Page 135 of Lightlark
“These waters house ancient, vicious creatures,” he said. “Be on guard.”
The water rippled as he dived into it. Isla took a deep breath and followed him. He swam quickly, out of the main hall and into the corridor. She stayed near the stairs. The ceiling was fifty feet tall, and she was at the top of it, diving down toward a room that looked nearly perfect except for a painting that had slices through it, ribbons of what had been a landscape curling in the water.
Her gaze traced the edges of the floor, beneath the furniture. No sign of any plant. She turned, to try a different room, and almost swallowed a mouthful of water in shock.
A face, lovely and vicious as a nightmare, floated before her.
Half of the girl’s face was scaled; half of her hair had the transparent silkiness of a koi fish’s tail. Her arms and legs were scaled too, creating the effect of submerged silk around her limbs.
Mesmerizing.
Isla squinted. Her mind had suddenly become just as murky as the water. She was there for something ... but she couldn’t quite remember what that was.
The girl smiled and reached out a scale-covered hand with nails sharp as knives.To help,Isla realized.
She didn’t know why ... but she took it.
And the girl led her deep below. Through a bedroom, into a hall. Isla saw the water lilies then, sunken, their roots like braids that went down for yards. Something about them seemed important, but she didn’t know what.
Luckily, she had the girl to lead her. Lead herwhere,though? she wondered.
Something drummed in her ears, an echoing or roaring, as her chest contracted. The pain was muted, as far away as the surface. But the beating continued. Beating like ...
The heart.That was what they were there for, Isla remembered now.
She stopped following, and the girl whipped around. Pulled at her arm.
Isla shook her head, the movement making her dizzy. Her eyes had started to close. She needed something ... air, maybe.
The girl was insistent. She yanked her arm, yanking Isla along.
Something wasn’t right. Isla slipped out of the girl’s grip.
The creature didn’t like that. She whirled around and sliced across Isla’s middle with her razor-sharp nails.
Clouds of crimson stained the water like blotches of ink.
Isla began swimming out of the room again, not knowing anything, but knowing she needed to get away. She made it through the door, back through the bedroom, until she could see the stairs. But the steps were too far, and her legs had gone stiff.
She wasn’t here alone though, she realized, the fog in her mind thinning. She could call to him—
Something pulled her foot so sharply she gasped, swallowing water, and sank again.
It was fire in her throat, burning her lungs, the salt water straight from the sea. She jerked, her organs pleading for air, for relief, just as she turned to look at her feet, at the girl who had claimed her once more.
She grabbed the dagger she had hidden in the middle of her chest, tucked in the wiring of her bra—dropped it. Her free foot caught the blade with her toes.
And she stabbed the dark figure right in the eye.
It hissed, disappearing far below in a flash.
She was at the top of the stone stairs in an instant, coughing up the water from her lungs.
In the air, her head cleared completely.
What happened? she wondered. Why had she followed the girl like a fool?
“That was a night creature,” Oro said somewhere close by. His voice was tight. “They can invade your mind. Shut it down completely.”
