Page 14 of Guarded By the Vodnik

“You’re an introvert, aren’t you?” she said with such a wide smile, I was afraid her cheeks would split behind the mask. “That’s why you don’t speak much.”

I couldn’t help but stare at that shockingly wide smile brightening her face. Her teeth were nice and white. Her left canine was sharper and longer than the right one, and I fixated on it, my throat tightening right back up. I was mute again and still no closer to figuring out why.

Zoe ignored my confusion and lack of response, speaking with way too much glee.

“You know what, this is perfect! I was worried about being stuck with a stranger, but I’m great with introverts. Seriously, you won’t have to do a thing, I will do all the talking. And I know you’ll need your space, too, so I promise I’ll leave you alone as much as you need. I can entertain myself. It will be awesome! We’ll get along like… Well, a house on fire, but I never understood that saying. It doesn’t sound quite right. What do vodniks say about people who get along well? Do you have a saying?”

I blinked down at her, my thoughts tangling in the maze of all the words she just said. The tip of that left canine peeked out when she pronounced certain sounds, and now that I noticed it, I couldn’t tear my eyes away.

Zoe’s smile grew smaller, and she nodded with understanding. “Too much? Sorry, I’ll tone it down.”

I frowned. No, it wasn’t too much, and I…

A strong, cold current brushed my back. I whipped around just in time to see a lamia warrior charging right at us, his teeth bared for a killing bite.

Chapter 6

Zoe

Vodyan’s arms tightened around me so much, I couldn’t take a deep breath. He whipped around, and I didn’t understand why until a gurgling, low sound reverberated right behind me. Something was there.

With one, powerful push of his tentacles, Vodyan shot up. Bubbles foamed as we swam, faster than I thought possible. I actually felt the friction of water moving past my suit at great velocity.

When we turned and dove back again, I squealed. This was like a rollercoaster ride, only infinitely scarier and yet safer, too.

He held me so tightly, I wasn’t afraid I’d fall, even though my ribs could use some room to expand.

I still didn’t know what it was we fled from and I couldn’t look. Vodyan held me so close, I couldn’t properly turn my head. Yet when another vicious sound tore through the water, I shivered, my insides twisting with primal fear.

That thing sounded like a predator. A very angry one.

With one powerful flip, Vodyan turned until we were horizontal with me on top of him. I felt rather than saw his tentacles shoot out, water moving against me jarringly.

Something tugged, something struggled, moving us a bit, and I understood Vodyan caught the attacker. I felt the vibrations and tension in his muscles that bulged against me with his effort to keep still as the creature thrashed against his tentacles.

His entire body was so hard with coiled power. I felt the creature trying to get free, but Vodyan barely moved. He was obviously stronger, and all that strength now pressed to me through his scales and my skin.

It was a shocking sensation. I’d never been so intimately close to such a primal force.

Something tugged sharply, and Vodyan rumbled in displeasure, twisting again until he was on top of me. I felt the pull of the depth underneath, yet he held me so securely, I wasn’t afraid of falling.

His voice sack, which was right by my face, expanded and lit up with a beautiful, green light.

“You should have known better than to come after me again.”

I flinched. He sounded so cold and beastly, his voice a sharp blade. It was accented in a harsh, biting way, and when a whimper of pain followed from somewhere close behind me, I whimpered, too, pressing closer to my bodyguard.

Now his ribs were probably squeezed tight, too, because I clung to him with all my fear and confusion. What was that thing?

“You want to lose another piece of that tail?” Vodyan asked with a snarl. “One wasn’t enough for you?”

I trembled, his voice sounding so horrible, I had to keep reminding myself it wasn’t directed at me. The one sentence he spoke to me earlier had been so much softer and huskier, and I clung to the memory just as I clung to him, desperately needing this ordeal to be over.

Another whimper came, and then words.

“Let me go, let me go, let me go…”

That voice was so pitiful and filled with pain that I jolted with sympathy. The creature could speak. That meant they were sentient.

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