Chapter 19 #2
I spread my arms out wide. “Or . . . we can just wait until the water rises and swim up there if you like?” It wouldn’t take long, but it would seal away any other options if she’s right.
“Fine, just hurry up,” she says, her voice doing little to hide her concerns.
A small grin rolls across my face. I didn’t think she’d like that option. Though I can’t help but wonder if that’s exactly how the temple was designed to be used.
I move to the boney roots where Odi waits for me. “Get on,” I tell her, crouching low.
There’s a beat of hesitation, then her legs hook around my waist, snug and warm, her arms sliding around my neck.
She’s lighter than she looks, but strong—the kind of grip that says if she’s not holding a weapon, she’ll become one.
The press of her thighs is distracting in ways I don’t dare to admit right now, and in the dark, I’m glad she can’t see the grin tugging at my mouth.
If I recall, she had her legs wrapped around me once before, but this time she’s not trying to kill me—thankfully.
We climb, my boots finding holds in the damp rock, her weight shifting with every pull upward. When we haul ourselves over the lip at the top, I let out a sharp breath. “See? Totally fine.”
Odi slides off my back, her boots echoing off the stone ground as she lands. She tucks a few damp, loose strands of hair back into the pile on top of her head before she stoops to collect the glowing torch off the ground. A stone shifts strangely beneath it. “You’re luc—”
That’s when the sound hits—low at first, then a deafening roar. The ground trembles beneath us.
I don’t think. I just grab her, swing us both towards the drop, and leap. We hit the water which is now up to my hips and I shove us under the ledge’s lip just as a wall of water crashes through, pounding the chamber. The once lit torch now doused and floating away.
Through the spray, she twists her head towards me. “What were you saying?”
I roll my eyes, holding us in place against the surge. “Well, what do you suggest we do?”
“There has to be a tunnel somewhere.”
The water keeps rising. And she might be right—but finding it before she drowns is another thing entirely.
I refuse to give in to that nagging pull of fear clawing at the edges of my mind. The riddle says it plain—No greater beast than a man’s mind, and the fear that seeks to claim it.
I won’t let it take me.
Not the fear of never making it out.
Not the fear of never seeing my crew again.
Not the fear of dying without answers about my mother’s disappearance.
And sure as hell not the fear of leaving wet wraps inside Odi’s boots. With her brain, and my brawn, we can do this.
But the water is rising faster than I can think. “Wait here. Hold onto the root. I’m going to shift and see if my darkvision can find us a way out of here.”
Odi’s eyes grow wider in the darkness, and I notice the bob in her throat. I offer her a reassuring smile before I turn, but before I can dive into the water, she’s caught me by the wrist.
“Rune, wait—”
Without thinking, I reach out and brush my thumb over her chin, barely grazing her bottom lip. “I’ll only be gone for a moment.”
The usual determination and fierceness return to her eyes, like she suddenly remembers who she is, and she nods once.
Then I’m gone. Diving head first into the swirling waters.
The cold hits like a slap as I swim down, gills behind my ears filtering the oxygen into my lungs.
My skin prickles, bones reshaping, webbing stretching between my fingers.
Claws sharpen, teeth lengthen, and my vision cuts through the murk like it’s nothing.
I push deeper, scanning the jagged walls until I spot it—a thin crack, just wide enough to promise something on the other side. Loose stones shift in the current, the edges crumbling like old bread.
A surge of water shoves past me, dragging a thick branch along.
I snatch it before it’s gone, jamming the end into the gap and wrenching at the weakest points.
Stone gives way with a dull crunch, bits swirling off into the dark.
I dig harder, faster, until the hole yawns just wide enough for me to squeeze through.
It’s the way out. Has to be.
With a powerful flick of my tail, I return to Odi. I find her clinging to the roots, worry creased on her brow.
“Take my hand,” I call above the rushing water.
She focuses her attention on trying to find my claws stretching for her in the dark. For a moment I think she’s going to shake her head, and retreat back under the ledge, but she doesn’t. She entwines her fingers in mine, fitting us together like puzzle pieces.
With a grin, I pull her close. “Now, it's not too deep yet but we’re going to have to swim under the water for a moment.”
Odi musters a smile into the dark, but I know it’s only to distract me from the fear written across her face. “Lovely. Just don’t let go, yeah?”
