Page 62 of Gluttony
“Bailey!”
Thrashing vines whipped around, coming up from the water, lashing out at him. Careful not to get his face whacked, he changed tactics and dug his fingers into the thickest appendages, hoping they were integral. Every panic, every fear, powered his fire, and he roared his agony, wrenching it free from his body. Blinding light burst under the water and the thing jolted away, but it wasn’t enough. The water dulled his power’s effect, but the fire kept the toxin from getting into his hands.
Freeing himself, he went back to Bailey and focused on the thickest roots. Clamping down on his panic, he went at it with robotic precision, trying not to let that niggling doubt push in.
That was not her thrashing getting weaker.
That was not the life draining out of her.
Hurry.
Explosion after explosion, he let loose on the creature. Out of time. Bailey slackened, sinking. Flattening his lips and bracing himself, he lifted her—heaved. Smaller roots snapped away, and he elevated enough to get her out, to give her one spluttering breath, but then she went down under new vines and water.
It was never ending.
“Daisy!” He roared, panicked. “Help!”
Please let her hear him. Please let her come back.
“Daisy! I NEED YOU.”
And when the sense of gluttony trickled into his gut, he knew the creature was feeding. Whether it was from Bailey or the water, he couldn’t tell. Didn’t care. Ripping with all his might, he yanked and shot power into the thing—Pop! Pop! Pop!—until his lungs burned, until his arms felt like they would rip from his body, until Bailey started to lose her fight again. The feeling of despair, so hard and so deep, sliced through his heart.
“Don’t give up, baby!”
He fired, and yanked, every time ripping a new piece of the creature away, throwing its bio-matter over his head.
And then Daisy was there.
Swinging her sword, slicing into the depths. She chopped and attacked like a machine. “Now!” she shouted. “Lift her now!”
Half submerged and on his knees, Tony slid his hands beneath Bailey’s body once more. He dragged her up, breaking the last binding vestiges. Water sluiced off her face as she broke the surface, but she didn’t splutter. She didn’t breathe.
No no no.
He patted her face. “Bailey!”
This was his fault. He should have refused to let her come. Should have forced her away at the park. But he’d been selfish. Some part had liked that she’d wanted to stay to watch his back.
Daisy continued to hack the creature while Tony shifted Bailey to get her in a better position, reclined against his knee. He rested her neck over one forearm arm so her head tilted up. There was no dry, flat area to do CPR.
Come on. He patted her face. Nothing.Baby. He pressed his ear to her mouth and listened for life. Nothing. He shifted to her heart.
Thump, thump.
Yes. Yes.
“That’s it, baby. Stay alive.” He titled her head to the side and cleared her airway. Wet gunk came out. He pinched her nose and angled her, opening her mouth. Then he breathed into her and continued to do so until she spluttered. Her chest heaved, and she vomited more water.
Sucking in air, her eyes opened with a naked plea. “Tony. Oh my God, Tony.”
“I’ve got you.”
“I can’t feel my legs.”
He scooped her up, one arm under her arms, the other under her thighs. He cast his sister an agonizing glance. “I’m going. I have to get her out of here.”
Daisy clenched her jaw, screamed a war cry and stabbed her sword into the water. Vines thrashed as she hit the creature. “Go!”
