Page 43 of The Curse of Eternity
Watching my steps carefully, I clutched Drake’s hand in mine to keep steady. My boots hit the muddy bottom with a splash, and I shivered at the flecks of water that sprayed my lower legs. This was going to hurt worse than his bite. Drake released my hand only to lean back against the mud-packed wall, and unlaced one of his leather loafers at a time.
I mimicked him, tying my laces together once I’d pulled my boots off, and held the conjoined threads in one hand. When I looked up from the task, I found Drake staring down at me. His gaze tracked from my chest to my now bare feet—more white than I’d ever seen them. Self-conscious concern made me look down to figure out what he was staring at so intently.
The dress was ruined, that much was obvious. Ripped and torn, blood-soaked and muddied, completely unsalvageable. Not that I’d want to keep any reminder of this disgusting place. Drake shook his head.
“Are you currently wearing any undergarments?” he asked, and I blinked. “The current will attempt to drag you down. If you can, you must strip the heavier material.” His hasty explanation seemed self-aware, but I was more focused on the fact that I wasn’t wearinganythingunderneath—not even a bra.
“No,” I whispered, knowing he’d still hear it beneath the scouring wind pulling at my ratty curls to tickle my shoulders.
“May I tear away the superfluous fabric?” His polite request took me off guard. Honestly, after everything we’d been through, and he still managed to be such a gentleman…Could I pick ‘em, or what?
“Whatever we have to do.” I tossed my dirty socks into the river since there was no way I was wearing soggy socks when we made it across.Ifwe made it.
Without hesitation, Drake bent to grasp the green velvet in his hands. Motions a blur, the crisp sound of tearing fabric was stolen by the breeze while he worked. The dress felt significantly lighter when he was done, and the extra material was promptly thrown into the rushing waves. Made sense to get rid of any lingering scents attached to us, but damn it, what the hell were they going to do with the underwear I left in that stupid room they’d held me in?
Orange hues the same color as a camera’s glare slowly traced its way across the lightening sky. If I wasn’t so freaking cold, and determined to get away from this place, I might have stopped to admire it.Guess the views up in the Northern states had their own charm, too.The sky turned a paler shade each passing moment, and Drake extended his hand. His expression was neutral, but doubt flickered behind his eyes as I fastened my fingers over his like they were a lifeline.
Icy water licked at my ankles, and I took a shuddering breath while Drake led me deeper toward the roiling abyss. Only the peaks of each small wave were visible, and it might have looked like a desert landscape between here and the opposite shore if time froze and everything became static.
Instead, the rushing current pulled at my calves even before trudging in a few feet. My knees almost buckled when the freezing water reached them, but I gritted my teeth. I shoved out the inner-voice shouting at me to get back to shore and away from the awaiting torture.
Wind tore at my scattered curls while we waded deeper. The breath in my lungs was punched out by the cold, but I sucked in a short inhale to keep the oxygen flowing. How long would it take for hypothermia to set it? It was too late to worry about that now. I closed my eyes, and took the next step.
Pain iced through my toes and ankles as I slipped on the slimy, pebbly riverbed. The current rushed me, pulling medownstream before I had a chance to start kicking. Clutching to Drake with everything that I had, I felt more than saw when he followed suit. Eyes wide, my head swiveled this way and that to place myself and find the opposite shore.
Rushing water rose to my chin, seeming determined to choke me under. Gasping breaths made my heartbeat pound in my ears as sensation slowly seceded from my limbs while I kicked and clawed my way across in his wake.
“Do not let go. Do you hear me, Maria?” Drake’s voice sounded pleasant to my ringing ears, at odds with the urgency and fear lacing his tone. Then the meaning of his words pierced my fogging thoughts, and I tried to nod.
Except the motion felt fuzzy, my focus blurring while my legs either locked up or lost all feeling from my core downward. Every nerve deadened, yanked along by the river against my will.For fuck’s sake, it was March, why the hell was it so damned cold?
Suddenly my face dipped underwater for a moment that felt like forever. When Drake hauled me closer, his undead existence making him immune to the elements and able to keep kicking for both of us, I coughed on my attempt to breathe in.
“Stay with me,” he muttered, muffled to the point that I might have hallucinated it. “Dear Lord, if you take her then I will lose everything…”
His words became nonsense, and my eyes blinked so slowly. The brightening blue sky turned hazy. My wet eyelashes felt too heavy to keep my eyes open. The current was a pleasant brush against my velvet-clad torso, and my head lolled against Drake’s bobbing shoulder as blissful nothing took me with a sigh.
“I can hear your heartbeat, love. Please wake up. Please, Maria!”
Something clicked into place, and I squeezed my eyes shut against the dim light behind my closed lids. Renewed aches and painful pins-and-needles prickled across my limbs. My fingers flexed, and I tentatively opened my eyes. The next breath I inhaled was cut short when I choked on a cough. My body crunched inward, and then firm but familiar cold hands helped me roll onto my side.
I kept hacking until every dreg of moisture in my lungs was cleared, leaving me to wipe the spit hanging from my lower lip with the back of my hand. Stomach churning and head pounding like a jackhammer, I groaned while my forehead dug into the damp dirt beneath me. Foreign words were whispered too quickly for me to catch. Drake was still at my back, his palm caressing soothing circles along my spine. That actually felt nice. Too bad I had to ruin it.
“What happened?” I croaked, guessing at the answer despite my muddied memory.
“You fainted near the shore,” Drake said, and I dared a glance up at him through my tangled wet curls. His black hair was still dripping, framing the hollows at his temples. Gray skin stretched across his cheekbones, carving out where his cheeks should’ve been. Bloodshot sclera surrounded the unchanged dark irises which seemed to soften when they met mine.
The sight of his relief didn’t help me to fight my rising bile, but I managed to swallow it. Fire scorched down my esophagus, and I exhaled another shaky breath.
“That sucks,” I murmured, pushing myself up on my shaking hands. Drake’s supportive touch fell away, and for some reason, I suddenly wished I’d stayed down. Really, I knewwhyI felt that way, but admitting it was the hard part. Besides, I’d just survived a manor full of bloodthirsty monsters hellbent on killing me and someone I cared about—
Okay, so it wasn’tthathard to admit it.
Excuses flooded my mind. I deserved a little comfort after all the shit that went down. Plus, nobody but me knew what was going on inside my head. Then I looked up at Drake again, and my traitorous heart pounded. He was smiling, his canines stark against taut lips, as thinned as the rest of his flesh in the sunlight. A giddy expression lit his macabre face, and heat climbed my neck.
“What?” I snapped, regretting it immediately, but Drake’s happiness in the face of my warring emotions continued unabated.
“You are alive,” he said, like that was enough reason to be over the moon.
