Page 7 of Guarded By the Vodnik

“Just jump in and let yourself sink. Breathe through your nose. He’ll catch you,” Beck instructed me, but I barely heard him through the rush of terror in my ears.

My body didn’t feel like mine when I clumsily walked to the side of the boat, affixing the lower half of my mask to my face, and swung my legs over the edge. When I jumped in with a splash, the cold hit me like a punch. My entire body shuddered, my ribs constricting, and I couldn’t take another breath. I was suffocating.

Beck shouted something, waving his hands, but I didn’t understand him. I fought the grip of the cold on my body, thrashing and shaking, until the waters of Lake Superior closed over my head.

My control snapped and panic took over.

Chapter 3

Vodyan

I let the cold of the lake flow through me as I hovered at the pickup point, my tentacles spread wide and moving sporadically to stay on the right level. The water around me was clear and dark, gentle currents brushing my scales. I was close enough to the surface to feel the lake’s even breathing.

She was in a good mood today.

I didn’t know at what point in my childhood I began to think of the lake as her—a mother. It wasn’t a cultural thing, and other vodniks didn’t revere the waters we lived in. To them, this was just our habitat, the part of the world that was ours.

To me, she was so much more. She was my cradle, the loving embrace, and a life-giving power. She was the omnipresent force and the voice that spoke to me when no one else did, which was almost always.

I knew her movements, her breathing patterns, her moods. Today, she was peaceful and welcoming, and that calm spread through me, easing the annoyance caused by my assignment.

I was content, soothed and comforted, the familiar cold embracing me like a friend.

Until something changed.

A disturbance started higher up, disrupting the even rhythm of the lake. The currents broke and stuttered, surface water pushing deeper until bubbles brushed my scales. A shape appeared above me, a shadow against the dim light filtering in.

I clenched my jaw, my serenity breaking into pieces. Here she was, my weak human principal, already splashing gracelessly around. I didn’t understand why surface dwellers couldn’t just surrender and let the lake carry them. It would have been so much easier than whatever she was trying to do.

The prudent thing would have been to sink until she was by my side, but apparently, she decided to make this as effortful as possible.

My tentacles shivered with tension as I waited, folding my arms. I had hoped for a reasonable human, but this one already proved her stupidity. Didn’t she understand that by thrashing around, she slowed down her descent? What was even the point?

I closed my eyes, a muscle in my jaw ticking as the currents jerked against me, their rhythm jagged and unpleasant. I hadn’t even met her and already hated her. She was what stood between me and my peace.

When the currents grew more violent, I opened my eyes. She was right above me, a black, small shape with weak limbs that uselessly tried to control the smooth, potent waters. Her eyes flashed behind a clear mask, her face pale, mouth wide open. She didn’t make a sound, though, and a pang of worry shot through me.

Maybe her gear failed. Maybe she couldn’t breathe.

I loathed to touch her, but it couldn’t be helped. I wasn’t about to lose my principal in my first minutes on the job, so I swam over with one potent push of my tentacles and put my hands on her ribs to steady her and check if she was breathing.

She froze as soon as she felt me. My fingers spasmed involuntarily, feeling how warm she was—so much warmer than anything I’d touched recently. Searing. It was like a shock to my system, and for a moment, I forgot what I was doing.

But then I remembered. Her ribs fluttered in a fast rhythm, indicating she was breathing without an issue. I made to move away with annoyance at the false alarm when her eyes locked on mine.

They were wide, deeply green, and filled with terror.

I hesitated, confused by her fear. Why was she so afraid? Everything happened exactly as agreed, her suit seemed to be working, and I didn’t sense anyone in pursuit. She was safe, so why…

Her eyes widened even more, her face contracting in a strange expression, and understanding dawned. Of course. I was holding her, my face right in front of her, and her mask was supposed to let her see in the dark. Which meant she saw me clearly, taking everything in with those wide, terrified eyes.

I was the reason for her fear. She was scared of me, which was so obvious and inevitable, I cursed myself for not realizing it at once.

My lip curled with mocking distaste. So very human.

Here I was, her ally and protector, and she was terrified of me because I was a different species. She was probably one of those people who lived in human-only enclaves. They inhabited polished, fenced-off neighborhoods where no other species were allowed to enter so the humans felt “secure”.

My tentacles flexed in anger, and I made to push away to keep my distance when she did something unexpected. A whimper fell out of her mouth, her breath fogging over the lower half of her mask.

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