Page 70 of Reckless
She throws the chuck of stone she broke off into the water, half laughing as she begins tearing at the ceiling. I’m dodging pieces of falling stone as she rips the crumbling ceiling apart. It’s a struggle to keep her afloat with her constantly moving in my arms, not to mention the fact that my head is brushing the ceiling. “Quickly, Pae,” I grunt.
Her spine goes rigid in response to that nickname, but she’s quickly distracted by the more pressing issue at hand. “I know, I know,” she pants, pulling at the jagged stones. She’s uncovered several inches of the hastily covered metal grate, allowing sunlight to stream through the slits.
I’m forced to tilt my head back to breathe. “Paedyn,” I gasp.
“Just a little more,” she says, frantic. Only inches separate us from the ceiling. Her head is tilted, her cheek likely pressed to the stone she’s clawing at. The grate is mostly uncovered now, and she’s pushing against it while I’m trying to hold her up.
I can’t. I can’t hold her any longer. I can’t stay afloat. I can’tbreathe.
“Pae,” I manage. “Take a breath—”
I gulp down air before the water swallows us.
Paedyn untangles herself from me, using both her hands to push against the grate. I wrap an arm around her waist to keep her from sinking and shove at the grate with every ounce of strength I have left.
The sunlight teases us, speckling the murky water. A reminder that the only thing separating us from air is this damn grate. I ram myshoulder against it, feeling it budge. Paedyn pushes, pounds against our final hope.
I’m running out of air, and I know she is too. Her movements grow more sluggish with each second.
I will not let her die like this. I cannot.
With one final ram of my shoulder, I feel the grate lift. I’m forced to let go of her, using both my hands to slide the grate to the side. It gives a couple of inches, allowing me to grab the lip and fully push it open.
Then I turn, finding Paedyn slowly sinking toward the bottom of the tunnel. Her eyes have drifted closed, her lips stained an eerie blue. I swim downward, grabbing her by the waist and pushing off the floor to shoot us toward the light.
Then I’m shoving her upward until her head peeks through the grate.
I vaguely hear her muffled gasp, her choking coughs. Through blurry vision, I watch her pull herself up and over the grate.
She made it. She’s breathing. She’s alive.
I don’t know that I’ll be able to say the same for me.
My eyelids are heavy, blinking shut without my permission. In fact, my entire body is heavy, weighing me down as I begin to sink.
So this is it.
This is how the mighty Enforcer meets his end.
It could be worse, I suppose.
I don’t bother fighting the water anymore. I’m too tired. Too ready to rest.
She’ll be free of me now. She’s probably halfway to a shadow she can melt into. The idea almost makes me smile.
I sink into oblivion, the thought of her my final prayer.
CHAPTER 27Paedyn
Water spews from my mouth.
I’m retching onto the crumbling alley street I’ve crawled onto. Panting, I roll onto my back, blinking into the dying sunlight.
I’m alive.
I’m alive.
I’m coughing and spitting and drenched in Plague knows what, but I’m alive.
