Chapter 54 - Ash and Cold Iron
The sudden rush of fresh oxygen caused the fire behind us to roar with renewed fury, creating a vicious vacuum that threatened to suck the air right back out of our lungs.
"Go! Go!" Julian commanded, grabbing Tyler by the scruff of his neck and unceremoniously heaving him headfirst into the narrow, inclined tunnel. Tyler didn't complain; he crawled on his belly like a frightened rodent, scraping his elbows against the rough stone as he scrambled toward the dim daylight filtering through the grate at the other end.
Julian turned to me, his face blackened by soot, his eyes wide with urgency. "Your turn, Evelyn. Climb. I'm right behind you."
"The two men," I said, looking back through the swirling murk. The two hired thugs were groaning on the floor, overcome by carbon monoxide, their clothes beginning to smoke.
"Evelyn, there is no time!"
"I will not leave human beings to roast like pigs in my family's cellar, Julian! Even those who sought to rob me!" I grabbed an old fire bucket from the tool rack, filling it with brackish water pooling from a broken pipe, and hurled it over the nearest man’s face. The shock revived him instantly. "Drag your partner into the chute or die where you lie!" I screamed with every ounce of authority the Mercer name had ever possessed.
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The man scrambled, terror overcoming his daze, hauling his semi-conscious accomplice toward the aperture. Julian hoisted me up into the mouth of the chute, pushing me upward as the ceiling above the crypt gave way.
A thunderous crash shook the foundation. Tons of limestone, burning timbers, and the remnants of the chapel floor collapsed into the vault we had just occupied, sending a massive plume of fire and flying embers shooting out of the chute behind us like the back of a cannon.
