Page 45 of Not Today, Satan
This was a bad idea.
“Devica.” Nate holds out a set of oars. “We have to go.”
I shake my head. The dinghy is smaller than it appeared from across the shore and cracked along the edges. It’s gonna topple over the moment I step in, plunging me into the water, where the lake monsters will devour me.
“I can’t,” I whisper.
Nates wrinkles his nose. “This was your idea. I’m not sure what’s happening, but we don’t have time for it. Get in, or let your father’s souldiers arrest you. Your choice.”
The words are barely out of his mouth when a souldier cries from above, “There they are!”
The words snap me out of the mud, and I grab the oars. Blood pulses loudly in my ears as Nate eases the rope from the dock.
I take a deep breath and step into the boat.
XX.
The dinghy wobbles as I step in, but Nate braces against the dock, keeping it steady. Once I make it over the edge, I collapse on the bench, my legs wavering.
Another cry echoes from the cliffs, and an arrow whistles past my ear, forcing my attention.
“Let’s go.” I plunge the paddles into the water and row, keeping my eyes on the souldiers and not the liquid swirling beneath the boat.
The souldiers break into two groups, one set running down the ramps to the shore. The others meld into a solid line on the cliff as they load arrows from the quivers on their backs. When I glance over my shoulder, the dock is still in clear view, souldiers spreading across the shores behind it.
We’re not moving fast enough.
“Nate.” I kick at a second pair of oars laying across the bottom of the boat. “A little help?”
“Right.” He blinks, then grabs the oars. We synchronize our strokes, and the boat speeds up, but we’re not fast enough. An arrow sails at Nate’s face.
“Nate! Get down!”
Dropping my oars, I leap across the boat and knock him over so he’s sprawled beneath me. The arrow whistles over us, skimming my hair.
My stomach sloshes as the boat rocks, and I plant my elbows on either side of him.
Every inch of us lines up. We’re still breathless from the run to the boat, and we pant in rhythm, our chests rising and falling together. I’m no longer sure if it’s my heart or his knocking against my rib cage.
He gives a sly smile. “If you wanted me on my back, you could’ve just asked.”
Glowering, I open my mouth to retort when a wave slams against us, rocking us violently.
I cry out and grip Nate’s forearms, pressing my face into his chest. He wraps his arms around me and holds me against him until the boat stops swaying and I relax deeper into him.
“I get it now,” he says. “What happened back there on the shore. You’re afraid of water.”
Raising my head, I scowl at him through the hair pasted to my face. “I’m not afraid. I’m…not used to it. The only waters in Dominus are the rivers leading into the city of sin, and I have no reason to use them.”
He brushes my hair behind my ear, and my skin tingles where he touches. “I didn’t mean to offend you. Lots of people have a fear of water.”
I roll off him onto my back and study the orange balls rotating over our heads. “You know, you should be scared of this lake, too.”
“No, I love the water. I spend—spent—most of my life at the beach gazing out at the ocean. The vastness felt like freedom. It was the only thing that brought me peace.”
Warmth tingles through my chest like electricity. “I have stars painted over my bed for the same reason. I always wondered what it would be like to watch Earth’s sky at night and gaze up at the stars. It must feel…endless. And not sad endless like the black pit over Dominus, butfreeingendless.”
I turn my head at the same time he turns his and we stare at each other, understanding connecting us like an invisible string. He leans closer, all traces of amusement clearing from his eyes.
