Page 93 of A Girl and HER Prince
Livvy wriggled her hands into the armholes, shrugging the heavy pack up against her back. Closing the Velcro and cross straps, she immediately began to inflate the vest to the right buoyancy. She’d wasted too much time getting down that wall. If she didn’t hurry, Venice was going to bleed to death before she got to that radio!
Putting her mask on, she attached her snorkel next, adjusting the regulator until she was ready for the dive. Grasping the flashlight, she sank the rest of the way into the cold water, concentrating on breathing steadily and keeping her heart rate down. If she didn’t, this tank of oxygen wouldn’t last.
And those thoughts weren’t going to help her.
The world was beautiful underneath the turquoise water.Yes, that’s better!
The sun glistened above as she turned from it, studying the wall of white limestone distorted by the water. The hole Venice had left gaped before her and without hesitating a second longer, she swam through it.
Her tank scraped against the top, and she adjusted the buoyancy in her vest to stay more horizontal near the floor. The tunnel felt darker. Hoping that didn’t mean the way through had been closed off by Venice smashing up against the wall, she ran the beam of the flashlight in front of her, trying to pretend she was passing off her diving certificate in a safe environment at home, not in some slasher.
Her thoughts ran to the barracuda, and she immediately shut off the part in her brain that sparked fear.
She was fine. Venice would be fine. They’d get out of this and go on a trip to her hometown in Sacramento. They’d take a dip in her family’s Jacuzzi and she’d beat him at basketball, but… he’d still call her Luvvy, even if he wanted nothing more to do with her because she was a commoner.
A tear slid down her eye, fogging up her mask.
Thatshe needed to stop.
She reached the fork in the tunnel. The trip felt so much faster than before. She knew exactly where to go. The line had been cut off there, and now she grasped the frayed end that floated like a ghostly worm, following the red rope back through the tunnel that had felt so nightmarishly long and eerie when they’d been trying to outrun that creep—Achilles.
She could scarcely believe it, even after she’d debated so long with Venice over who could’ve done it. To actually hear Achilles admit as much to their faces felt unreal.
His betrayal had cut Venice to the core—she knew what good friends they were by how much Venice had defended the duke’s innocence to her—but once again, Venice had hid the extent of his pain like a champ returning to the ring… especially when his uncle had appeared.
What sort of PTSD had that given him?
She’d caught the revulsion breaking through Venice’s defiance when he’d faced down his family’s murderer, especially when Atreus Mnon threatened Achilles’s mother right in front of them.
The sadness Livvy had detected in Clysta’s face in those portraits now made horrific sense. There was a tragedy there. Did she also believe that Venice’s father had killed her first husband?
The bitterness behind the duke’s ugly accusation had gotten past Achilles’s usually jaded expression.“Your father killed mine.”The hurt carried through the huskiness of his voice.
Achilles said he had proof.
Did it matter? Venice didn’t deserve to die for his father’s sins.
The line led her to an opening in the cavern. Livvy emerged from the water, feeling the musky air of the cave against her cheeks as she stared around her at the hauntingly familiar surroundings.
Over there by that solitary boulder, she’d sat with Venice before her whole world tipped on its face. The water dripped from her as she pulled the rest of the way out of the water. Her clothes sucked to her body as she reentered the nightmare that had plagued her memories from the moment she’d been attacked in here.
And she wasn’t alone.
Turner whipped around, shouting out in alarm the same time she did.
Her hand left her heart as she stared at the first friendly face she’d seen on this island besides Venice’s. They’d finally stumbled on some help. “You’re here! We were trying to get to the radio to find you.”
“Stasou!” Turner exclaimed. “Kalé mou file!” He hurried forward. “This was the last location we were able to ping you.” He took her by the arms.
Livvy sobbed out a cry of joy, feeling the bristles of Turner’s scratchy beard against her neck. Someone hadn’t shaved since the last they saw him, and he looked worried out of his mind when he drew back to study her face. She’d never felt so relieved to see anyone.
“Den boró na to pistépso,” he said. “I’d thought maybe to find your bodies, but… this is much better! Are you okay?”
“Yes! Now I am! It’s a miracle you’re here, Turner!” She was thrilled to finally share this weight with someone who was so capable, and she didn’t even have time to feel relieved. “Venice is bleeding half to death! Achilles… he… uh… well, he tried to murder him down here. That’s what happened.”
“Achilles?” Disbelief clouded Turner’s face at the earth-shattering accusation. “Ochi, those two are like brothers. The duke would never hurt the prince!”
This was just as hard as trying to prove to Venice that his best friend had betrayed him. “He did!” Her grief consumed her at Venice’s loss. “It’s terrible. I know, but I think there’s something bad happening with Achilles’s mother and—and I don’t know, but we have to save Venice!”
