Chapter 25 #4
I knelt and flipped the lid open. So many coins, jewels, fragments of broken crystal. I dug through, pulling out handfuls and dropping them on the dissolving platform, the bits of glass cutting my fingers.
“Harlow, come on!” Gary yelled. “The walls, everything is coming down.”
The Snatchling leader cackled ominously. “You’re in for it now, girl.” The high-pitched threat would’ve sounded comedic, if not for the circumstances.
I dug past gemstone after gemstone and coin after coin. If I could just get the kraken coin, then I could–
A chunk of the platform gave way at my left, sinking into the water as if it had never existed.
Then another. And another, the space around me disappearing.
And I sure as shit did not want to dunk back into the water.
Snatchlings were disappearing as they dropped into the water, bobbing along like ice cubes in the sloshing waves.
I kept searching. It had to be here, it had to be! “Calypso where is it?”
“It’s close, keep digging!” The frantic tone in her voice pushed me.
“No time! We gotta go!” Ross bellowed.
If we had to go, then there was only one thing to do.
Grabbing the whole chest, I heaved it up with a grunt, then dumped it upside down.
Coins and jewels scattered and my heart skipped a beat as the dinner plate sized piece finally came into view, landing on the pile.
There was no brass-colored anything for Bellamy, but I’d worry about that later.
A chill rolled through me as I grabbed hold of the coin, relief overwhelming the tension of the moment. The curse easing up on me?
The platform gave way before I could react, crumbling to nothing and sending me, along with the Snatchling king, straight into the water.
I flailed wildly, struggling to keep some sense of direction as the water pushed me down, consuming my senses. I kicked my legs hard, pushing off the bottom, coughing out a gulp of water as I made it up to the surface.
I didn’t know why the pain runes weren’t on me as fast – maybe they were working on the Snatchlings, but I really didn’t care about the reason.
They may have been delayed, but I doubted they would be far – I had to get out of the water.
I clutched the plate-sized coin tight against my chest, the weight of it not helping me surface.
But if I didn’t keep hold of it, this would all be for nothing.
The lights in the torches went out, the chandelier crashed into the water, and in the darkness the runes of pain lit up like glow bugs, circling around.
And despite what the Snatchling king had said, I could see the runes slamming into his people. They had been the delay in me getting hit fast. Maybe they’d leave me alone this time.
In the darkness there was no obvious direction, so I just started kicking and using one arm to propel myself along. “Where are you guys?”
“This way!” Marina’s voice split the air, and I breathed out in relief as I followed the sound. A flashlight turned on and then she was moving toward a large, rocky section at the edge of the cave, her hand over the water.
“You will die! Get back . . . here, thief!” the Snatchling king shouted, and I turned to see him, still half-encased in ice, and barely treading water. I had a hard time feeling bad.
“She is not the only thief, tiny king,” Calypso snapped back. “The coin belongs to me, ME, and I will have it back!”
A rune of pain bit deep into my left ankle – a break when I was seventeen – I couldn’t help the scream that erupted out of me.
Iced-over Snatchlings floated by, the runes of pain twisting their faces into agony.
My eyes watered, blurring what little I could see.
A weak yelp came from just ahead of me. The smallest Snatchling I’d seen – her hair in pigtails, her face chubby and her ears not nearly as long as the adults – fought wildly to stay afloat, bobbing just on the surface of the water, getting dunked back and forth, like she was one of those Weeble Wobble toys for kids.
Her legs are trapped by the ice, I realized with a shudder. I didn’t want her to drown.
My hands formed the rune to melt the ice before I’d even consciously made the decision. “Hold still!” Her eyes swung to me as I cast the rune. The block around her legs melted and she swam toward her father.
A wave picked me up in a surge, taking me straight toward Marina and the others at the narrow outcrop of rock providing refuge.
“Here!”
I looked up as Fable shouted, Ellie beside her as they reached out to pull me onto the solid ground. Marina whipped off a quick rune, and I heard the crashing of a wave just behind me as she swept the Snatchlings back, keeping them at bay.
Fable latched onto my wrist, nearly pulling my shoulder out of its socket as she yanked me onto the rock. “I thought we were gonna have to go in there to get you for a second.” Her eyes flitted downward, settling on the massive coin clutched under my other arm.
“We got it, we really got it!”
“No time for celebrating. We’ve gotta go, right now!” Zeed muttered, his gaze shifting to the water and Snatchlings behind me.
“What about the Grym?” Fable demanded, eyes wide.
I hated leaving with the job half done, but Zeed was right. “We can’t risk looking for it right now. We’ve got to get out of here while everyone is still in one piece.”
I looked around to reassure myself that was the case, and could see them all except . . .
Shit.
“Gary?” I asked, adrenaline spiking once more.
“He’s here, he found something too.” Zeed shot a glance at the walls around us and winced as some loose rubble skittered to the ground. “The cavern is unstable and could cave in at any moment. We have to go, but the pathway back is across there.”
I looked to where he pointed. We were now directly across from the path we’d used to get in.
We’d have to swim across. Face what I was certain were the Waters of Pain.
And no guarantee that the tunnel wouldn’t cave in if we all made it across. Fucking hell.
“I got it,” Gary mumbled.