Page 30 of Captured in Love
“We need to find water,” Levi says, reading my mind like he so often does these days. “If people lived down here, there has to be a source, right?”
“Okay,” I say, “but let’s find out who’s screaming first. I can’t take any more of this.”
Levi scouts ahead, moving along the wall of the moat. It’s ten feet high and warm to the touch, the dark volcanic rock smoothed over.
“I found a staircase,” Levi calls a minute later. “No traps that I can see so far.”
We follow him, rounding the base of the volcano. I glance over my shoulder toward the opening that leads back to the entrance chamber. It disappears from view, and my gut clenches in worry. I still have no idea how we’re going to escape through the iron grille that shut us into the tunnel, and we’re stuck down here without food or fresh water.
Raphaël gives me a hand as we climb the tall steps, but I’m still panting by the time I reach the top of the wall.
“Gods.” I push damp hair away from my face. “This city wasnotbuilt for people shorter than six feet.”
A wide bridge starts in front of me, spanning the water. I straighten, then realize Levi and Raphaël have gone quiet. They’re both staring at something…
“What’s that?” I ask, my voice coming out shaky.
Raphaël takes my shoulders and tries to turn me away from the thing, but I slap his hands away and take a step forward, closer to the water’s edge.
Then my brain catches up to what I’m seeing, and bile rises in my throat.
“Oh no,” I gasp.
Ten
Nora
The arched stonebridge leads to a wide courtyard flanked by two great buildings decorated with dragons and other Viking-era carvings. They look like temples or maybe city halls, but I barely pay them any notice.
What holds my attention is a large stone portal on the bridge itself, two dragon-shaped columns supporting a slab of stone that lies horizontally across them. It reminds me of Stonehenge or other pagan sites scattered around Scandinavia and the British Isles, but this one is lit from within, a web of bright-red magic that pulses with power.
And in it, caught like a fly that’s about to become an enormous spider’s dinner, is Isak.
Or at least I assume it’s him, judging by the scraps of blond hair that float in an invisible wind, and his tall, broad-shouldered form. If it is him, though, he’s in bad shape. His skin is blistered and red, his arms flung back, and his back bowed. He’s suspended a foot off the ground, and as I watch, a spasm racks his body, all his muscles tensing and shuddering. He’s also completely naked, the clothes probably burned straight off. He lets out a pained yell, but it soon dies down to a groan. He continues to twitch, as if an electric current ran through him.
Then I catch a whiff of a horrible smell, an acrid stench of charred skin and hair, and my stomach turns. I barely have time to lean over before I throw up. Not much is left in me since our last meal was hours ago, but I dry heave violently. Tears spring to my eyes, and I’m shaking and crying.
Levi holds my hair and rubs my back in soothing circles until I’m ready to straighten up.
I spit out the sticky saliva and wipe my hand over my mouth. “We need to help him.”
Without thinking, I rush for the bridge. There has to be something we can do to help— I stop myself just in time, jerking my hands back from the glowing magic. I can’t. Reaching out for him would probably result in me getting sucked into the spell.
I swivel around and face Levi. “Help him!”
He’s already next to me, his hands raised, palms facing outward. Concentration furrows his brow, and I chew on my lip as I watch him work his magic.
“Fuck!” he bites out, then sucks in a quick breath between his teeth. “It’s too strong—I need to recharge first.”
I bite back a frustrated growl, because he’s already done so much work, scanning for the magic on our way here. Instead, I dig into my wetsuit for the two quartz crystals I pre-charged with some magic back in the guesthouse. “Here.” I shove them into his hands. “This will help.”
He sits on the ground, closes his fingers around the crystals, and sinks into his meditative state.
“Oh man,” he murmurs, “this feels so good. Like holding sunshine.”
My heart does a silly little flip at his words. What he really needs is food, water, and sleep, but I hope he can make do with what we have. I can’t break that spell, and unless we do something quickly, Isakwilldie.
We’d shared a couple of kisses, and being close to him had felt so right, yet he’s still a stranger—and our competition. But I wouldn’t wish what he’s going through on my worst enemy.
