Page 167 of Where Darkness Falls

As the air drains from me, my eyes are heavy as black spots dance in my vision. I’m resigned to accept my fate when one of the grindylows shrieks as a steel blade pierces through the center of its green chest—a dark black substance leaking from it. The others screech as one of their own sinks to the riverbed. Behind the eelgrass, two figures with piercing amber eyes emerge, swimming to me.

I wish I could sigh in relief to see Emyr and Virgil, but doing so would cost my lungs precious air that I desperately still need.

They’re a few feet from me when the aquatic creatures go into a frenzy, attacking them. I clench my fists as I watch the grindylows try to restrain the leviathan men, but they’re unsuccessful as the two Galrosans sink their blades through every last one of them.

The heaviness of my eyes is too much as the soldiers cut me from my bindings. As my body floats downward, Virgil catches me, swaddling my nearly limp body in his arms. Bending his legs, he vaults us off the riverbed floor, hurtling us at impressive speeds toward the surface. I catch a small glimpse of the gray sky coming into view as my eyes close, allowing the sleep I’ve fought to overtake me.

We dragMaeva’s unconscious body closer to the shore. Though she’s weightless, the exertion has taken its toll on our bodies as we fight to stay afloat in the frigid water. My legs ache from swimming so quickly to flee the sacrificial grounds for the kelpies. I’m sure they’ll be vengeful when they arrive to find their meal no longer there, and some of their minions dead.

Riordan meets us in the water. “Pass her to me,” he says. As we push her toward him, his arms wrap beneath her body, cradling her against his chest. He lifts her quickly, running out of the river. Her body limply sways with his steps, unresponsive to his voice as he talks to her.

Once on land, he lays her down, hovering a hand over her mouth. “She’s not breathing, mates,” he cries. He places two fingers along the side of her neck, shaking his head in disbelief. “I-I can’t find herpulse,” he wails.

She’s not dead.

She can’t be dead.

Laisren quickly drags us onto the shore. Then he hurries over to Riordan’s side, removing his cloak and placing it over Maeva’s blue-tinged body. “We need to warm her up,” he says. Turning his attention back to where Virgil and I lay shivering, he curses under his breath. “They all need warmth before hypothermia sets in.”

Grabbing our cloaks, he throws one over each of our backs, attempting to cover us as much as possible. Virgil and I cough and breathe heavily against the snowy ground, attempting to find the strength to stand. I reach a hand toward Maeva. “Rosey,” I murmur.

She doesn’t respond.

“Maeva, I need you to wake up,” I croak.

Her fingers don’t even twitch.

Laisren starts rhythmic compressions on her chest. “She’s going to be okay,” Laisren answers.

After several seconds, he blows air into her mouth, while holding her nose. He continues this method for several minutes, but she still isn’t breathing.

My body screams as I crawl to her. “Rosey, wake up,” I say.

Panic lingers in Laisren’s features when he’s unable to produce results.

“I see two deaths in this group before the end of three winters,”my mother’s words echo.

Maeva can’t be the one to die. She’s the only one that can fulfill the prophecy. Shehasto survive.

I need her to live.

As Laisren grows weary, Riordan pushes him to the side. “Let me try,” he says.

As Riordan continues the compressions, I grip her hand, reassuringly. Her pallid appendage doesn’t return the gesture.

Heat stings my face as I struggle to breath.

She’s not dead,I tell myself.She’s not.

“Rosey, come back to us,” I whisper. “Please, return to me.”

Riordan is leaning down to breathe air into her lungs when Maeva’s eyes shoot open and water catapults out of her mouth—straight into his face. Laisren rolls Maeva onto her side as she continues to vomit. “That’s it,” Laisren says. “Welcome back, Maeva.”

I sit up, rubbing circles along her back with one hand while my other holds her damp hair out of the way. Tears prick Riordan and Laisren’s eyes—tears of relief that our Rosey is still with us.

“You scared us there for a minute, Mae-Mae,” Riordan scolds.

Maeva slowly sits up, looking around the bank. “Well, perhaps next time you should warn me we’re this close to the Bones River, and I won’t be so careless when closing a door that was left wide open,” she half-heartedly jests.

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