Page 78 of A Dance of Water

Her movements grew feeble. But the roar grew stronger.

Finally, it all… snapped.

Her back bowed as the thing inside her swept outward. The ocean held her like a lover but turned its vengeance against her attacker. Tendrils of water shaped like odd fingers gripped his arms and legs and pulled him up and away from her, leaving her shaking and desperate for air.

Bubbles escaped from her mouth, and her head pounded. She was going to pass out.

Weakly, she kicked to the surface, the water almost lifting her as she broke free with a loud gasp, greedily inhaling air.

As she whipped her head around, searching for the male, her wet hair stuck to her cheeks and mouth.

She finally saw his motionless body on the shore.

The threads cried; her eyes burned. And a large shadow was cast upon the snow on the sand.

Wingbeats.

A twisted version of a knight in shining armor she used to read and dream of, Luella stared as Vale came to her rescue.

The dragon crashed against the shore, and he shifted back into a male. She saw flashes of skin in the dark, and she swam for the beach, lungs aching and body sore as she finally felt sand under her and could stand fully, feet trudging onward.

Water dripped from her skin, her dress clinging to her body.

For the first time in what felt like years, she was cold.

Shivers wracked her frame as she left the water’s embrace. Listing to the side, a small wave swelled against her back and gently pushed her forward, helping her to the shore.

She fell to her knees, blanketed by the snow.

Vale stormed toward her, nude and uncaring. She didn’t even have the faculties to avert her eyes, glimpsing a flash of gorgeously tanned skin before she met his piercing green gaze.

The call in her soul swelled like ocean waves, and she saw the others running with abandon toward the snowy shore.

Vale knelt by her side, a hand against her shoulder as he supported her. "Luella. Are you alright?" he asked. Or she thought he might have if she could’ve heard him—sounds were distant.

Her lips were blue, skin deathly pale.

With aching lungs and trembling limbs, not just from exhaustion but frompower, she could only say breathlessly, "I think I used my magic."

PART II

BLIND

22

SILENCED

LUELLA

Awarm blanket wrapped around Luella’s shoulders, and she gave a soft smile in thanks, hands curling in the ends and wrapping it tighter around her.

Az held her desperately, he hadn’t let her go since they left the beach. Her lungs still ached, and every time she breathed, her nostrils stung with the memory of saltwater. Her skin was raw and red with the cold, lips chapped and blue, fingers and toes white. Another violent shiver wracked her, and she found herself missing the heat that had held her captive the last few days…

The sudden cold was unexplainable, but more so was the vivid fear in the eyes of the males crowded around her.

A hot cup of tea pressed into her hands. "Drink," Tharen demanded.

She brought the cup to her lips, eyes fluttering as she sipped it delicately. The hot liquid filled her mouth and soothed down her throat, filling her whole body with a pleasant warmth, working to dispel the frost in her lungs.

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