Chapter 36 #2
It took everything I had to keep going. To turn away and face the sword again. To move until I reached the stone dais entombing it.
Gathering all my remaining strength, I wrapped my hands around the hilt and pulled as hard as I could. I gritted my teeth as it fought against me.
Lodged in the stone, it wouldn’t budge.
I yanked harder.
The sword was supposed to come free. Like it had for Arthur, because he was meant to wield it.
But I must’ve missed something. I’d failed.
I wasn’t worthy.
Water crashed beyond the ledge. I raced over as a surge flooded the cave. Rising higher, it wouldn’t stop coming in.
I was going to drown. Die here when I was so close to the end. And Landon…
He wouldn’t be able to save her. He wouldn’t be able to reach the air because it kept rising away from him.
I had to stop it, but I didn’t know how.
Searching the cave, the ledge, I ran back to the sword and tried my hardest to pull it free. Certain it had to be what stopped the water. Sure there had to be a way out, unless they killed all the winners of The Quest.
And while it wouldn’t shock me to find out they did something so goddamn barbaric, my brain screamed at me to see reason. It scrambled for answers.
I had to be missing something.
I swiveled my gaze around the ledge, and I cried out when it fell on a symbol.
A stone on the floor, marked with a pattern I could draw with my eyes closed. A pattern traced onto my skin over and over until I had memorized it without ever seeing it.
Roses.
Three roses, with thorny vines wrapped around Excalibur as it crossed in front at a diagonal.
I jumped toward it, sinking my weight directly on the stone.
A sob of relief escaped me when it sank in. It had to be a release for a locking mechanism. Something that had to be pressed to remove the sword.
Keeping my foot on it, I grabbed for the dais.
When my fingers brushed the stone, I reached farther, stretching for the hilt, but it was just out of reach.
I pushed up, pointing my toes and extending. So fucking grateful for all those years of dance, even if I never did it again.
Because if I just reached a little farther…
I looped my pinkie through the handle, and the sword slipped out an inch.
A loud clunk echoed in the cavern. It secured the stone beneath my feet, locking it in place as I darted forward.
I ripped the sword free from its hold.
As soon as it escaped its resting place, air swept over me.
In the ceiling of the cave, a hole opened above me, light streaming in and blinding me as the darkness was forced away. Like the moon in an eclipse, it slid aside and revealed the sun.
No one was less surprised than me when Max Dread appeared, shouting into the cavern, “Quinn?”
I’d never been so happy to hear him call me by my name.
“Max!” I shouted, holding the sword at my side.
He dropped into the cave like a goddamn action hero, and I flew at him. Launching myself into his arms. Wrapping my legs around him. And praying he’d never let go.
When he crushed me in his hold, I choked out a sob of relief. But reality crashed over me quickly.
“Max, Landon is down there!”
I pointed to the water on the other side of the ledge.
He rushed to the edge of the upper level where we stood, carrying me. Refusing to let me go.
My eyes widened in horror as we looked over.
“Max, the water!” It spiraled downward now, draining fast. “It could be pulling him down!”
I fought my way out of his hold, racing to the stone dais and trying to force the sword back in.
But it wouldn’t budge.
I jumped on the stone with roses, but it didn’t sink. No matter what I did to return the sword, the water wouldn’t stop.
Dropping it, I rushed back to the edge and searched for a way down. “Max, we have to save him! We have to help them!”
My leg was already flung over the ledge, reaching for a foothold when Max pulled me up.
“What are you doing? Let me go!”
“Princess—”
“No!” I screamed as he yanked me away. “Landon!”
“Quinn, if you go down there, you’ll drown.”
My nails dug into his arms, his chest, clawing at him to let me go. “I don’t care! I’m not leaving him!” I gasped, catching my breath. “Landon!”
I struggled harder, tears blurring my vision as I fought to get free. They streamed freely down my cheeks, pain pouring out of me in screams and cries, but he refused to let me go.
“Max, please!”
He didn’t flinch as I scratched him. He didn’t care. Max wouldn’t yield, and it was killing him.
“Please. Max, please.” I sobbed. “I know you hate him. I know you don’t want to save him, but please. Please.”
“I’m not doing this because I hate him, Princess,” he growled. “I’m doing it because he loves you. Like you love him. And he would kill me if I let you go in after him.”
“You don’t know that! You don’t know him, Max. He’s in the dark! He pulled me out—” I gasped for breath. “Max, I can’t leave him in the dark. Please!”
“I’m so sorry.”
He squeezed me tighter, whispering words I couldn’t make sense of into my hair. Trying to soothe me as if anything could help. But I wouldn’t stop screaming his name.
Until finally, I couldn’t breathe.
Max carried me down the side of the ledge.
“The water’s almost gone.”
He set me on my feet, and I pitched forward in his arms as reality threatened to drown me, too.
Righting me, he grabbed my shoulders and stared into my eyes, making sure I heard him.
“I’m going in now, okay? You need to stay right here, just in case—”
“No. No fucking way, Max.”
He squeezed my arms, his eyes pleading. “Baby girl, you can barely pull in a breath.”
Shaking my head, I tried to prove him wrong. I tried to take a deep breath in, but I couldn’t.
I couldn’t breathe.
“Let me do this.” His onyx eyes locked on mine. “I’ll bring him back to you. I promise.”
New fear rose inside me as Max eyed the water.
“But—”
“There’s not a chance in hell I’m not coming back to you, so don’t even say it.” He kissed me hard, and far too quickly, before he pulled back. “I love you, Quinn Everly.”
Then, he turned and jumped into the water.
