Page 91 of Hooked on a Witch
Chapter Twenty-two
“Are you going to continue acting like a baby or are you actually going to do something?”
Merck’s head snapped around to stare at the end of his dock. Bythos calmly strolled his way wearing a flamboyant Hawaiian shirt and linen pants. His bare feet made no noise as he approached.
“You here to kill me this time?”
Bythos held his hands away from his body to demonstrate no weapons. “I’m here to clean up the mess, as usual.”
“I tried to heal her. Nothing happened. Can’t you do something for her?”
“Not my thing. You were judged.”
“What does that mean?”
“It means stop being a dumbass and try again.” Bythos crossed his arms and stared.
“But I’m still here.”
“Yes. You are. You were judged.”
“They’re not going to send me to Hades?”
“Guess not.”
Try again? Maybe he needed to be in the water with Shannon for it to work. He scooped her into his arms and paced to the end of the dock. He met Bythos’s gaze for a moment, finding no confirmation this was the right move. Bythos looked simultaneously entertained and bored.
As he passed Bythos, Merck muttered, “I really don’t like you right now.”
“I know, but you’ll like me even less if you keep flapping your lips and she dies.” Bythos leaned casually against a piling and picked at his nails.
“Shannon, you with me?” Merck jostled her.
Her eyes blinked open, but then drifted shut.
“I need you to hold on. Take a deep breath. We’re going under.”
***
Her body lit on fire, jolting her to consciousness. A scream crested, but Shannon quickly closed her mouth when water flooded inside. Something held her underwater. Drowning her.
Her head broke free of the ocean’s surface. She thrashed, coughed up water, and gulped in air. Her toes couldn’t touch ground. Whatever tried to drown her still restrained her.
“I’ve got you. Stop struggling. Here…” The cuffs around her wrists magically disappeared.
She grabbed at Merck, panicked in the water.
“You’re fine. I swear.” His hands cradled her head above the water, allowing her to breathe.
“Why are we in the water again?” His dock sat a hundred yards or more away.
“I thought I’d lost you,” he whispered. “But I didn’t.”
“Your healing worked? I thought you couldn’t…”
“Yeah, me too, but second time’s the charm.” In a blink, they were on the dock.
“How’d you do that?” She shifted in his arms since he still hadn’t let her go.
