Page 16 of Ruthless Scoundrel
I lean back, digging my fingers into the slick, sharp rocks as I work to wedge my heels into any crevice, trying to find anything to slow us. But there’s nothing. My feet slip and my fingers bleed. There’s no stopping this.
I’d gotten so close…
My heart thunders as the black abyss yawns before us. “Oh, fuck!”
“I hate you so fucking mu—aah!” Reina screams.
The sensation of freefall swells inside me like high tide. We leave the slippery cliff’s edge behind and plummet into darkness. My fingers burn, but I can think of nothing else to do but clutch Reina closer, protect her, shield her with my body. This is my fault. She shouldn’t be going through this.
My feet slap against the ground, but push through it. We go under, the water rushing in around us. My magic unfurls instantly, and I sense the space. It’s an aquifer. A collection of rainwater that’s drained down here over centuries.
Water!I laugh.
Not rocks. Not death.
Fresh water.
Reina’s muffled scream draws me from my excitement. I kick off the bottom and swim to the surface.
She gasps deeply when we breach and then begins to thrash. “Let go!”
There’s no way she could swim with her hands bound. “You’ll drown—”
“NOW!”
I push her out of my arms and watch as she barely treads water. The copper chains are too heavy, preventing her from making the broader strokes she would need to escape—not that she can see the shore in this darkness.
I allow my legs to return to their natural shape and sigh as my body half-shifts. It would be easy to swim closer to her with my fin, but I keep my distance, even though she’s not going to make it.
To the right there’s a cave that goes under the island. The water follows this path, too, all the way to the sea. Our route out of here, if I can get her moving in the right direction.
Reina curses, spitting up water while she flails.
“Let me help you,” I say, inching closer.
“I’d rather die,” she snaps.
She uses both hands at the same time to paddle toward the wall, kicking her legs in tandem. She’s still barely keeping her head above water. There’s nothing for her at the wall. It’s covered in slick moss and will offer no holds.
Her head goes under and she thrashes back up only to spit water and gasp.
“You’re going to drown, you daft woman,” I say, swimming beside her with ease.
“Fuck you,” she gurgles.
She reaches the wall and it’s as I predicted; it’s slick and gives her no purchase.
Her head goes under and she doesn’t come back up.
“Nol’Ther help me,” I mutter, then dive after her.
She tries to punch me in the face when I get close. Luckily for me, she hasn’t done a lot of underwater combat and is far too slow. I loop her arms over my head, holding the chains at my neck, and then swim back to the surface.
“Get off me!” she says with her remaining air when we breach.
“You’reonme,” I say, matter-of-factly.
She growls like an animal and wriggles, trying to free her arms to no avail. Her feet bump my tail and suddenly she stills.
