Page 75 of Run of Ruin

Briar.

Her face appeared through the haze, eyes wide in horror as she took in the sight of me, blood clouding the water, my trembling, unsteady limbs. Her hand reached out, catching my shoulder.

I tried to warn her, to shake my head, but Devrin’s hands closed around my waist from behind, yanking me back with bruising force. Briar dove forward, trying to fight off the manic who’d attacked me.

I forced myself not to scream. To save my breath. My fingers tightened around the two decoy objects in my grip, and with what little fight I had left, I shoved them hard into Devrin’s chest, forcing him to take them.

He hesitated, just for a moment, then ripped them from my grasp and kicked off, swimming away toward the tunnels we’dcome from.

Briar moved after him instantly, ready to give chase, but I grabbed her arm, my weak grip barely enough to hold her.

I shook my head and her gaze snapped to mine.

She took one look at the state I was in, the blood still spilling from my head, and grabbed my wrist, pulling me with her. Good. Because my limbs were starting to give up, heavy and useless.

She dragged me through the water, fast and relentless, until we broke into a larger chamber, one with a pocket of air near the ceiling.

The moment we broke the surface, I gasped, choking on the stale, precious air as Briar hauled me into the tiny air pocket of the chamber. The cold, red tinted water lapped at my chin, and my arms felt like dead weight, but her hold was strong, steady, anchoring me in place. Her chest heaved against mine, breath ragged and fast as though she’d been the one bleeding out.

“Hollis, come here,” she rasped, voice breaking on my name. “You scared the absolute shit out of me.”

Her arms clutched me tighter, one hand at the back of my head, careful of the wound, the other around my waist, holding me flush against her like if she let go, I’d slip away forever. Her chin rested against my damp hair as we both fought to catch our breath.

For the first time in what felt like hours, warmth sparked somewhere inside me.

“Are you okay?”

“Alive, yes” I managed weakly, a ghost of a smile on my lips, “Okay? Debatable.”

I felt her laugh, a soft, strangled sound, more relief than humor.

“What the fuck just happened?” she asked, her voice a mixture of fear and fury.

I leaned my head against her shoulder, the exhaustion catching up to me. “Devrin,” I whispered. “He attacked me… tried to take the pieces I’d found.”

I felt her entire body tense, the water shifting around us. Her breathing hitched and when she pulled back, I could see the storm in her eyes, the rage, the terror of almost losing me.

Without a word, Briar reached down to her wetsuit, fingers fumbling at the seam of her pant leg. She yanked at the fabric, tearing a long, jagged strip free. Her hands were shaking. She cradled my head in her palm and carefully began wrapping the makeshift bandage around the gash at the back of my head.

It stung, and I winced, but the pressure steadied the spinning world.

“This’ll keep pressure on it,” she murmured, eyes flicking to mine. “It’s still gonna bleed, but it’ll buy us time. We need to get you out of here.”

I nodded, my throat thick with emotion. I opened my mouth to thank her, to crack some weak joke, to say something, but she was already moving.

Her hand cupped my cheek, fingers sliding into my hair, and before I could breathe another word, she kissed me.

It wasn’t careful, wasn’t sweet or hesitant. It was desperate and fierce, trembling and alive. A collision of mouths. Water, blood and terror still clinging to us both. It was the kind of kiss you gave someone when you thought you might never see them again.

And because I needed this and I needed her, I kissed her back.

My hands fisted into the front of her wetsuit, pulling her closer as life bloomed inside me again, a warmth that spread through my aching body, chasing away the numbness. The world narrowed to the heat of her lips, the sharp, uneven wayshe breathed against my mouth, the taste of water and copper and fear. The feel of her breasts pressed against mine.

When she finally pulled back, her forehead rested against mine, both of us panting, and for a moment, nothing else existed.

“Don’t do that to me again,” she whispered, voice breaking. “I swear to God, Hollis.”

I smiled, small and pained but real. “Not part of the plan, I promise.”

---