Chapter 18 Rivern
eighteen
Rivern
Idon’t let her go.
I’ll never let her go.
She’s mine, and the body attached to the blue, clawed hand that grasped Dove’s is in for a world of pain.
The shimmering, perfectly shaped circular holes big enough for a body to fit through are the last thing I expected. Especially Dove falling into one. My Dove. My love.
Godsdammit.
My second thought after shouting to the Goddesss is to call for Solen, so I whistle for his return. He was scouting around the void before we stumbled across the puddles. He won’t get back in time. This is an obstacle none of us bargained on.
Her hand was already loose in my hold as our fingers were gingerly woven together when she was pulled under.
When Dove was taken through the hole, a loud gasp leaving her lips, I couldn’t comprehend that her hand was no longer in mine. The erratic thudding in my chest stopped instantly when I saw her feet disappear into the glimmering circle of liquid.
The rhythm of life halts. My eyes are wide, looking down at the water, my body in a state of shock.
It feels like an eternity, but in truth, it is a mere moment before her delicate hand reappears.
There’s no other thought than I must get to her.
I must be connected to her. This whole bizarre turn of events seems both drawn out in my mind and over in the blink of an eye.
My heart and brain can barely work in sync with each other.
My fingers tightly lace around Dove’s. I don’t let go, holding on tighter this time. I can’t see her head. The panic she’s feeling radiates through me, the bond a hum of electricity, zapping at my need to protect her until my last breath.
Gravity seems to be winning as Dove’s delicate fingers strain to hold onto mine, the skin around her bones slipping with every tug from the water.
I’m barely able to process a thought in this state, a ravaged need surfacing, wanting to keep her from the monsters that lie below us.
I can’t let her go. I promised. She’s never leaving my sight. But with the way my fingers are bearing down on her hand and twisting, her skin turning red, a small snap moves through my body, followed by pain, and I know—
I broke the delicate bones of her hand.
The bond cries out in agony.
My own heart crumbles at the sound. I never want her to hurt under my hand, and I just snapped her hand in two. Yet I don’t let go.
I can’t let go.
A heavy, pulsating pounding is sounding off in my ears. I try to ignore it. She’s going into shock. Shit.
What do I do?
Broad hands are on my back, pushing. My mind is a jumbled mess, and I fall headfirst into the puddle, dragged through the water by Dove’s hand.
With my eyes open under the stinging, salty depths, I try to move my other arm to grasp her body, but I’m tackled from the side by a blow so devastating it tears us apart. Bubbles trail out of my mouth when I scream for her.
“Dove… DOVE,” I cry the word down the bond. She doesn’t respond. Looking up, I see the human-sized hole we were dragged through surrounded by hundreds more, drawing the light of the suns on us.
What in Oona’s name is going on?
“ARGH,” I growl into the water before my leg is grasped underneath me and I’m tugged again by clawed hands, rushing through endless water until I find myself free-falling through… Air?
I’m no longer in the water?
The confusion about my situation is quickly replaced when my dense body slams into a pool of water below, my head finding a hard rock to knock against.
The last thought that travels through my head is Dove … Getting her back.
I promised.