Chapter 51
The dark water swallows me whole.
I hold my breath, even as terror jolts through me like lightning in my veins. I can’t tell up from down, only blackness pouring into my eyes, my ears, my nose. My soaked clothes drag on me like weights, pulling me down into the abyss.
Just when I’m certain I’ll disappear, my feet bump against the bottom, and I thrust myself to the surface. My head breaks the water, and I gulp for air.
My gasp is loud, ricocheting off water and stone, echoing in what sounds like a hollowed-out space.
I flail my arms and reach for a wall, but my limbs feel like rubber. Cold. So cold. My heart is a constant flutter in my chest, not only from panic but the sudden drop in temperature.
I have to get out.
For seconds, my fear of drowning in the murk overrides my fear of Lyam.
Kicking gently, I propel myself forward. I’ve lost my bearings and don’t know where I’m going. If I can find a wall, maybe I can feel my way to a tunnel.
I can’t see, but somehow the space doesn’t feel big. Something about the way sound travels, my ragged breaths bouncing back at me.
Easing through the water, I try not to think about how cold I am or how deep it is. Or what might lie below.
Serious shivers have set in, signs of hypothermia, so when my hand finally slaps against rock, I don’t mind the painful scrape on my skin. The stone is jagged, but it’s solid. Reassuring.
As I’m tracing my hand upward, searching for anywhere to climb out, a slight shuffle fills the hollow space. Then a scrape.
“Brooke. I know you’re there.”
Lyam’s voice in the dark, floating from somewhere above me.
I need to move away from Lyam, but I’m still operating blind. And scared of getting lost in the flooded tunnels.
Lungs burning, I break the surface, gasp for air, then go back under. The rocky wall scrapes my palm raw, but at least I know I’m moving in one direction.
The next time I come up, I keep my head above water, drawing deep, filling breaths. I need a moment. I need oxygen.
Gently moving my arms and legs, I glide through the water. Silent. Stealthy. Straining for any sound that might give Lyam away.
When I first see the light, I blink and blink, certain I’m imagining things. I’ve gotten used to the dark, and it takes my brain a few seconds to comprehend.
A pearl-like color splashes on a wall. Dim. Pale. But definitely light.
Be an exit. Please, be an exit.
A loud splash carries through the cavern, followed by the sound of limbs chopping through water.
Lyam’s in the water.
And he’s moving fast.
Letting go of the wall, I kick off the stone, following the light instead. I find a burst of energy and swim at full speed.
When I round a corner, the light brightens, so I bullet forward. I can see around me now, the gloomy water and craggy walls. And there, beneath the glow, what looks like steps carved from the stone.
I can get out. I can get out.
When I reach the steps, my hand slides in a layer of slime. Drawing my knees forward, I start a slow, cautious climb. Water streams down from above, but finally, slippery algae becomes coarse rock.
I run up the steps, feet slapping against stone. The stairs wind in a spiral, climbing higher and higher. My thigh muscles scream from overuse.
“Don’t waste your time, Brooke.” Lyam’s gleeful voice rises from below. “You can’t get out that way.”
My heart clenches at his words, the loss of hope crushing my ribs.
He’s lying. Trying to trick me. I convince myself to keep going. Light is pouring in from somewhere, and if I can reach the surface, I can find help.
Near the top, I stumble when a stone shifts beneath my foot. But my forward motion carries me up the last few steps. I stumble into a chamber.
Solid walls enclose the small space, illuminated by light coming in through a hole.
No. A window. A window in a door.
I know this place.
Throwing myself against the door, I press my face to the slit in the metal. Falling rain hazes the world outside, but I know what I’m looking at. The alley behind the gardens.
I’m locked behind the mysterious door.
I drag my hands up and down the metal, hoping to find a lever, some way to open the door. All I find is a hole where a handle might have been. And I remember the padlock on the other side.
I’m not getting out.
Terror bubbles up, and I shove my arm out the hole. “Help!” Waving my hand, I scream into the gray. “Please, I’m here. Help me!”
“Broooooke.” Lyam is taunting me again, letting me know he’s coming. I hear the smile in his voice and realize he had the advantage all along.
As I listen to him climbing the steps behind me, I press my face to the bars. I scream again. And again and again.
But no one answers. No one hears me. No one will help.
And now I’m trapped.