Page 130 of House of Lilith

And it suddenly dawns on me, how my friend managed to win.

*

Drown, I need to start drowning, I think to myself as I start remembering what Ricky told me about mermaids.

So I slide myself back into the water and I let my eyes readjust to the near darkness, but then I simply keep floating there, trying to let go despite the overwhelming instinct not to.

But it’s at the very next moment that I think I spot Romanov being chased somewhere in the distance, by a shadow a lot like the one that attacked her brother and me.

And all of a sudden, my heart is pounding and I can’t force myself to stay where I am. I’m already powering through to where I spotted her just now.

It wasn’t her,I hear my fox growl at me.

“You can’t even smell her here,” I tell him, my teeth gritting as I keep pushing forward. “So how would you know?”

I have other ways of sensing her,he snaps back,and she’s not here.

But that only makes the dread stronger. If she’s not here and I haven’t seen her while I was up a second ago…

Where the fuckisshe?

My jaw clenching, I keep propelling myself through water, but I should already have reached the spot where I saw her get attacked.

Frowning, I stop and I start looking around, the dread seeping straight into my bones now. Then I see one of the creatures.

And instead of moving away, I keep movingtowards, slowly but with determination, as I scan its body for some fucking clue, fearing it might be a limb or something.

Of course, that only makes the creature spot me. And I’m too close for its comfort, so it starts charging at me like the water beast that it is.

And it grabs me by the neck, the claws sinking in, and it starts shaking me like I’m a rag doll, making me kick my legs and struggle for air as I try to pry its claws away from my throat.

But the grip only tightens. And for a second, I think I’m going to die.

Then I make all my muscles tense up, I swing my right arm back and I slam a fist into the creature’s ribs.

It snatches the hand away, making me have to fight not to gasp for air.

And as it’s still bent from the blow, I move to attack, the mermaid’s eyes darting up to mine.

I stop, the gaze making me snap out of my rage.

And I lower my hand and I shake my head, waving my hands for no. And I just keep floating there, closing my eyes against my better judgment.

The creature doesn’t move, but it only takes a couple of seconds for me to start really struggling not to start breathing.

And another couple of seconds for me to take a sharp breath and swallow a mouthful of water, starting to choke, my entire body in pain.

Then, there’s a moment of lightheadedness that seems dangerously… easy.

And the next thing I know, I’m being pushed out of the water and onto the shore.

When I come to, coughing and spewing water, I look up and onto the island above me. I hear the gong marking my finishing the Game and all my body wants to do is crash, but my eyes are already fixing on the shore, trying to see whether she’s there despite knowing it’s too far away.

Then the Box zaps me out, making me land in the bleachers. For a second, as usual, it feels as if I’m going to lose my balance, but I quickly regain my footing.

And I look around, finding myself among the other winners, some of them standing, some of them sprawled on the benches, recovering.

And there she is, alive and well, chatting with some girl I don’t know.

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