Page 499 of Shadowblood Souls
We meander out the side door into the grayish sunlight beneath a thinly clouded sky. The breeze whips through the strands of my hair that’ve fallen loose from my short ponytail, licking a sharp chill across my skin and making me wish I’d stopped to grab my jacket from my bedroom.
I might have gone back inside to get it if the scene in front of me didn’t freeze my legs under me a moment later, for reasons that have nothing to do with the cold air.
The two workers have gone over to the pool, yes. One of them is dipping the giant net into the water to scoop out stray leaves and twigs that have blown in.
The other has opened a panel in the tiles around the pool’s edge and is twisting something beneath it.
A faint gurgle reaches my ears. It fades away a moment later, but a sickly sensation remains in my gut.
The man straightens up and brushes his hands together. “Make sure you get all of it,” he says to his companion. “Boss doesn’t want any crud left in the bottom.”
Left in the bottom… after the water’s gone?
Riva stays silent, but her hand tightens around mine. How the hell are we going to carry out our plan if we haven’t got the pool to shelter in?
I can’t tell yet if the waterline is descending, but it seems unwise to simply stand there and stare. We wander toward the wall along the edge of the grounds.
Worries whirl through my head. We’ll have to readjust our entire plan. We can’t even talk about it if we don’t have the water to cover our voices.
Can I get away with the trick of writing it out again? Even the first time was risky, knowing we could be interrupted and caught.
My distress must be loud enough for Griffin to not only pick up on it but get concerned himself. We’re just circling back toward the villa when the other four guys emerge, Griffin’s expression shadowed with concern and the others looking uncertain.
He won’t have wanted to tell them why he was suggesting they come out here, but they’ll have been able to tell it wasn’t to celebrate a victory.
Andreas cocks his head at me and Riva with one of his wry smiles. “Decided to have a party out here without the rest of us?”
Riva rubs her arm through her hoodie. “Not much of a party. We just got tired of being cooped up in there, you know.”
I’m debating whether I should overtly point out the pool, but Zian has already glanced in that direction. His stance stiffens. “What are they doing over there?”
It’s now obvious to me that the water is sinking. It looks at least a foot lower than it was when we first came out.
Fucking hell.
Jacob’s shoulders tense too, but I don’t hear anything breaking nearby, so maybe he’s gotten his telekinesis a little better under control.
Griffin’s lips purse in a grimace. “It looks like they’re emptying the pool.”
The man who opened the drain has replaced the panel that conceals the controls. The guy with the net appears to have finished his cleanup. They stride away without any sign that they’re aware they may have signed our death sentence.
We let ourselves meander toward the pool. I watch the level of the water dip slowly but surely lower.
“So much for swim time,” Jacob mutters before lapsing into a moody silence.
None of the rest of us knows what to add. We stand there like mourners at a funeral.
That image is a little more accurate than I’d like. Itcouldbe our funeral, literally.
Can I shield us against a fire strong enough that Rollick expects it to wipe out all our enemies without the extra help of all that water? The thought of protecting just our wet heads seemed a lot less intimidating than cloaking our entire, totally flammable bodies.
I wasn’t even sure I could do the easier version without having to heal up injuries while I did.
The water keeps sinking. When it’s around knee-level, Riva sighs and turns around.
She halts, going still, and we all jerk around to see what’s caused her reaction.
Toni is walking over to join us, her arms crossed loosely over her chest.Shehad the sense to wear a jacket—a trim wool one that seems to emphasize her professional air.
