Chapter 14 Elodie #2
“The Jardin des Tuileries,” she breathes, but her gaze doesn’t tear away from the large pool of water with a fountain in the center.
Clearing her throat, she peers at me from the corner of her eye before focusing on the fountain again.
“I’m getting that two more steps will lead you to exactly where it wants you to be,” she states, and my eyes widen.
No. Fucking. Way.
“I have to go in there?” I blurt, and she grimaces as she turns to me, trying to offer a warm smile, but it falls short.
“I think so. It doesn’t look so deep,” she breathes as Rion makes his presence known, squeezing my side as he draws me against his chest.
“You don't have to, especially not when this shit has ‘trap’ written all over it. Knowing your luck, you’ll step one soggy foot in there and the damn thing will deepen,” he states, and I take a deep breath.
What is it with the damn scythes and water?
I almost drowned at the hands of a goddamn marble mermaid. I still haven’t had time to process it, and now here we are, gaping at another pool of water.
The reality is, I don’t have a choice, not if I want answers, and I really want answers.
Maybe it’s a good thing I’m still reeling over my prior experience. It might leave a tremor in my bones as I gape at the deep, dark depths that stand before me, but I just might be insane enough to give it a go.
With my mind made up, I sigh. “I have to do it. It’s not just about me, it's about who I am and where I come from, and I know they did terrible things from what I read in the books from the library, but none of it makes sense. It’s as if…
” My words trail off along with my thoughts.
I can’t find the words that truly express what it is I’m feeling.
“It’s as if what?” Thorne asks, his voice tense, but it seems like it’s more from the strain of his magic, and not the topic of conversation which I know is highly sensitive for him.
Pushing a curl of my hair behind my ear, I shrug.
“I don't know. It just doesn't quite make sense. It almost feels like the reason they were so despised is because they refused to fall in line and take orders from those who wished to control them,” I mutter, not really making sense to myself, never mind anyone else.
“That still doesn't right their wrongs, Echo,” Thorne murmurs, and I nod, refusing to admit defeat before I can see the entire picture.
“I know, but maybe I can at least try to change that.”
I don't know why it's so important to me. I was a trailer park girl from a trash family, living a terrible life, and I never cared what other people thought of me then. But now, standing here as a scythe, knowing that my ancestors can't defend their actions takes root so deeply in my soul. I feel like I have to make amends for something. What that something is, I’m not entirely sure, but this can’t all be for nothing.
If any of the others think it's too late, I don't see it written across their faces, and I use that fact to spur me on. Inching closer to the edge of the water, I clear my throat. “Is this a good time to tell you that I can't swim? You know, in case Rion is right.”
“What the fuck?” Rion blurts, eyes wide in disbelief. “Before you—”
“I was reckless and lucky that there were bars to help me push myself up and down, but in here, I don't know,” I admit, surprisingly not burning from the inside at how vulnerable I feel.
“Then somebody else will go,” Thorne insists, and I shake my head.
“I have to do this for myself. Besides, it’s knee deep at best.”
“You're okay, Elodie. I've got you,” Ocean says, momentarily digging into the bag she’s still carrying from earlier.
Before I can ask what she’s searching for, she opens her palm and blows. Dust dances across my face as she whispers under her breath, and I can’t understand a word she’s saying as I splutter at the powder, stumbling backwards.
A sense of weightlessness falls over me before I'm plunged deep into the water, and I brace for the harsh bottom ready to break my fall, but it doesn’t come.
My eyes are clenched shut, my muscles tight as fear takes hold of me, but as the flickers of dust settle against my skin, a calmness comes over me.
Familiarity takes root once again, playing out on the back of my eyelids as my hands lurch forward, curling to my sides.
I kick my legs in sync with the motion, and I slowly start to make my way through the murky, dark water.
I'm swimming.
I don't know what she did, but I'm actually freaking swimming.
More than that, Rion was right.
Damn supernaturals and their illusions that have me sinking in waters I’m not comfortable in.
Although, Ocean’s spell feels futile when all I'm greeted with is dark, murky water over and over again. Remaining focused is hard when I keep anticipating the desire to need some air, but it doesn't come. A fact I’ll be sure to thank Ocean for once I’m done here.
As I reach the bottom edge of the water, I’m reacquainted with the intense pressure from the depth.
I’m also greeted by aged stone beneath me, and all around the sides.
If they’re making any noise up there, I can’t hear them, and I definitely can’t see them as I tilt my head back.
Looking up, I’m barely able to make out the hint of light coming from the sky above.
The desire to give up is real, but I swallow it down and take my time trudging along the edge of the water. I realize my mistake after a little while when I remain empty handed. I have no idea of where I have seen and where I haven’t because every inch of the wall looks exactly the same.
My limbs start to ache, but I fight through it as I consider pushing toward the center. It’s where my gut is telling me to go, and it beats giving up, so I push off the side like I’ve done this a thousand times before and make my way toward the more open space.
It makes me nervous, but I focus on staying calm because I know in my soul that there's something I must be missing. It doesn’t jump out and greet me, though. Nothing does, except for a smattering of silver coins dotted in random spots, as if people have made a wish and hoped for the best.
If only I could make a wish and the book would appear. It’s driving me insane.
Disappointment cuts through me as I reach the other side of the basin without anything catching my attention, and there’s no denying the air of defeat that fills my lungs. It burns like acid through my veins as my eyes prickle with frustrated tears.
Bending my knees to push back to the surface, I stutter before I can put any force behind it as a flicker of gold shimmers in the distance toward the middle. It’s so small, I’m sure it's a figment of my imagination, until I dare to inch closer.
It sits nestled on the bottom, luring me closer like a siren calling me out to sea.
I manage to make it to a few feet away before my chest jerks and panic floods my mind.
Oxygen.
Dammit.
Of course, this is when I need more oxygen. Whatever Ocean did is wearing off. I take a deep breath but it quickly becomes a choked breath on water. Attempting to remain calm, I try to quell the panic in my mind.
It’s okay, I’m okay. I can just make my way to the surface and come back down.
Only, the knowledge and abilities I had moments ago are gone, and all I’m left with is a blank mind as the idea of pushing up to the surface feels impossible. Struggling, my vision blurs as I feel myself running out of air. But pushing up can’t be that hard.
Digging my feet into the stone beneath me, intent on racing toward the surface, I barely move a meter. Instead of breaking through the surface of the water as I imagine, my body turns weightless as the minuscule light from above dims to nothing and my back greets the floor.
Helpless and defeated, I gargle on another breath of water in a failed attempt to help myself before my head slumps to the side and the flicker of gold sits right beside my head.
In my haze, I'm certain it resembles a plug, but what strikes me the most is the symbol that's engraved into it.
It's an emblem I'm far too familiar with.
A dove.
An exact replica of the one that was tattooed into the back of my neck.
It's gone now, but something tells me it meant more than I understood.
My vision blurs, confusion taking weight inside me as I use the last of my energy to try and touch the dove, to feel the outline one last time before the water takes me.
I can barely move myself, managing only to press the tip of my pointer finger against it for a fleeting second before I let go despite my best efforts. I want to cry.
Consumed by a sudden, blinding, bright light, the world falls away from me with one final breath.