Page 61 of Dare

I tore myself from her gaze. “If we find a fallen log and use one of the tidefarer sails to haul it across the platform, that might do. Or we can fill the gap with rocks, though that shall take more than a week’s labor. Another possibility is to —”

A feminine silhouette flew past me and soared into the air. I whipped toward the female as she catapulted over the void, flying as though launched from a slingshot.

“Beast!” I roared, staggering at the gap’s edge.

She yelped while crashing to the opposite side and landing in a bed of moss. Momentary pain cramped her features. Peeling herself upright, she panted from across the divide and tossed me a cocky smile.

I did not require a fucking mirror. I knew how low my mouth had dropped.

The audacious creature relished my astonishment, then stood and smacked clumps of dirt from her chemise. Swinging an arm toward me in invitation, she called, “See? Easy.”

Recovering from the stunt, I glared at my boots. “Fuck,” I muttered to myself, then charged into a run.

The bridge vanished beneath me. Mid-flight, thoughts of broken femurs, fractured kneecaps, and torn tendons passed through my mind. But while she had less weight on her, I possessed longer limbs, which shuddered as my boots smacked the ground. I stumbled forward before halting, then whirled on the female who skipped past me while patting my shoulder.

“Next time, we swim,” she said.

The fuck we would. Releasing a pent-up gust of air, I gained her side as we strode past the fauna statues and climbed the steps leading to a stone door etched with a circle of droplet symbols.

The beast traced the emblems in reverence. “Rainfall.”

I waited until she finished admiring the artwork. The heavy facade cracked on its hinges as I flattened my palm on the surface and pushed open the door. Instead of dust clouds, a thick wall of mist spilled from the vestibule. Cobwebs stretched like elastic from the rafters, glowing flowers sprouted from the chinks, and a birdbath—the only artifact present—stood in the room’s center.

The foundation could be unstable. Our entry could disturb fragments of masonry. Objects could topple over. Predators could have built nests here.

I stepped in front of the beast, shielding her from potential threats, then reached backward for her hand. After a stunned moment, her fingers slid into mine, and my skin burned at the contact. I had reached for her without thinking, but I would not analyze the gesture. Nor why she decided to accept my offer rather than sprint through the corridors extending from every direction.

Picking around bits of rubble, I tested the floor until deeming it safe for us to walk freely. Even so, I kept a firm grip on her.

From one of a half-dozen levels overlooking the vestibule, a raptor vaulted into the air, its flapping wings reverberating. The woman startled. With an amazed chuckle, she aligned herself beside me. “We’re in a treasure chest.”

“We are,” I agreed. “Built by whom?”

What had happened to them? Why would Summer’s legend omit their existence?

Deeper into the vestibule, the echo of dripping water halted us. The female’s hand squeezed mine, and she aimed a free digit toward a passage with a downward slope. We paced in that direction. Regardless of what awaited us in these ruins, water took priority.

The tunnel burrowed underground, growing lighter rather than darker, its walls reflecting the iridescence of labradorite and germinating with foliage. The cavity dug in, arching high and wide, light brimming from an unknown source. Eventually, the channel opened to a cavern and a pool of vibrant liquid.

My companion gasped, her hand unwinding from mine. “It’s a grotto.”

I had read of such places. The water glinted a prismatic green, perhaps from deposits or sediments beneath the surface. Ripples trembled like veins, their reflections illuminating the scabrous enclosure.

I knelt at the rim. Sanitary. Deadly. Either possibility required a thorough check.

Yet adrenaline crept up on me without warning, sinking its talons into my nervous system. A flash of teeth and gills passed through my head, then vanished. I shook myself from the vision and flared my nostrils, making sure to exhale deeply.

If I yielded to these feelings, they would only increase. And she would see it happen.

Deprived of my vial, I lacked options. I continued to breathe, rationality cycling in my head. No need to panic. This was not the ocean, the whirlpool, or anywhere close to the beach.

At last, the sensations abated. Though, this might have been attributed to the figure in my periphery.

Having learned nothing from her near-death experiences, she pranced around the grotto and dove, plunging in headfirst before I could seize her. Shaking my head, I watched the little beast forget I existed. Her figure flew back up, dark hair spraying the vicinity with twinkling particles of water. She spritzed fluid, and her mouth parted with a laugh. For several minutes, I inspected the area while she tumbled with the agility of a mermaid, her body rippling under the surface.

A fleet of small, coiled creatures appeared from the notches and launched toward her. Cursing, I snatched the beast’s arm, about to yank her out of the water.

With an excited huff, the female batted away my knuckles. “Calm down,” she lectured like I was an imbecile.

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