Page 375 of Hidden Depths
Then a timer started counting down.
00:59:59
00:59:58
00:59:57
Mom stared at the numbers.
“What happens when it reaches zero?”
The wounded guard laughed.
Not because anything was funny.
Because he knew.
Ward grabbed him.
“What happens?”
The man looked toward the sealed gate.
“Blackwater resets.”
“What does that mean?”
“Everything beneath this mountain floods.”
Ward shoved the radio into Ben’s hand.
“Get outside. Contact John and the Coast Guard. Tell them to bring Calle, Ivy, Willow, and Hazel here.”
My heart slammed against my ribs.
“No.”
Everyone turned toward me.
I stared at the timer.
Grandpa’s message.
The five positions.
The mountain waiting beneath us.
“This is what they want.”
Ward’s eyes narrowed.
“Explain.”
“They couldn’t open the second gate because they didn’t have all five sisters. Now they’ve started a countdown that forces us to bring the others here.”
Nathan looked at the wounded guard.
“Who activated it?”
