Page 7 of Vicious Little Vows
Glancing at Crispin, Gabriel jerked his chin toward the far end of the cavern. With a final glance at me, Gabriel led Mistral away so that they might speak in relative privacy.
Crispin put his hands on his hips, perfectly comfortable in his wet underwear. “Well that’s rude.”
“Don’t worry about it,” I soothed, though I myself was more than worried about it, and worried about the swim to the cave. With all three guys down here with me, my only way out would be to travel to Sebastian, and who knew where he was currently? He might have even broken his promise and traveled to the hells to find his sister.
Crispin glanced at Mistral and Gabriel huddled in the shadows. The cavern was large enough that with them whispering, I couldn’t hear a word they said. And judging by Crispin’s annoyance, he couldn’t hear any of it either, even with his superior elven hearing.
He sighed. “I may as well show you the symbol while we wait. Just don’t touch it.”
“Symbol?”
He put a hand on my back, then directed me toward where he’d been crouching upon our arrival. Wanting anything to distract me from thoughts of swimming through the pool to the other side, I went with him, crouching where he instructed.
Sure enough, a celestial symbol was carved into the stone. It wasn’t a conduit star, nor was it like the symbol in Emerald Heights. Seven little stars formed points connecting a maze of lines, forming no discernible shape. I reached out my fingers without thinking, and suddenly Crispin’s hand was there, his skin surprisingly warm against mine, given that he was dripping wet.
“No touching,” he reminded me.
He was right. What had I been thinking? I allowed him to guide my hand away. “Is this the portal to the goblin realm?”
“Perhaps, or another pocket realm between here and there. I believe the other was created when the pathways were severed. With travelers in between, there had to be somewhere for them to go.”
“So goblins could be trapped there too.” The thought was almost too horrible for words. Silvana and her people had survived, but it hadn’t been easy. And I had a feeling the mental duress was far greater than the more apparent physical.
“Perhaps.” Keeping hold of my hand, Crispin guided me to my feet as Mistral and Gabriel joined us.
“We should get back,” Mistral said. “We will explore what this symbol means another day.”
I looked from him to Gabriel, wishing I could ask what they thought the gray trees meant, but they clearly didn’t want Crispin knowing about it. “Is swimming really the only way out of here?”
Mistral’s expression softened. “Yes, but with us to guide you, it will not be difficult.”
I swallowed the lump in my throat. “Famous last words, if I ever heard them.” My pulse kicked up at the thought of the task ahead. I had traveled realms, but somehow, the idea of holding my breath until we reached the other end of the pool was far more terrifying. It might even be my greatest feat yet—if I managed it without drowning.
Watching me, Crispin tilted his head. “I believe we have discovered one of Eva’s deep-seated phobias.”
“It’s not a phobia,” I hissed. “I’m just not experienced at diving.”
Crispin gave my hand a squeeze, and I realized with a start that he had still been holding it. It was unnerving how natural it was starting to feel touching any of the guys. “I’m a strong swimmer. Just hold on to me and I’ll get you through in no time.”
I looked at Mistral, desperately desiring confirmation of these claims.
Mistral nodded. “He is a swifter swimmer than either me or Gabriel. You will go with him first, and we will come just behind you to make sure nothing happens.”
They all looked at me expectantly, and my heart raced even faster. My words were strained as I said, “Fine, but if I drown, I’m haunting all three of you for eternity.”
FOUR
The water closed in around me. I had the feeling that I was sinking, like the water had a mind of its own and was pulling me down. Then Crispin’s hand tugged at mine, and I opened my eyes. Probably not the best idea in water of unknown cleanliness, but hopefully its magical nature would keep away dangerous bacteria.
Pushing down my panic, I kicked my feet, trusting that Gabriel and Mistral would be right behind us. My jeans felt tight and heavy underwater, and I was already regretting keeping them on. At least Gabriel had convinced me to remove my boots. As they were my favorites, he’d promised to keep them in hand while he swam after us.
My lungs burned as I fought to hold my breath, the aqua glow almost blinding in the depths—though I couldn’t tell its source. It seemed it came from the water itself, like swimming through a pool of diluted glowstick juice. I could barely make out Crispin beside and a little bit ahead of me, his strong grip on my hand propelling me faster than my weak kicks ever could. I made a vow right then that if I got out of this alive, I would practice my swimming. My lungs already ached from holding my breath and I had no idea how close we were to the other side.
As I kicked more frantically, my heel bumped into something hard. Before I could realize it was just the rock above me and not some terrible underwater creature, my breath whooshed out of my lungs, blinding me further with a flurry of bubbles. I flailed, trying to regain my equilibrium, panicking further as Crispin’s hand slipped from mine.
Oh gods, was I actually going to die down here? I had shut my eyes at some point and struggled for a moment when an arm slipped around my waist, and a slick body pressed against my front. Fortunately the familiar pulse of elven magic let me know it was Crispin. He held me against him, even with just one arm propelling us faster than before.
Grateful, I wrapped my arms around him, freeing his other arm. I was just dead weight, but dead weight was better thandead.When my vision started to go gray, I closed my eyes tight and pressed my face against his neck, my entire body screaming for air. Just when I thought I couldn’t take it anymore, and I was about to involuntarily inhale a lungful of water,we broke the surface. I clung to Crispin, coughing and sputtering as I tried to touch bottom with my feet.
