Page 8 of The Twisted Throne

But the striped female circled back and shot past Ahnna’s shoulder, powerful jaws closing around the man’s torso, turning the world red.

It would be a frenzy. Ahnna knew it. Had seen it.

She needed to get William out of the water.

Twisting, Ahnna searched the depths and found him motionless as instructed, watching. At her gesture, he rose to the surface.

“There’s an opening to a tunnel about ten feet down,” she said with her first breath of air. “Follow it for about another twentyfeet, and you’ll reach an open chamber. There are stairs leading to the surface.”

“Is there any light?”

There was tension in his voice, and Ahnna was tempted to lie. Anything to get him to safety. Except the last thing she needed was him panicking in the unexpected darkness. “No. But the alternative is being eaten. These sharks have been raised on the flesh of men, and there is enough blood in the water that they’ll attack anything that moves.”

Clouds of smoke from the burning ship drifted past them, and in the distance, a shipbreaker deployed with a loud crack. Then another. “They’re firing warning shots at your other ship. We need to hurry.”

He gave a tight nod. “I’ll follow you.”

Ahnna took several rapid breaths, then filled her lungs as full as she could before diving deep.

William did the same, swimming next to her as the sea tugged them back and forth, mercifully calm today, though that could change in an instant.

Ahnna searched the smooth rock of the island for the opening that had been cut generations ago. It had been years since she’d swum this route—Aren had once done it on a dare, and she’d been unwilling to let him go alone—but some things one couldn’t forget.

Usually the terrifying things.

Catching sight of a shadow of a deeper shade of black, she grabbed William’s sleeve and gestured. He hesitated, then nodded, following her into the cave.

The only darkness she’d ever experienced like this was that inside the bridge.

Except inside the bridge, one couldbreathe.

Terror bit at Ahnna’s heels as she pulled herself through the tunnel, the rocks slimy where they weren’t sharp, her hands bruising and slicing open as she blindly reached for the next handhold. Logically, she knew the large sharks wouldn’t pursue into the tight tunnel, but she kept waiting for teeth to close around her legs, for the sharp pain of her bones being split and her flesh rendered.

They didn’t hurt Lara,she reminded herself.Why would they hurt you?

Because you failed. Because you didn’t protect Ithicana.

Ahnna turned her guilt into strength, clamping her bloodied hands around the rock and climbing. The tunnel bent upward, and she dragged herself along as fast as she could, feeling William’s hands bump against her bare feet.Just get him out,she told herself.That’s all you need to do.

But would it be enough? What if the Harendellians believed the attack was Ithicana’s doing? What if they’d seen her push William into the water and not understood why? What if the battle had already begun?

Everyone who mattered to her was fighting for their lives on the pier, and she needed William to help her stop it.

The tunnel widened, her hands no longer knocking against rock. Her fear only grew as she lost her perception of up and down in the open space. Breathing out bubbles, she felt them brush against her nose. Then her forehead. She followed them, her head finally breaking the surface. Sucking in a breath, Ahnna braced her hands on the sides of the space and heaved upward.

Only for her skull to smack against something hard.

Hissing in pain, Ahnna closed her fingers over cold metal bars.

No.

There was a surge of motion next to her. William broke the surface, only her grasping his shoulder keeping him from slamminghis head against the bars the way she had. He dragged in breath after breath, broad chest pressed against hers in the narrow confines as he asked, “Which way?”

“Back the way we came.”

The silence was thick enough to cut, then he said, “Pardon?”

“They’ve installed bars since last I was here. Likely because we gave up this route to Harendell to use for the retaking of Northwatch from the Maridrinians.” Ahnna silently cursed Northwatch’s commander, Mara, who had neglected to disseminate the upgrade to the island’s defenses.

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