Page 177 of A Crown of Tears and Treason
Halfway across the river, the starved vine snapped, and I fell into the darkness.
Chapter
Fifty-Six
EVIE
Dirty, putrid water engulfed me.
On instinct, I opened my eyes.
A grave mistake. I couldn’t see anything and my eyes stung as if someone had tried to scratch them out of my skull.
I delved lower and lower, lungs screaming.
Kick. Kick to the surface.
I knew how to swim. I’d loved it before I’d almost drowned–the last time I’d ever been engulfed by water.
That same hopeless sensation from when I’d been five took over me. The surface of the water was suddenly glass and I couldn’t break through, no matter how hard I thrashed. I opened my mouth to scream. Nothing but horrified bubbles escaped.
Nobody could hear me.
Nobody could help.
Why fight it?a voice slithered in my mind. A memory from back in my grandpa’s pool. A frightening echo, trying to drag me into the depths.
My muscles were rigid and useless. Cold. So cold. I would die here.
Good.
A massive splash tore me from the ghost of the memory, dragging me back into reality.
This wasn’t my grandpa’s pool and I wasn’t a child. The river yanked me further down, a looming shadow slashing through the water, straight at me.
I kicked the cloudy water with all my might, hands frantic to get me to safety. My lungs were on the brink of bursting.
The closer I got to the surface, the more my fear threatened to suffocate me. I couldn’t do it. It would be glass and I’d hit it and–
I breached the surface with a gasp. The air was fetid, but, gods, was I glad to have it sear inside me.
Something split the water behind me. Moving fast. Faster.
So did I. I still couldn’t feel Zandyr, but his blood in the vials gave me the final push of strength I needed to swim all the way to the shore. As soon as my feet dug into the mud and pebbles, I heard the shadows on the other bank.
They charged as one, splashing toward me. The fastest of them dove in first.
The massive hump of scales changed course, slashing the water straight toward them.
I didn’t stick around for the carnage. Wet and bloody, I ran.
If I survived the river, I could survive anything.
Cries erupted from behind, followed by a horrifying roar that shook the trees. Scales twisted, jaws snapped. The night echoed with death.
I rolled over large rocks I would’ve jumped in any other state. I fought to get across the stumps and the thorny hedges that clung to me, as if the forest itself wanted to keep me prisoner.
But I kept on running.
