Page 116 of Hunted in the Shadows
Her mistake was looking too much like Sylvia—because I rememberedshewas up there, and I lost my hold on her, and she could be drowning.
I mirrored the siren’s tender grip, cupping her face in my hand like she was a delicate treasure.
Darkness crept into my vision, but I didn’t need to see to find the hilt of the bronze knife stowed in my jacket. My hand closed around the weathered handle. I had a promise to uphold.
I am all you need.Urgency laced her lullaby.
I struggled, even as her claws sank deeper into my arm, fighting to hold me in place. I snapped my left hand to grip the siren’s hair at the roots, and with the other, I plunged the blade upward through her throat.
Her eyes went wide, the beautiful green flooding with unforgiving black. My mouth opened involuntarily with a shout of effort, water finally flooding in and filling my lungs with frigid pain. Dark blood clouded the water between us. Her ear-shattering screech resounded through the depths as I twisted the knife, vertebrae shattering.
I hoped it fucking hurt.
The siren’s bony hands released me. Her true, corpse-like face was revealed as she sank, her screeches weakening and lost to the depths. The sunken eyes and elongated, bony form were eaten by the darkness—a vision that would haunt me.
Air. I neededair.
I kicked and clawed my way upward, fueled by a frantic mantra:Not like this. Just a bit further. Not like this. I can’t let her die.
I broke the surface, gasping and choking. The sweet taste of air burned my lungs. I drank it greedily, whipping my hair out of my face as I looked around. A familiar form caught my eye, standing a short distance away near the shore.
“Jon!Hang on!” Cliff crashed through the knee-high water toward me.
I swam desperately, then crawled when my hands and feet hit the soft mud. He grabbed my arm, pulling me the last few feet to shore. I collapsed on the wet earth, breathing raggedly. I couldn’t get enough oxygen no matter what I did.
“You okay?” Cliff’s gruff voice anchored me. He wrenched up the tattered right sleeve of my tee, scrutinizing the fresh talon wounds that marred my skin.
“Where’s Sylvia?” I rasped.
A fresh surge of fear jolted me upright as I scanned the dark water surrounding the moss-covered building—what had nearly become our joint tomb.
“I have her,” Cliff said, opening his other hand for me to see.
Sylvia was shivering on hands and knees, coughing up water, but as she caught onto our concern, she flashed us a weak thumbs up. I went dizzy with relief.
“You’re bleeding,” she croaked, brow knitting at the sight of my arm.
I forced a weak smile. “I’ll take this over being fish dinner any day.”
Sylvia’s frown deepened, etched with fierce resolve. “Let me heal it—”
“Later,” Cliff interrupted. “You can’t even fucking stand.”
Like us, she was drenched to the bone. Her blood-stained gown was plastered to her body, and her wings sagged at her back, heavy and useless. An argument took shape in her expression as she reached for her side—but she went perfectly still when her hands found nothing.
“No,” she breathed. “Th-the bag—the gem!” She looked around wildly, pushing her hair back and looking like she would break down into sobs. “It m-must have slipped when—” Her eyes fixed on me.
“When I let you go,” I finished. Guilt cascaded onto me in waves colder than the swamp. I glanced back, knowing how deep the water ran. The gemstone had sunk to the bottom by now, lost. My jaw tightened. “It’s gone, Sylv. I’m sorry.”
A broken little sound rattled through her. It had all been for nothing. She had described the pull of the amethyst shard, the rush of wielding its power. I couldn’t imagine what she must have felt like now, a whole gemstone slipping from her grasp. The uncanny environment seemed to mock us now. I glimpsed the snow-white deer again, watching curiously. A glittering snake tail lashed here and there in the muck.
“Hey—how long were we in there?” Cliff sank to the ground next to me, frowning as we surveyed the area. Faint golden light in the trees surrounded us. Sunset—but it came from the wrong direction. I watched the light creep along the unusually flowered branches, realization hitting like a blow to the stomach.
It wasn’t dusk, it wasdawn.
For the first time since waking in the godforsaken cavern, I noticed somethingoffabout Cliff’s appearance. I reached up and touched my own face, finding the scratch of stubble under my fingertips. At least two days’ worth. Cliff caught my stare and did the same, eyes widening as he came to the same horrifying conclusion.
We had lost two full days.
