Page 67 of What Blooms from Death

Did they want the solidness I’d given her?

That glow that mimicked the brightness of life…did they think I could give it to them?

Something grabbed me underneath the water.

A fleeting hold that I easily kicked free of, but it made me panic enough that I was suddenly focused too much on what lay beneath the surface; I didn’t notice the shades swirling in behind me until they were already there, surrounding me, their cold fingers clawing into my shoulders.

“Please,” I gasped, thinking maybe they could understand me, connect to me as the girl had. “Please wait—”

But they were directionless. Mindless, as Thalia had warned. More and more swarmed in from all directions. Grabbing, clawing, washing over me like a wave threatening to drown me from existence. They couldn’t put the full strength or pressure behind their attacks that a living being could have, but there were so many of them that it didn’t matter; I kept being shoved off balance, shaking free of one only to have two more take its place.

My head slipped below the surface.

I fought my way back up.

More hands met me, shoving me back down.

Their shifting faces swam above, further distorted by the dark, muddied water.

They wereeverywhere.

I kicked. Twisted. Fought for clear water—but there was none to be found. Desperate to get away from the cold touch of reaching hands, I found myself rolling deeper, hitting the muddy bed, sinking in, dragging through it like an anchor.

How deep could I roll?

My arm snagged on something, jarring me to a stop.

The water around me grew warmer. Clearer. I was no longer physically sinking, but I felt like I was falling, all the same, drifting into a strange brightness—one rimmed in darkness, like the kind you saw when you clenched your eyes tightly shut. It grew more and more intense as the seconds passed, until—

My face broke through the surface.

I gasped. Choked. Cold struck me like a fist, and I cried out in misery. In fear. I wanted to go back into the warm water. Back toward the light that was too bright, too blinding to allow me to see anything else. I struggled with everything I had, trying to get back.

A voice growled into my ear, commanding me.Keep still.

I went rigid. And once I stopped, I didn’t seem to be able to start again. Not my breaths, not my heartbeats, not my magic. I was stillness. I was death.

The same voice followed soon after, softer now. Pleading, almost.Stay with me. Just stay with me. I’ve got you.

But I didn’t want to stay. I wanted to let go, to drift away in the comforting warmth.

So that was what I did.

I wokefrom a stinging pain across my face, and the first thing—theonlything—I could focus on, at first, was cold.

Brutal, unforgiving cold.

Yet, a quick glance over my body told me I was no longer in the frigid water. No longer swamped by dead souls. I wasn’tentirely naked, either; Aleksander had draped his coat over me. The pure, earthy scent of him clung to it, grounding me.

I was still here, still breathing, still functioning.

I situated the garment more fully around myself as I sat up, fastening the buttons from top to bottom with trembling fingers, creating a makeshift dress before I moved to take in more of my surroundings.

Aleksander was kneeling beside the green-eyed girl, looking her over.

I held my breath as I did the same. She was still solid…but the glow around her edges was rapidly fading. What would happen to her now?

Gods, what did I do to her?

---