Page 28 of Forced Vampire Mate

If there was one thing my parents drilled into me and my siblings was never to go into the water alone. They’d be furious, too, if they could see me now. But they couldn’t. They were dead, and I had to do what I could to make sure Darcie was spared that fate, too.

I dove again, swimming deeper than I had so far. I caught sight of something that glimmered in the darkness and kicked toward it. The kelp waved its tendrils at me, and I kicked over them, careful not to get tangled up in the seemingly innocent plants.

The glinting solidified into a shimmer, the same sort as the elven barrier. My heart leaped as I pushed harder for it. The shimmer formed a barrier through a narrow entrance into an underwater cave. I crawled into it, pulling in a deep breath, when I found it was an air pocket. The cave was fairly small, just big enough for me to turn around in. A shelf near the bottom held a key that glowed slightly. It was as long as my hand, made of a heavy, shining bronze. Images of ships and seals were carved into it.

I studied the key, looking at it from various angles. Would the elves put a secondary trap on it, as well as make it inaccessible? Was it really so simple to get it? I was fairly deep in the ocean, and if it weren’t for my enhanced sight, I wouldn’t have seen the shimmer.

If I left now, would I be able to find my way back? I wasn’t sure, and that’s what made up my mind. I snatched the key, filled my lungs, and pulled myself from the cave. The ocean was getting lighter, heralding the dawn. I kicked for the surface, and a black shape swam above me. I froze, twisting to follow the shape with my eyes, but it disappeared. My heart hammered as I dove back down, closer to the bottom of the ocean. I didn’t want to get ambushed from below.

The shadow didn’t appear again, so I pulled myself along the corals, working toward the kelp bed. Suddenly, something burst out of the ground, whipping around me. The current sent me spiraling away from the ocean floor, spinning out of control. I twisted and kicked to right myself, then shoved the key into my bra.

The creature disappeared again, as though it was slipping through cracks too thin for my eyes to see. I kicked out, heading toward the kelp. I could use it to hide from the creature, whatever it was. Its shadow was long and thin, like a snake, but I’d never seen anything like it before. I couldn’t get a proper glimpse of what it was.

As soon as I grasped the first strands of kelp to anchor myself, it appeared again. It rushed by me, the water churning and hot around its body. It whirled back around, flaring out in the ocean. And I finally saw it clearly. It had a long, serpentine body that undulated in the water much like the kelp around me, and was covered in a smooth skin, blue, white, and green in color that almost blended in with the ocean. Its edges kept moving and shifting, truly a shadow that I couldn’t quite get a grasp on.

The creature shot over my head, forcing me down. I swim into the kelp, hoping to lose it. The shadow shimmered over my head before it disappeared. I pulled myself along the bottom of the ocean floor, keeping a careful watch for the creature. The kelp was thick and wrapped around my limbs as I moved through it. When I reached to pat my bra, to make sure the key was still there, a vine wrapped around my wrist. It pulled me down toward the seabed.

Oh, Gods! The kelp wasn’t just brushing against me. It was tangling itself over my body, trapping me. That’s what the creature was doing. It wasn’t attacking me. It was driving me into this trap. How much air did I have left? I writhed but couldn’t free myself. Where was my knife? With a sinking heart, I pictured it on the top of my clothes, waiting for me to return. I yanked one hand free and struggled to get higher, away from the kelp.

It wrapped more firmly around me, holding me in place. I twisted and attacked with my teeth, chewing through the fibrous plant. The taste of sea salt filled my mouth. My lungs were getting uncomfortable. I didn’t have too much longer before I ran out of air. Part selkie, part vampire. It didn’t matter. I still needed oxygen to survive.

There was only one thing to do.

I opened the bond. Instantly, I was hit by a wave of anger and worry. Luken was awake, looking for me. I had the vague sense that he was near the beach. Good. It meant he could get here faster. I pushed out through the bond, trying to send images. The kelp. The creature. My need for a knife. Concern burned through from Luken.

And censure. I could almost hear him saying,I told you not to go.

The kelp was wrapping faster than ever. I made myself go still, holding that would slow it. It did, the kelp slowing its twisted progress. I kept the bond open as I moved myself slowly to start chewing again. Panic was threatening to well up in me as my lungs ached, but I forced it down. Luken sent a burst of pure calm through the bond and I found myself irritated. It was all right for him to be calm. He wasn’t the one being drowned by fucking kelp of all things!

I cut through a kelp with my teeth and the others started to move faster. One wrapped around my throat and pulled me back. I forced myself to go still again as a few bubbles of air leaked between my lips.Don’t fight. Just wait for Luken to show up.

Unbidden, the memory of just a few weeks ago of a situation much like this surfaced. I’d been caught by a kelpie in Wickham Forest, trapped in a murky lake after a magical artifact. And here I was, the bronze key pressed to my breast, trapped in the ocean, waiting for Luken to rescue me. I tried to shut down that feeling, but I couldn’t fully get rid of it. It seemed so long ago that it had happened.

So much had changed. At that time, I thought Luken had killed my family. He hadn’t, but when I accused him of it, laying on the shore of the lake, he didn’t bloody tell me he wasn’t responsible.

Why couldn’t he just talk to me about these things?

A shadow passed over me. And like I was watching my memories play out again, it cut through the water toward me. But this time, I didn’t think it was the creature coming back for me. I felt the determination through our bond, felt his presence drawing nearer. Luken. Relief burst through me, and it was answered with relief of his own, powerful and strong, that seemed to wrap me in his arms already.

Luken soon reached me. Light blazed through the water around him, making the kelp constrict and shy back. The rope tightened around my neck, but he kicked close and slashed methodically through the plants that were keeping me down. I shot up suddenly, freed from the constriction. I started for the surface, looking back once to make sure Luken wasn’t being caught by the kelp.

He was right behind me, the blue of his false eyes vivid as he narrowed them. A grin crossed his face even though disapproval came through the bond.

If I had more air, I might have turned around and kissed him right there.

A whirl of current sent me spinning again. Luken shot forward, and I reached for his hand. He pulled me tight into his chest and flung his free arm out. A bolt of red light arched from his palm toward the creature. It lit the animal, showing a bony ribcage within a translucent body. The thing opened its mouth and something dark shot towards us. The light shifted to hot-white and the creature whirled back and fled.

Luken’s arm tightened around me, and I felt an echo of pain in our bond. I wrapped my arms around his waist and kicked hard, pulling us toward the surface. When we emerged, the waves crashed against us. I barely got a new breath in before I was driven below again. Luken kicked with me, but his movements were thin and weak. What was happening? He was the strongest man I knew. What was causing these waves of pain to come through the bond?

I managed to get him to the shore and dragged him out. The glamor faded from around him. My hands went cold as his expression twisted in pain, his nostrils flaring. The glow of his eyes seemed dimmer somehow.

“Where does it hurt?” I asked.

He groaned as he touched his chest.

Quickly, I lifted the wet fabric clinging to him. The air left my lungs, and I felt as though I was bobbing back in the sea, buffeted by the current. His normally gold-kissed skin tones were black, the color of rotten meat.

And it was spreading rapidly.

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