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.
A massive cloud of dust rolled across the hidden valley. Stone crashed upon stone until the entire ancient structure disappeared beneath a mountain of rubble. The gold vanished with it. The jewels, the coins, the secrets of the old keepers and boon Voss. Then came silence.
A deep unnatural silence. Seiya and I lay on the ground covered from head to boots in dust. My chest heaved. My heart hammered so hard it hurt. I turned toward her.
Are you all right? She coughed and struggled to catch her breath. Yes. Then she looked at me. You I'm still alive.