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Both she and Malone hugged the plinth

“I hope whoever we just helped appreciates it,” she said

NI HEARD SOMEONE CALL OUT, THEN HEARD THREE SHOTS fired He advanced into a shtly lit antechamber He pressed his spine to the wall directly adjacent to the doorway and peered around the corner Tang and two other ainst the wall for the entrance into the burial hall

He did not see the foreigner and watched as one of the h the archway into the burial chamber

Then another did the same

So had commanded their attention, away from him

He decided to take advantage of the situation

He aimed and fired

TANG WAS STARTLED BY THE SHOT FROM BEHIND

One of the brothers cried out, then shrank to the floor

The man writhed in pain

Tang turned to see Ni Yong fleeing one of the darkened doorways, rushing into the next anterooh the archway, finding sanctuary on the other side

Where was Viktor?

The wounded brother continued to ony, exposed on all sides

Only one thing to do

Tang shot him in the head

“DAMN,” MALONE SAID “DID YOU SEE THAT?”

“They shoot their own,” she said

“Which means they’ll have little respect for us”

NI WASTED NO TIME AS SOON AS HE’D SQUEEZED THE TRIGGER, he rushed for the exit, finding safety just before Tang could respond He bolted into the next anteroo near a far wall, away fro toward theback to the well, darkness would be his ally

He slipped into the last antechamber

He hugged the wall and stole a quick glance behind, catching a gli and the other man as they entered the room he’d just left

One of them fired

He ducked, then sent a response, using the h the black crease between the partially opened main doors Once on the other side of the entrance, he was safe from bullets He could not waste a hts, he’d be okay

He turned to flee, but a man blocked his way

The foreigner who’d shot at him earlier and intentionally missed

“You don’t know ht at him “But I’m not your enemy”

The stranger stepped farther froht Definitely European Ni burned the face into his memory

Theit by its short barrel

“Knock et the hell out of here”

He did not have to be told twice He accepted the gun and slammed its metal butt into the man’s temple

He then tossed the gun aside and fled into darkness

TANG EMERGED FROM THE DOUBLE DOORS AND SPOTTED VIKTOR lying on the paveaze raked the darkness ahead, but he heard and saw nothing

Ni was gone

Viktor was picking hi for him, but the bastard was quick He slammed me in the head”

Tang had no time for excuses With no way to safely pursue, he aimed into the blackness and laid down a spread of four shots, swinging his arht to left, one wall to the other

Bullets pinged in the darkness

Retorts banged off the walls, hurting his ears

“He’s gone,” Viktor calmly said

He lowered the gun “We need to go back inside Malone, Vitt, and Pau Wen are still there”

MALONE HEARD FOOTSTEPS, HEADING AWAY, AND SURMISED THAT the two men and Viktor had fled He had no idea what lay on the other side of the archway for the burial hall’s main entrance