Because of course, Max Dread would finally tell me he loved me without giving me a chance to say it back.
I covered my face with my hands. Scrubbing my palms over my eyes. Dragging my fingers through my hair as I paced.
Seconds ticked by, and fear pulsed like a drum with every rapid beat of my heart. Forcing myself out of panic, I thought of what I knew for sure. Landon was a swimmer.
He was strong.
But if the water pulled him back to the tunnels, Max would have to go farther to get him. He wouldn’t be able to bring him right back. But if he…
Unless he was down there. Trapped like she had been.
Already dead.
My knees hit the ground before I registered falling.
And I couldn’t breathe.
He couldn’t—
Memories, every one we’d shared, flashed before my eyes. But moments stood out as they raced through my mind.
His kiss goodbye earlier that day in the room.
The shiver racing over me.
Finishing our run by the lake, wondering who would be saved and who might be lost.
I gasped.
Standing beneath the lemon tree that first day, thinking that he and I would circle back to the tunnels.
I couldn’t breathe.
And the moment we met, that day in the pharmacy when I’d first seen him.
I sobbed.
Max’s voice pierced the memory.
“Quinn!” He shouted, but when I didn’t move, he tried again. “Princess! Help me get him out!”
Head shooting up at my nickname, I choked out a cry as I scrambled forward.
Max dragged Landon over to the rim of the basin, and I hooked my elbows under Landon’s limp arms. Hauling him up as adrenaline coursed through me. Drawing on every ounce of strength I possessed.
And laying him down on the stone.
Tears flooded my eyes, but I swiped them away.
His lips were blue. His skin was pale.
I didn’t think.
I just sealed my lips over his and breathed.
Max came up on his other side, dripping wet and shaking.
“He’s not breathing!” I jerked his shoulders, shaking him. “Landon! Please wake up!” I shook again. “Landon, breathe!”
Placing my hands on his chest and calling on every latent memory of the shows I’d watched beside Gia. Fueled by every medical drama moment I’d seen, I pushed on his chest.
As hard and fast as my shaking arms would move, I acted purely on instinct.
But I had no fucking idea what I was doing.
Max put his hands over mine. “Quinn, back up.”
“No.” I pushed air into his mouth again. “Breathe, dammit!”
“Quinn!”
My arms grew weak, my mind fighting harder than my body could.
But then, Max gripped my chin. “Let me do it.”
He held Landon’s wrist in his other, checking his pulse.
At my nod, he shifted into place. Compressing Landon’s chest, Max pushed deep before allowing his chest to rise. Over and over, he kept going. Humming to himself.
“Quinn, when I tell you, I need you to lift his chin and tilt his head back. You have to—We need to open his airway before you breathe for him again. Can you do that?”
“Yes.” I crawled toward Landon’s head, doing what Max said. “Now?”
“Almost. Two big breaths in, and I’m going to compress again. Then, we need to get help. Ready?”
Eyes trained on Landon’s face, I nodded. “I’m ready.”
“Okay, go.”
Max stopped pumping his arms, just long enough to pinch Landon’s nose closed and place his other hand on his throat. Two fingers over the corded vessel where his pulse would be.
I sealed my lips over Landon’s mouth and breathed.
His chest rose. Air went in. I could’ve cried with relief knowing my breath reached him.
But I didn’t know if it would be enough.
“Good. One more.”
Max directed me like he’d been doing this his whole life, and I followed his directions. I sat back as he restarted the compressions on Landon’s chest.
“Baby, I know you don’t want to leave him, but we need help.”
I stifled the cry in my throat, lips pressing tightly together as I nodded.
“Can you get up to the ledge again? I dropped my phone there when I found you. Call for help and come right back.”
I stared between them, not wanting to leave, but he was right. My voice broke. “I can do it.”
Max nodded. “Good girl, go on. I’ve got him.” He held my gaze and promised, “I won’t stop.”
Clambering to my feet, I rose on weak, trembling legs. My body froze at the sight of them. Max fighting like hell to save him. And Landon unmoving on the stone floor. Dressed in all black, he looked like an angel fallen from grace…
I snapped myself out of it, refusing to let those thoughts into my head. Climbing quickly, I reached the top of the ledge. I grabbed Max’s phone, dialed 911, and waited.
When the dispatcher picked up, I rattled off everything I knew about where we were and what had happened.
As I slid back down to the lower level, the bars of service on Max’s phone began to disappear.
But the call stayed connected.
Sound muffled in my ears as I stared at Landon.
His ashen skin. His blue lips.
Max rattled off information as he pumped Landon’s heart for him. “I’m not sure how long he was under or unconscious. Maybe not long because he’d been holding onto something under the water. To keep from being dragged away.”
The dispatcher asked a question, but I couldn’t hear it. Max nodded at whatever the dispatcher had said.
“When I was swimming toward him, his body jolted and let go. I got him back up, and we started CPR. But…” His eyes flicked to mine. “I can’t find a pulse, and he’s still not breathing.”
“Okay, you’re doing great.” The dispatcher on the line assured him. “Emergency responders are on their way to you now. Just keep doing what you’re doing.”
“Got it.”
I tore my eyes from Landon, staring at Max with a look that I hoped conveyed what I couldn’t say.
He nodded.
When I couldn’t stand it anymore, I cupped Landon’s face, gripping his head and pressing my forehead to his.
“You promised you’d come back to me.” I pressed harder. “You swore you wouldn’t leave me again.”
But he didn’t respond, didn’t come back.
He didn’t say anything.
Time ticked by, precious seconds filling me with an impending sense of grief.
What I’d experienced only one other time.
And I couldn’t breathe.