Page 60 of The Dark, Dead, Deep

“You said before.” I nodded in understanding. “That explains Ilra.”

“She is a water nymph, though she cannot breathe under the waves. Most of them can only hold their breath,” Tormalugh cut in. “She is the village’s best chance to replicate Shay’s magic.”

“If the nymphs can’t breathe underwater, why are they involved in this war?” I frowned. “Surely, they can just take to the surface.”

Rainn smiled bitterly. “Why do you think Shay is the last in his line?”

“The rest of his family were killed,” Tormalugh elaborated. “They remained neutral. Using the lake to fish and set lobster traps. To trade with each of the Sídhe creeds. They didn’t want to make enemies of everyone.”

“Until the undine killed them,” Rainn spat.

I ignored the insult to my people, even though it felt like a stab every time someone spoke about the undine that way, and as I learned more about what my uncle had done, the pain grew less and less.

“Do nymphs have a court or royalty?” I wondered. “It’s hard to imagine with such a small village.”

Rainn narrowed his eyes. “It’s not small; it’s just one of many. Nymphs don’t have a king or a queen, per se. They do have a chieftain. The title will go to Shay when he chooses to marry and have children.”

“Do you think Shay is going to marry Ilra?” I worried my lip between my teeth.

“You don’t pay much attention to what goes on around you, do you?” Rainn’s eyes twinkled.

“What do you mean?” I frowned.

Rainn shrugged and swam ahead.

He didn’t answer my question. I glanced at Tormalugh, but he shook his head as his body stretched and contorted until a black steed stood in place of the man.

I got the impression that the kelpie often changed forms to avoid conversations he didn’t want to have.

The same horrible foreboding feeling flooded me as we grew closer to the chasm and the thundering roar of the silt and sand raining off the edge of the underwater cliff.

We caught up to Shay quickly, but it was apparent that he had no intention of talking about whatever had encouraged his snit.

The water grew darker until it swallowed almost all light and made it difficult for us to see. Tor’s dark coat disappeared in the darkness entirely. Together, we swam towards the chasm, diving deeper and deeper into the Abyss.

The rumbling made it difficult to hear anything, save for the whooshing of blood in my ears as fear made my heartbeat hard enough to feel it in my throat.

I reached out with scrambling hands until I connected with the harsh bite of an enchanted chain. Rainn’s head snapped around as I pulled my hand to my chest.

“I just—I didn’t mean to,” I stuttered.

Rainn’s brow furrowed. “You look ill.”

“You don’t feel that?” I said, my voice a sick-room quiet.

Rainn shook his head and adjusted the chain on his belt to pull his skin closer to his hip.

Shay and Tormalugh were two shadows at the mouth of the sheer rock walls that extended to the surface. No fish were swimming, and the coral surrounding the opening was dead, bleached, and brittle white.

“I don’t like this.” I drifted closer to Rainn without meaning to. Before I could pull away, he gripped my hand and knitted our fingers together.

“Where’s Cormac?” Shay said, his features obscured by the gloom as his braids shifted in the current. “He should have passed through by now.”

“Do you use this path often?” I asked as I pressed my hand to my chest to try and calm my racing heart.

Tormalugh glanced at the path and then back, shaking his head.

“Perhaps he has passed through, and he is further along to Tarsainn than we expected,” Rainn muttered hopefully, pushing his hand through his silver hair.

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