I pull her closer. “Wouldn’t dream of it.”
She takes in a deep breath, and then we dive.
The force of the water swirls around us at first, dragging at the billowing fabric of her clothes, but I push through, swimming with one arm around Odi’s waist until it catches us.
We reach the hole, which has grown larger with the churning current.
Water sucks through like the stones were the plug and I’ve unclogged the drain.
I pull Odi tighter into my arms, shift back into my human form and brace for impact.
The current shoves us through. We’re spat out into open air, tumbling blind until gravity takes over. We drop—hard.
I twist mid-fall, slamming my back against the stone floor with a bone-jarring thud.
Air punches from my lungs and I grit my teeth against the pain, trying not to let it show.
All that matters is that Odi’s safe. She’s still in one piece, sprawled across me.
Drenched dark hair sticks to my face, her heartbeat hammering against my ribs.
The water rushes past, hissing into the shadows, leaving us dripping in the sudden, echoing quiet.
“You all right?” My voice is rough, half-growl, half-breath.
She nods, but doesn’t move, and for a second I’m not sure if it’s relief or something else keeping her pressed against me.
With a groan, she finally rolls off onto the moist stone surface, and we both just stare up at the ceiling for a moment.
Odi’s chest heaves in and out as she drags air into her lungs.
I stay still beside her, offering her some form of stability.
Only when her breaths become quiet do I suggest getting up.
I was lying when I called her a wet dog before.
The woman is breathtaking when she’s drenched.
The chamber is sealed above us, but through the darkness I can see the outline of a tunnel on the other side of the room. Odi’s attention is locked on it too. The only thing separating us from the opening . . . is the giant, glowing pool stretched lazily across the expanse.
“I’m so over water,” I murmur to Odi beside me. I may be a siren, born of the seas, but even I’ve had my fill.
She looks up at me, a small smile tugging at her lips. “Tragic. What will the waves do without your endless brooding?”
Now is not the time to be looking at her lips, but I can’t help it. “I could brood less if you stopped giving me reasons to,” I say, flashing her a grin of my own.
She rolls her eyes as she takes a step towards the edge of the pool, but not before I catch the flick of her gaze to my lips. The blue glow bounces off her skin, making her look as if she’s a creature from another realm. “Will it never end?”
I step up beside her. “I could carry you if you like?”
She tilts her head up to meet mine. “Thanks, but I do know how to swim.”
I shrug lightly. “The offer is there.”
The glow of the water is plenty that I don’t need to use my darkvision, and Odi can see well enough.
My eyes search the surface of the water, looking for signs of life.
Danger. Anything that might think we are its next meal, yet I find nothing unusual.
It’s just a deep pool—too still compared to all the other chambers we’ve encountered.
“Shall we?” I usher my hand towards the edge.
Odi nods before she crouches down and slips her feet into the water. I don’t think. I just dive head first, shifting the moment my hands break the surface. As I come up, Odi is already treading water waiting for me.
I offer her a wink. “Last one to the other side is a rotten sea slug.”
She huffs, and takes off swimming, splashing water in my direction as she passes by. The loose fabric of her clothes weigh her down and get in the way, stealing her momentum, but she pushes harder. For a moment I release a breath, allowing myself to hope this is the way out.
We’re halfway across when something catches my eye—a flicker of silver glinting beneath the surface. It’s nothing, I tell myself. A rock. Lost treasure perhaps. Or just my mind playing tricks.
“You know what I’d like to know, little doe?” I say, keeping my tone light. “Whether that key is still tightly secured.”
Odi glares at me mid-frog-stroke. “For your information, it is.”
“Oh good. Can’t have you losing a piece.”
“It’s not me you should be—”
Her words break off in a sharp scream. I spin, just in time to see the silver ripple in the water where something’s nipped her leg. I grab her, hauling her tight against me and striking for the ledge, but the water ahead churns.
I focus my gaze to cut through the surface and find the predators below. Shapes circle—dozens of them. Sleek bodies, rows of teeth flashing like broken glass.
Gnashies.
Flesh eating fish with blades for fins. A species so old that I didn’t even know they still existed. Last I’d heard of them they lived in the deepest depths of the ocean, preferring the darkness to any forms of light.