Page 51 of Captured in Love
But Levi’s staring at me with what I think is a mixture of horror and awe. He’s never seen me use this kind of spell, and I can tell he has realized what it does. He must have felt the power I drew from Isak, so he knows just how powerful this bomb is.
I swallow down any guilt and jerk my head at them.Move away.
They swim to safety behind Isak’s big body, and I near the grille, working my legs to push myself right up to the metal. Through the openings, a glimmer of what might be daylight shines through the gloom. It’s freedom, so close but out of reach.
The witch sees the ball of magic in my hands, retreats a couple of feet, and reaches for one of the crystals at his waist.
I don’t wait for him to activate the spell. I push the spell out with all my strength, using the magic I siphoned from Isak to propel it forward. Then, just as it’s about to collide with the stranger, it detonates in a supernova of angry red light.
I push myself away from the grille, slap my hand on Isak’s flank, and throw up a shield of power to protect us from the magical shrapnel. It spreads around us, a net of sky-blue sparkles, and absorbs the stray tendrils of that spell. I hadn’t had time to calculate the magnitude needed to get rid of the witch, so I overdid it just in case.
The magical bomb slowly dissipates, residual power flowing back into the ground, spent and harmless. I let the shield drop and stare out into the darkened tunnel beyond.
It’s empty.
The witch is gone.
Eighteen
Nora
We all moveat the same time, crowding up to the portcullis. I want to help more, get that grille out of the way and swim the hell out of here, but Raphaël gently nudges me aside. Then a large paw closes around me and tugs me back. Isak’s golden eyes reflect the beam of light as I scoot even farther away to give them room to work.
Because of Isak’s large form, I don’t see exactly what they do, but minutes later, Levi climbs on Isak’s back and motions me to get behind him. The moment the portcullis settles back into its open position, Isak takes off, swimming through the tunnel.
The light I thought was daylight turns out to be an LED light on the floor of the tunnel, the first in a row of several that the witch must have placed there to illuminate his way. We follow them out, and Levi’s pulses of magic swipe past me as he checks that the coast is clear.
Then we emerge from the passageway and into the open water. A school of fish swims past, and Isak snaps several up, his great jaws making quick work of them. I can’t imagine how much fuel he needs to keep this body going, and that’s without me using up his magic. I want to ask him so many questions and learn everything about him.
I might even get a chance if we meet in Greece again.
My heart thumps harder at the idea of inviting him to travel with us. He’s a competitor, yes, but surely after everything we’ve been through we’ve become…friends?
Isak suddenly twists beneath us, and we’re loose, floating away from his back. He glances over his shoulder and takes off, his form disappearing in the gloomy water.
Shocked, I stare after him, then turn to face my guys. Levi shrugs, an exaggerated gesture to show he has no clue what just happened. Raphaël’s dark eyes reveal nothing of his thoughts, and he busies himself with checking our pressure gauges and wrist computers.
As much as I want to swim straight to the surface and find our boat, we can’t ascend too quickly. We dovedeepinto that tunnel, and I definitely don’t want to suffer from decompression sickness.
We make our slow way to the surface, pausing at the right intervals. We switch out our air cylinders for reserves successfully. A cramp grips my calf from having to move constantly to stay in one place, and I twist into a pretzel to massage it out with numb, clumsy fingers. Then Levi nudges me in the shoulder. He unzips the top of his wetsuit and pulls out Isak’s golden token.
I stare at it, then at Levi.What the hell…?
Raphaël touches my elbow, takes the white tablet from my harness, and writes on it, then shows it to us.
HE WENT AFTER THE WITCH
Oh.
Of course. He couldn’t let the strange witch escape with the knowledge that sea dragons still exist.
That means he would have to…
I swallow thickly and look at Raphaël. He gives me a resigned nod, confirming my line of thought.
Isak would need to kill the witch to make sure he didn’t repeat what he saw here.
The rush of adrenaline and endorphins from our successful escape now melts away, and fear and worry replace them. This fucking competition. I wish I’d never heard of the Ballendial Library, that I’d never had the absolutely crazy idea to get into the Games. No matter how important my plan to make magical knowledge accessible to everyone, it’s not worth the lives of people I love.
