𝔸 ℂ𝕠𝕦𝕣𝕥 𝕠𝕗 𝕃𝕠𝕧𝕖 𝕒𝕟𝕕 𝕎𝕣𝕒𝕥𝕙 (Book 2)

Seventy-Eight

"No!" Amren screamed, running to the door in an instant, her first wrapping some sort of magic as she slammed it into the door—once, twice.

    And above, the rushing of water flowing down stairs and filling the chamber.

    No, no, no—

    Panic seized me so harshly that I felt as though I'd been knocked back with a blow.

    I reached the door, sliding the box inside the wide pocket in my leathers watching as Amren's heated palm dissolved the metals, heating the whorls of the door, radiating like a language of her own.

    The door burst open.

    Only for a floor to come crashing in upon us.

    The water slammed me back, holding me in its dark and icy clutches. The cold stole the breath from my lungs.

    Find the floor.

    My feet connected with the uneven cobbles, I pushed off, launching myself through the water. I gasped for air, finally reaching the small pocket above the water, quickly filling up as the tide rolled in and the water filled the temple.

    My eyes scanned the chamber for Amren, finding her holding on the threshold of the door, eyes already on me as she held out her hand. The water was filling quicker and quicker, the pocket of air receding as it welcomed the inky black water.

    I rushed to Amren, grabbing her hand as fast as my Fae body would allow. Amren began climbing the threshold once I'd gotten a grip on the cold stone. She yelled over the roaring water, "You have it?"

    I nodded, forcing myself through the archway with Amren behind me. The door rolled shut so violently I wondered how much strength it had taken her to hold it in the first place.

    The only downside was that the water in the hall had much less space to fill.

    "Go." Amren called. I didn't think twice of her command as I hoisted her very tiny feet up so that she was on my back.

    "Do what you have to." I said, craning my neck to stay above the water as I tried to use what as left of my power to soothe the water as much as I could. There wasn't much further up the stairs—the stairs that were now a harsh cascade of freezing water that would slow our limbs.

Where the hell was Rhysand?

Amren listened to me, holding out a palm in front of us. The water trembled. Not a clear path but a break in the current. Just enough to be able to move. I directed that small leftover pinch of my power toward it, the water stained to obey my command.

I ran, gripping Amren's thighs hard enough to bruise as I climbed the stairs as fast as I possibly could. Even as my muscles burned wading through the water. Step by step, water raged down on us, now flowing at my jaw, my mouth—

    Amren gasped. Not a gasp of shock but a gasp for air. A wall of water poured down the stairs as though a mighty and powerful wave swept over the entire temple.

    I had only enough time to gasp for air and cling to Amren's legs as I braced for impact—and watch as the door atop the stairs slid closed, sealing us in our watery tomb.

    We were dead. We both knew we were dead. There was no way out of it.

    I had taken my last breath, and I would be aware of every second as my lungs and body gave out, betraying me as I inevitably swallowed that fatal amount of water.

    I let go of Amren as she signaled to. I swam after her, trying to suppress the panic that would only kill me faster. Amren reached the door and slammed her palm into it. Symbols flared and glowed. But the door stayed shut.

    I pounded at it, too, trying to use my power to open it, and yet even then, it held. Even as my nails turned to iron, scratching and clawing at the ragged stone.

    My lungs were on fire. Seizing as the impulse to breathe in was almost overwhelming.

    Amren pounded on the door, the faelight she had created sputtering and blinking as though it were counting her heartbeats.

    I was going to take a breath. Open my mouth and breathe. DO anything to cease the burning—

    The door was ripped away and off its magic hinges.

    The faelight remained bright enough that I could see the ethereal faces hissing through fish's teeth as their webbed fingers reached for us, pulling us into their frogskin arms.

    Water-wraiths.

    But I couldn't make it.

I opened my mouth. Breathing in that horrid water. Cutting through life and sound and breath. My body seized, those sharp iron nails vanishing into nothing more than inky waves.

    Debris and water rushed past me. I had the vague sense of being hurtled through water so fast it burned my eyelids.

    And then hot air—air. Air. Air, air, air. But my lungs were still full of burning water.

    A fist slammed into my stomach and I vomited water across the waves. I gulped down air greedily, blinking at the different hues of the morning sky as the sun rose.

    There was a gasp not too far from me. I looked over seeing Amren vomiting as well.

    But we were alive.

    And in the waves between us lay onyx hair plastered to their strange heads like helmets. The water wraiths floated, staring with their large, dark eyes.

    The city stirred beyond us while the sun rose behind them.

    The one in the center said, "Our sister's debt is paid."

    And then they were gone.

    Amren was already swimming for the main shore. Me after her.

    We both reached a quiet, sandy cove and collapsed onto the sand.

─── · 。ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

A/N: Rhys be like🧍