Page 51 of Hell Kissed
Hand in hand we jump.
A scream claws at my throat, but I hold it back. I refuse to show a single sliver of fear.
Wind rips through my hair, and the chill of the mountain freezes the breath in my lungs as the crashing waves below become a steady rhythm to set my racing heartbeat to.
I spread my arms, still holding onto Aric, whose sole focus is on watching me. I feel his attention like fire across my features. The wind becomes a caress beneath my arms as I soar faster and faster. Adrenaline torpedoes inside of me. It builds all through my body in waves.
I’m falling. I’m flying.
I’m fucking free.
Chapter Seventeen
Sharing Air
Rhys
That feeling only lasts for a little while, then terror sets in as the emerald sea grows closer.
Aric’s hand tightens around mine, and we lock eyes through the strands of hair that whip wildly around my face. His gaze sears into mine as he urges me into a dive. Curving his arm around the bag that holds Loki, the large man cradles it to his chest and curls his shoulders, preparing for a much harder impact than I am.
My body tenses. Muscles coil as my eyes close tightly shut.
And then it slams into me.
A thousand tiny knives stab into every part of me when we hit. Rushing water steals all sound away, other than the stuttering panic of my heartbeat. I can’t breathe. Heavy pressure compresses my abdomen, forcing some of the air I’d gulped in before impact away.
And I lose Aric’s hold.
He reaches for me as the sea swallows him, drawing him down much faster than it takes me. In a blink and a terrified, watery scream, he’s gone.
I flail, my hands slicing through the water trying to find him even though I know he’s not there. A cry vibrates through my chest, costing me a little more air.
The glimmering light of the surface fades as I’m sucked down. Instead of becoming buoyant, my body sinks toward the bottom of the ocean like a lead weight.
But something’s wrong. Aric went straight through the gate or the portal or whatever barrier separates the realms.
But me? I’m still just floating here.
Alone. Alone. Alone.
Desolation is a feeling as dark as the depths that grow thicker all around me.
The shadows descend, and through the current, a large shark swims past with a powerful flick of its fin. A million fish ascend from the darkness to twirl around me, each dark body glinting with sharp silver scales that cut everywhere they brush against my flesh. Beady little eyes track me as I spin around, containing the scream that wants to steal the dwindling air remaining in my lungs.
Something cold and slimy slithers along my calf and wraps around my shin, tentacles suctioning to my body as it tightens like an anaconda squeezing its prey. Air bubbles containing the rest of my ration of oxygen flit to the surface along with the remainder of my hope.
The beast below me lets out a menacing, rumbling bellow, and my leg aches as it’s jerked down. Everything hurts. It feels like I’m being ripped apart, the burning in my lungs is simply the cherry on top of the torture sundae.
I wiggle and kick and bend to claw the monster off of me. Salt stings my eyes, but I catch a glimpse of a beastly creature.
Rough barnacle textures an enormous face that’s much too humanlike in appearance. A thick brow lines his features, but I can’t fully make out his eerie features. Spikes line the upper part of its many arms that reach out for me. Six rows of sharp teeth glint inside the open maw of the kraken that’s prepared to eat me like a snack.
Each tug brings me closer to my death.
Crimson blood floats like ink as I bleed into the sea. I lose my shit as I kick repeatedly at the tentacle holding me hostage.
No. Nope. I’m not going down like this.
