Chapter 39 #2
The vines spread at an alarming pace, wrapping around the ankle of a nearby man.
He jumped, trying to slash them away with a knife.
The vines weren’t just attacking. They were watching.
The moment someone slowed down, or a foot faltered or a breath hitched—they struck.
A man to my left screamed as a tendril wrapped around his throat instead of his leg this time, yanking him up like a slaughtered animal.
“Solric’s balls,” Ciaran breathed, kicking a vine away as it lashed toward him.
I set Seren down between us. I hadn’t taken off my belt yet like Ciaran had and it might be the closest thing I had to a weapon right now. “Stay here,” I ordered Seren, yanking the belt from my waist.
“I can help, Rykr.”
I stood once again.
“Not right now you can’t.” I snapped my belt in the face of a woman who came at me with a knife. She fell back, swallowed immediately by twisting vines that pinned her to the ground.
“I’m not helpless.” Seren’s voice sounded tired through the bond. Seth must have known what she’d be facing. I was going to cut that man’s heart out if it was the last thing I did.
“Just stay there.” I whipped my belt at a large man with a sword, aiming for his wrist, rather than his sword. He paused, surprised. But the belt had done nothing, either.
I let him come.
The moment he swung, I ducked low, slammed my elbow into his ribs, and drove my fist into his throat. He gasped, staggered, and I kicked him backward into the rising water, snatching his sword out of his grasp.
A vine lashed out and impaled him instantly.
I had no time to register the horror of it as another vine shot out and coiled around my leg. Fuck. I wrenched my leg forward, cutting the vine before it could drag me down, but more were coming, lashing out like striking vipers, hunting, wrapping around anything they could take.
The doors above our heads opened fully now, and a giant torrent of water headed straight toward us. I cut down the remaining survivors in front of me, then dove toward Seren as I released the sword.
As I caught her in my arms, I gasped for a breath, then let myself be swept under the surface of the water. Water closed over us, and the world became cold and dark.
I had Seren. That was all that mattered. I expelled a few bubbles from my nose, trying to hold tight to my breath. “Hold on to me. Whatever you do, don’t let go.”
My words were nothing more than thought, carried through the bond, but I felt her answer—a faint squeeze of her fingers.
The current was brutal, yanking at us like a beast trying to rip us apart, to tear us from each other. My lungs ached, burning. Seren struggled—I felt the spasms in her body, her instincts fighting to gasp for air that wasn’t there.
I kicked us forward, doing my best to fight against the current. Without the use of my arms, though, swimming was impossible.
“Rykr, I don’t know how long I can hold my breath.” She was clearly trying to stay calmer than she felt.
I tugged her face into mine. “Seal your lips to mine. Tight. As tight as you can. We can exchange breath.”
As I set my lips against hers, she followed my instructions, her lips pliant. Our mouths molded together, and I dug my hands into the hair at the nape of her neck, giving her the breath she so desperately needed.
The exchange of breath had to end, or we’d both end up lightheaded and deprived. “Pull back now.”
A burning feeling rose in my chest.
Somehow, I could see the outline of shadows around us in the dark water, my superior vision at night both helping and terrifying me. But I couldn’t see anyone else. I just hoped Tara and Seren’s friends had gotten away from the vines.
“We can’t swim holding on to each other like this. Hold on to my shirt and we’ll swim together, to the surface.”
We started forward then I stopped, a sharp tug at my leg.
Not a tug.
A vine. A fucking vine. Wrapped around my ankle, tightening, twisting, dragging me back into the abyss.
“What is it?” Her voice was faint. Alarmed.
I didn’t answer.
“Go. Now.” I shoved her toward the surface. I didn’t have a knife. I didn’t have a sword. I clawed at the vine, but the thorns bit deep, sinking into my flesh, cutting through muscle, the water turning black with my blood.
My gaze traveled up to the surface. I closed my eyes, trying to keep myself going. Breath wouldn’t materialize by hoping, but panic would speed my drowning.
Noises muffled as water filled my ears, my pulse the loudest sound of all. I bore through the pain, reaching down and tugging at the vine. My fingers tore into the thorns, razor-sharp against my skin, and a swell of panic rose with the crushing desperation for air.
I ripped with everything I had. But it kept pulling.
I didn’t have time.
I couldn’t fucking breathe.
The pressure in my lungs reached a breaking point, and the edges of my vision darkened.
“Seren.” I reached for her through the bond, but my mind was fogging, slipping, spiraling into the void.
I need air.
I need—
I couldn’t fail her.
But the only powers I had right now were from her and everything I took from her made her weaker. Less likely to survive.
Dammit, I need to breathe!
My lungs screamed, a hollow ache that turned to fire. My limbs felt heavier, slower. The vine coiled tighter, like it could feel me weakening, feel me giving in. The pressure built, a vise around my ribs, crushing, strangling. The darkness in my vision stretched wider.
My grip on the vine slackened, my head spinning.
“Seren …”