“Tie her up. I don’t want any more distractions,” Gina snapped. She lifted the knife.
Mano was glad his military training involved so much nighttime target practice. He prayed for accuracy as he brought the gun up and fired. The gun bucked in his hand.
The bullet struck Gina’s hand. She reeled and fell and dropped the knife. Clutching her wrist, she screeched at the men, “Get him, you fools!”
Aki released Annie and turned toward Mano. Annie shrieked and leaped onto his back. She began to pummel his back and pull his hair. He wheeled around in a circle trying to dislodge her, but she clung to him like an octopus.
Jason moved toward Mano, but the SEAL shook his head. “I’ll shoot your mother if you move.”
“Go ahead, what do I care?” Jason continued to advance.
Mano swung the gun around and shot him in the leg. Jason howled and fell to the ground.
Annie screeched, and Mano backed up to put himself in a position to fire. He trained the gun on Aki. “Jump out of the way, Annie!” In a flash, Annie dropped off Aki’s back and danced away before he could touch her. Aki held his hands up. “Sit on your hands,” he told Aki. The man complied, watching the barrel of the gun. Mano gestured to Annie. “Get the knife.”
She hurried to her sister. The knife was lying close to the fissure. She paused, and Mano knew she was too frightened to go closer to the open pit of fire. He glanced at Gina. She was still nursing her wrist. “Never mind,” he called. “Get Leilani out of here.”
She helped her sister sit up. “Come on, Leilani, it’s time to wake up.” She patted Leilani’s cheeks.
Leilani shook her head groggily. “Annie?” Her head lolled back.
Annie shook her gently. “Wake up, Leilani, we have to go home.”
“Bring me that rope when she comes to,” Mano said. “I want to tie up this guy. You’ll need help getting Leilani out.” He turned his head and saw Gina stagger to her feet.
“You’ve spoiled everything!” Gina turned and stumbled toward the knife.
“Stop her!” Mano yelled. He didn’t dare let his attention stray from Aki. Jason was still moaning on the ground. The earth rolled under their feet again, and the fissure spit a fresh fountain of lava and a roiling stench of sulfur. The quake brought Mano to his knees. Aki jumped to his feet, then turned and raced away. Mano struggled up, but the big man had vanished around a rock. The sheriff could track down Aki. He leaped toward Gina, who was bending toward the knife. The ground convulsed again.
Annie was seated on the stone altar with her arm around Leilani. “Hurry!” she called.
Gina’s hand was almost on the knife. Mano started to fire, but another quake knocked him down once more, and the gun flew off into the dark. He patted the rough shelf of a’a for the weapon, but it eluded his grasp. There was no time. He stood and ran toward Gina. She seized the knife and turned toward the women. Holding the knife aloft, she ran shrieking toward the altar. The blade began to arc toward Leilani.
Mano put on another burst of speed. He wasn’t going to make it. Then, with a ferocious growl, Wilson leaped out of the darkness to Gina’s shoulder. He bit into her skin, and the knife fell from her hand.
“No-o-o,” Gina moaned. She flicked the mongoose off her shoulder and threw herself at the knife as it skittered on the slick rock toward the open fissure. Just as her hand touched the knife, the ground heaved. She sailed into the air. Her legs and arms flailed as she tried to find something to hang onto, then with a last, despairing shriek, she plummeted into the fiery waves.
Mano halted and tried to find his balance. He wanted to pray for her soul, but knew she was beyond that. She’d chosen her path, one of vengeance and retribution. The ground was swaying under his feet as if it were alive. His hair crackled with electricity. They had to get out of here. He moved toward the women. “Let’s go!”
Annie shuddered and buried her face in Leilani’s hair. Mano reached her and lifted Leilani into his arms. “Come on. You lead the way.”
A loud rumble built under them, vibrating like a cage that contained a ferocious beast. Terror gripped Mano by the throat. “Hurry!”
Annie blinked and seemed to come out of the trancelike state she’d been in. She gazed at the gaping wound in the ground. Fountains of burning rock spewed into the night sky like a deadly Roman candle. She leaped in front of Mano. “We have to get to the sea. It’s our only hope.” She turned and called for Wilson. The mongoose dashed toward her. He climbed her leg, and she tucked him into her shirt. “Let’s go.”