Page 35 of The Last De Loughrey Dynasty

I couldn’t breathe.

Suffocating.

I was suffocating.

I was so scared.

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

DOROTHEE

Hands gripped my shoulders,and though it felt like the body I was in wasn’t my own, I somehow managed to peel open my eyes as the large hands began to shake me in the weightless space we were in. My vision was a blur, and I wasn’t sure if I was dreaming, because there was a boy looking at me with concern in his dark eyes.

Had he come here for me? But that seemed odd. No one ever came for me, not even when I called. I was always on my own.

I was startled awake by the pain of a thousand needles poking through my limbs. I looked straight at the boy who had come for me. It wasn’t a stranger, but a familiar face—one that haunted me just as much when I was asleep as when I was awake.

Archer’s black hair spilled around him like a halo of darkness, and his hazel eyes burned into my heart, full of anger. It was as though he was angry withme.

Time around us seemed frozen. The water stopped pulling me down, and my heartbeat slowed as the boy in front of me held me with such an intense grip, it was as if he feared I might slip through his fingers again if he loosened his hold.

The moment lingered for less than a minute, but it felt like infinity. But when we broke through the surface, the bubble burst, and fresh air filled my lungs. I couldn’t decide if the sensation of inhaling water had hurt as much as being able to breathe again. Every breath was pure agony. I couldn’t stop coughing up the ice-cold water, gasping to catch air at the same time. If Archer hadn’t extended his arm around my waist, I would have been pulled under again, as I had no strength left. His other hand patted my back, not too gently, and I whimpered as I coughed, but I was half-aware that he was only trying to help me breathe. Holding my head up straight was difficult. Against my will, it landed on his shoulder as I tried to flush the water from my lungs and clear my eyes.

“Hold on to me,” Archer demanded. His arm let go of my waist, leaving a strange emptiness behind. I sank for a second before fisting my hands in his shirt, not daring to touch him. It wasn’t that I was afraid of him, but rather afraid of how his touch made me long for more. I could have lain against his shoulder for hours, ignoring the shivering and the spinning in my head, just because he was here, holding me.

All I longed for was to lie down somewhere and rest, until the throbbing pain that lingered in every inch of my body disappeared. But I couldn’t give up. Even when there was barely any strength left in my body, I wouldn’t let weakness get the best of me. So, I held my head up and fought the urge to cry.

Archer sighed, adjusting my hands and moving them up to his shoulders, where I had a safer grip.

I noticed something glinting in his hand, and it took me a moment to realise it was my necklace. With a trembling hand, I touched the centre of my chest, trying to prove myself wrong. It wasn’t possible that I could have lost the necklace. I had worn it in the shower and while sleeping. I had never lost it before. Yet, my chest felt empty.

“How…?” I frowned, puzzled. “How did I lose it?”

Archer didn’t respond immediately.

“Gwyn,” he muttered, putting the necklace back around my neck.

He was truly angry with me.

But what had I done to earn his anger?

“How did you find me?” There were a million thoughts and questions racing through my mind, but all I could ask was how he knew where I had gone. How he had been able to save me.

“You disappeared. I’ll explain when we’re back at school. Let’s just say, asking about the tale of the Fox and the Doe might have saved your life tonight.”

My teeth chattered as another shiver ran through me, and Archer helped me up, his arm around my waist again, steadying me. I felt awful. How long had I been in the water to feel this drained?

“I’m sorry, Dottie, I really am. But you have to understand that—” Gwyn stood on the bridge, holding the railing while her dry hair swayed in the icy wind.

“You tried to drown her. She won’t understand any of your damn mind games, Gwyneth!” Archer interrupted, full of anger. Perhaps the anger in his eyes wasn’t meant for me.

A chill ran through my body, and I whispered, “Can you see her?”

Archer’s eyes were fixed on the person I had falsely called a friend. The thought of trusting Gwyn so completely overwhelmed me. I had called her home. And she had betrayed me in the worst way.

“There was a reason I told you, you aren’t mental,” Archer replied, his voice low. It was the only answer I needed. It was enough to make my heart skip a beat. There was someone else—someone with the same curse I had been born with.

For the first time in my life, I didn’t feel alone.

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