kill us were suddenly scrambling over one another to reach the doorway. Boon Voss stayed where he was.
Pure rage burned across his face. This isn't over, he shouted. Then he fired. The bullet screamed past my head so close I felt the air move beside my ear. I grabbed Seiya by the arm.
We have to get out the treasure. she shouted. "Forget the treasure." I pulled her toward the doorway. "None of that matters if we're dead." We ran. Behind us, the temple tore itself apart. Cracks split through the walls.
Stone columns toppled. The floor shook so violently it felt as though the mountain itself had awakened beneath us and decided to bury everything inside. We reached the doorway at the last possible second. The moment we threw ourselves outside, the temple collapsed. The roar was deafening.