Page 124 of Drawn in Blood
“Let me rephrase,” Fen huffed, as he stood up, slinging his arms in the air. “Where is theexitto the cave?”
Ember let out a shaky breath, panic building in her chest. This wasn’t on the map, not specifically anyway. They expected to find a cave on the other side of the mountain, but instead, they were underwater. Her heart rate quickened as she searched for another exit, but there wasn’t one. They were trapped.
“It’s an underwater cave,” Rowan mumbled, as she shook her head. “We’ll have to swim.”
“We don’t know how far it goes.” Fen shook his head. “It could be miles long.”
“We’ve run out of options, Fenrir,” Rowan replied.
“I will not send these children to their deaths,” he hissed. “Maybe we can… dig our way out.”
“Just because it pops into your head,” Rowan rolled her eyes, “doesn’t mean we need to hear it.”
“Enough,” Killian hissed, “save your bickering for when we’re out of this hell hole.”
Theo squeezed Ember’s hand. “Potion,”he signed.
“What potion?” Rowan asked, as she furrowed her brow.
“Breath of the Deep!” Odette grinned.
“The potion we made in Herbal Magic?” Killian asked, as he cocked his brow.
“If we take some, everyone can get out of the cave without having to hold their breath.” Fen nodded, beaming like he had come up with the greatest plan in the world.
“Well, unless the ingredients are air, rock, and water,” Rowan replied, “I don’t think we have the things necessary to complete it.”
Fen’s face fell, shoving his hands in his pocket as he nodded. Theo squeezed Ember’s hand again and pointed to her bag.
“I don’t have enough,” she replied, as she shook her head, pulling the vial from the bag. “It won’t be enough for everyone, too many people would be left behind.”
“So, we’re back to square one then,” Fen sighed.
Ember sat on a rock at the back of the cave, laying her head in her palms. They hadn’t planned for this, hadn’t talked about what would happen if they got to the end and had nowhere else to go. They were trapped, their only options to dive into the water and pray or head back into the waiting claws of the devil above them. As a tear slid down Ember’s cheek, stinging the gash left by Collum’s knife, the water in the pool rippled, something beneath it breaking the surface.
Ember shot up, pulling Theo behind her as she peered below. “Maren!” Ember almost shrieked, as the Merrow smiled up at her. Ember shook her head as she grinned. “I don’t understand. How did you?—"
Then, another Merrow broke the surface of the glistening pool.
“I owe you a life debt, Ember Lothbrok.” Gaelen smiled up at her. “I could not leave my family to fend for themselves.”
A tear slid down Ember’s cheek as she grinned, squeezing Theo’s hand as he squeezed hers.
Family.
The blood of the covenant is thicker than the water of the womb.
“Thank you,” Ember whispered, chest shaking.
Several more Merrow popped up, and Ember, Killian, Rowan, and Fen began lowering children into the water, handing one to each Merrow. They spoke spells over them, no need for a potion to give them breath under water, and one by one, they swam out of sight, into the belly of the mountain—to freedom.
Gaelen stayed back, the last to leave with a little blond boy clinging to her neck. “I’ll come back for you,” she said, as she looked at the seven still on the shore, “We’ll come back and?—"
“No.” Ember stopped her as she shook her head. “I have enough potion to get us out. Stay with the children and keep them safe, please.”
Gaelen nodded her head. It wasn’t a command, but she regarded it as such. “We will be waiting for you on the other side. Swim through the cave, and there is a cavern on the other side. The potion should get you there with enough breath, but swim quickly.”
“We will,” Ember whispered, and then Gaelen was gone, disappearing before they could blink. Ember pulled the vial out of her bag, handing it to Fen first. “One drop should do the trick,” she said, as they each passed it between one another. Maeve, Fen, Odette, and Theo all took theirs, and Theo squeezed Ember’s hand.
