Page 57 of Shadow Master
There he was, the pragmatic man who’d found a place in my heart as a friend and then blossomed into more. Harmon knew how to focus to get shit done, and right now, he was controlling his urge to smash something.
Way to put it into perspective. “Athos will carry Lugh across.” Lugh arched a brow at my use of his name. “What? You’re notmyliege.”
Athos padded toward Lugh and waited patiently while the king climbed onto his back.
Hold on, the hound said.
Lugh looked at me.
I crossed my arms. “He says to hold on.”
Athos sank into the water with Lugh clinging to his back. Fear tightened the lines of Brady’s face, and then Athos was swimming across the water toward the pedestal. He was a strong swimmer. Fast. They were halfway across when my eye caught movement in the water to their left. A ripple rushing toward them.
Something else was in the water with them.
The water rippled in a streamline toward Lugh and Athos. Something was moving fast beneath the surface of the lake.
I took a step forward. “Watch out! To your left.”
Lugh turned his head to see the ripple a moment before it hit. He let out a bellow, and then they were gone.
The surface of the water stared back at us, smooth as glass.
“What the fuck?” Harmon said.
But I was already running toward the lake.
“Justice!” Hyde called out in alarm.
I blurred, and then the water was closing around me. Clear on top, murky below. I dove, scanning the depths. Where were they? A flash of shadow beneath me. I kicked out, swimming into darkness. My vision took a moment to adjust, and then the underwater world was shades of gray. Grappling shapes emerged—Athos’s massive form and Brady’s large frame, but they weren’t alone. Two other forms were with them, hanging on to them—slender, gray, skeletal, and bald. Their upper bodies were humanoid, but their lower halves were fish-like, and their arms were wrapped around Athos and Brady.
They were trying to drag them farther down. To drown them. My head whipped round as a figure appeared to my right.
Hyde.
He was here.
We attacked the humanoid creatures together.
I went for the creature attached to Brady’s form, while Hyde helped Athos. Punching and kicking wouldn’t work here. Instead, I grabbed the creature’s head and yanked it back hard enough to crack its neck.
The creature went limp, and Lugh was free, but he was sinking. His eyes had fluttered closed. I needed to get him back to the surface. I made a grab for him, grappling to get a purchase on him before kicking for the surface. Athos swam up beside us. He was free. Where was Hyde? There to my left.
The rising panic shattered as we broke the surface together. We made it to the island, but Lugh wasn’t breathing.
He lay still and pale, his lips tinged blue.
Fuck! “No.”
Hyde pushed me aside and began CPR, alternating between compressions and mouth-to-mouth. Long seconds ticked by, and then Lugh rolled onto his side, spluttering and coughing up water.
Oh, thank God.
Hyde grimaced and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. “He’ll live.”
I gripped Hyde’s free hand and squeezed, relief rushing through me.
Lugh sat up and ran a hand over his face. “Well, that was … interesting.”
