Page 97 of Curse the Fae

“They can see us,” I say once sanity returns.

“They will think I am tormenting you,” he dismisses.

“You are. I’m sufficiently tormented.”

His lips skate across the sensitive crook behind my ear. “As am I.”

I want to swallow those words. I want them on my tongue.

Even so, “What did you expect?”

Elixir turns, grips the rim until his knuckles strain, and speaks to the waves thrashing below. “Not. This,” he bites out.

Conflicted emotions tangle between us, cinching tightly to the point of suffocation.

What will it be? Desire or anger? Collaborators or competitors?

Lovers or enemies? Friends or foes?

Sink or swim? Win or lose?

That horn blares from one of the ships, and the crafts anchor, bobbing in place beneath the Middle Moon.

Elixir straightens, his teeth clenching. “Hand Lotus to me.”

I spin toward him. “What?”

“It is time. He cannot race with you, but he will be safe here. Hand him to me.”

My heart hammers. I pet my companion’s head and whisper, “I’ll see you soon. Promise.”

I lift my bicep, and Lotus listens to whatever Elixir communicates, then my friend uncoils and winds his brown-marbled body around Elixir’s forearm. The ruler settles Lotus on a cushioned bench, where Coral stands post and regards us with a shrewd twinkle in her eyes.

Elixir strides ahead, saying as he passes me, “Relinquish what you consider useless.”

The spear warrants debate, but I can’t race one-handed, and Elixir isn’t armed with forked daggers, either. I remove my sandals and blush while untying the skirt, only the clingy suit remaining. I offer the items and my weapon to Coral, ignore the weight of Scorpio’s snide glare from the neighboring ship, and catch up to Elixir, falling into step with him.

On the way, Elixir strips off his robe and lets it puddle to the floor. We mount two ramps with springboards extending over the river. In a terrible dose of reality, mist sprays my face from below.

Logic wrestles to catch up. “I don’t know where to go.”

“Straight,” Elixir says under his breath. “Always straight until you reach The Creep of Tortoises. It is an impasse. You will recognize it.”

Poised on the ship’s planks, we hover side by side above the mouth of a wild current swirling below, the depth about to consume us. Silhouettes of finned creatures slice through the depth, and the sharp cave walls arch overhead, stalactites piercing from the dome like tusks.

Elixir snatches my hand and squeezes it. “You have infuriated the fuck out of me tonight.”

“I know,” I say.

“And you shall pay for this.”

“I know that.”

“Cove, I…”

Because we don’t have a choice anymore, and because I don’t know what awaits us at the bottom of the abyss, I squeeze his fingers back and speak gently. “I knowthat, too.”

His shaky thumb brushes my wrist. It takes Elixir a moment to recover. “Do not tarry. Keep to the west side,” he rushes out, nipping his chin in that direction. “The current is lighter. At the waterfalls, pass through the central cascade, and hold your breath for as long as you can. Do not touch the stingrays. If you founder, reach for me. I shall be close.” The water lord hunches into a diving position. “For as long as you can. Whatever you do. Heed this warning.”

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