The Man Who Crossed Worlds (Miles Franco #1)

Chapter Twelve

We weren’t going to make it. There was no way in hell. We were barely more than halfway through the Tunnel, and it was collapsing behind us faster than a junkie having a seizure. We were dead.

I ran until my legs burned and my heart ached and I couldn’t suck in air fast enough. Vivian was doing better. She should have gone ahead of me, she was faster, fitter, but there was no way for her to pass me without us both colliding and going down in a heap. That was time we couldn’t afford to waste.

There was a whistling sound behind us, and it was coming closer. I didn’t know what it was. I didn’t want to know. No one had ever survived a Tunnel collapse. There had never been any bodies to recover. Only God knew what happened, and he wasn’t sharing.

I panted and wheezed, forcing my bruised and aching legs not to give up. A little ripple ran through the Tunnel walls around us, the previously solid sides moving like jelly now. Safe to say, I was more scared than I’d ever been in my life.

This wasn’t possible. It wasn’t. The circle was made out of goddamn iron. I’d done that for a reason. Even if something had washed away the Kemia and the symbols, once we were inside it should stay in place, even if it changed our destination or gave us a longer journey. The only way this could happen was if the iron ring itself had been broken.

That meant someone was trying to kill us. And it looked like they might succeed.

Something horrible screamed through the Tunnel. It didn’t sound human, but it sure as hell didn’t sound like a noise the Tunnel could make. Fear prompted me to find a little bit more energy and pump it into my legs.

A piece of the Tunnel wall crumbled ahead of us, just flaking away like it was made of paper. As we raced past the gap I could see darkness and light swirling together in an impossible dance.

“How far?” Vivian shouted between breaths.

I didn’t have the breath to answer her, and it wouldn’t have been much help anyway. I’d lost all sense of time and distance. With the swirling of energy that was starting to peek through the cracks in the Tunnel and the pounding in my head, I had no idea where we were.

The scream came from behind us again, so close I couldn’t help but glance behind us. What I saw scared the crap out of me.

It was a creature of some kind, that was obvious enough. But it was nothing from Earth, and I’d never heard of anything like it in Heaven.

It had at least six legs that I could see, all jointed in far too many places. A thick coat of black hair covered its back, and its face was a ravenous ball of teeth and tusks. The thing nearly came up to my chest, and if it stood on its hind legs, it could have given me a hell of a body slam.

“Miles!” Vivian screamed, staring past me. I turned back just in time to see myself headed straight for a hole in the bottom of the Tunnel large enough to swallow me whole. Without enough time to think, I leaped, praying my legs gave me enough lift to get me over.

My feet slammed back down on the other side of the hole, making new cracks appear. My knee shuddered in pain, but I didn’t slow.

I glanced back to see Vivian clear the gap. The horrible creature screamed again, loud enough to make Vivian turn around. “Holy fuck. What is that thing?”

“Don’t know,” I gasped. “Just run!”

I sprinted down the Tunnel a few more seconds before I noticed Vivian footsteps were becoming fainter. I twisted around as much as I dared, not eager to fall into another hole.

She was still running, but hunched over strangely. Oh Jesus, had she been bitten by that thing? No, wait, she was grabbing at her ankle while she ran, awkwardly pulling something out.