Page 41 of Pearls of Salt and Sacrifice

But at least her lungs filled and emptied. At least life flooded through her veins. As they were dragged deeper into the ocean, Jareth wrapped one arm around her to hold her close. The thing dragging them down also wrapped around him. Why didn’t he flinch away from the imprisonment of those arms crawling around them, those…tentacles?

Krakens.

The revelation sent a jolt of shock through her. She jerked backward, pulling her face away from Jareth’s. Immediately, her lungs pressed in on her, as if the darkness were a fist squeezing the life from her chest. Jareth’s free hand frantically pulled at her neck until he found her mouth again.

Let him breathe for you, she told herself. No matter what happens, you need to live for your people. So let him breathe…just…breathe…

She would find a way to escape. Again. No matter how endless this darkness seemed, it would not be the end of her. She would not always be a prisoner.

But even these repeated promises of strength and courage and freedom grew shallow as the kraken’s arms wrapped her and Jareth in a cocoon she knew she could never break free of if she ever wanted to see the surface again.

Her world became nothing but darkness of the water, the power of the kraken’s arms, and the warmth of the elf prince who’d betrayed her.

Reva jerked back to consciousness, rudely awakened by pain. Her body slid across a hard surface, Jareth’s arms and legs entangled with hers. Water flowed around them, sucking at her hair and clothes as it sloshed and trickled away. His weight pressed down on her, his breathing loud and labored. He rolled to the side, freeing her, but the pressure in her lungs didn’t ease.

And what of Calix? Was he being crushed in her pocket?

She gagged and inhaled a single, agonizing breath. Her chest hurt, like someone had been sitting on her ribcage, crushing her. Shadows and smears of light hung above her, too jumbled for her to figure out what she was looking at.

A hand found hers and squeezed.

“Just breathe through it,” Jareth whispered into the half-light. “It’ll pass.”

He held tight to her fingers as she struggled to remember how to use her own lungs.

“I’m sorry.” His voice washed over her like the waves still licking her arms and legs. “It happens when you’re under water for more than a few minutes. Your body needs to remember how to breathe on its own. I’m sorry, Reva, I’m so sorry.”

How could he do this to her? She wanted to scream and punch him in retaliation, but she choked and grappled for air. Her body writhed as it fought what had once been so easy.

She couldn’t do this—couldn’t remember—

Fingers stroked her brow and threaded into her hair. “Breathe, Reva. You need to breathe.”

The pain was too much, too intense—

He kissed her temple and pressed his forehead to hers. “Please, Reva. You can’t give up. Your people need you. We need you. And—” He choked off. “I need you.”

Breath rattled into her constricted lungs. Jareth rolled her onto her side, holding her in place as sea water and bile burned the back of her throat. Calix wiggled out of her pocket, balancing on the curve of her hip and squeaking in agitation.

At least he hadn’t been squashed to pulp.

Reva coughed so hard she feared she would spit out her own internal organs. She tried to ignore the hand rubbing between her shoulder blades and the voice whispering apologies into her ears.

How dare he?

“Leave me alone,” she half-sobbed.

He froze, his words faltering into silence. Then his hands withdrew, and he left her alone on cold stone. She curled into a fetal position and tried to restrain the sobs begging to be released. She wouldn’t cry. She couldn’t fall apart, not yet.

There was so much she needed to do—so many people she had to be strong for.

And she hated Jareth for making her feel vulnerable. Somehow, his betrayal was worse than Rency’s.

It hurt more because—despite her best efforts to remain practical—she wanted to trust Jareth, wanted him to be the answer to her problems.

Wanted him to save her.

She wanted to be the damsel in distress, not the heroine the world needed her to be. She wrapped one arm around her head and screamed soundlessly into a void nothing could penetrate. Ever since her father had died, she’d been forced to depend on herself. There hadn’t been anyone else she could turn to. And then Jareth had come along and turned her world upside down. And she’d let him.

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