Page 212 of The Spider Queen
Hunter hung back and took my hand, linking us together. Maybe there was safety in numbers. I felt his tail brush my legs every now and again. I squeezed his fingers in solidarity.
The water turned from dark green to gray, but the moonlight still managed to penetrate miles below the surface.
I was curious about the merrow. How did they live? Were there such things as underwater cities? Hopefully, I’d get the chance to ask.
Hunter’s free hand pointed. Down below, I saw a giant skeleton that once belonged to a great monster of the sea. As we paddled toward it, a huge fish the size of a hammerhead shark lazily swam toward us. It looked like a goldfish with glistening gold scales. Large but harmless.
Hunter dropped my hand and darted in front of me. He treaded water, his body alert.
I focused on Hunter’s back. He’d been an athlete when he was human, lean yet muscular. He’d been beautiful to me then. He was striking now, his shoulders broader, his muscles even more defined.
Life underwater had honed him.
The goldfish floated in place, its fins gliding through the sea.
I frowned, wondering why Hunter had moved in front of me.
The goldfish opened its mouth to reveal two rows of sharp, jagged teeth. It snapped its jaws forward with the clear intention of swallowing Hunter whole. But Hunter whipped his tail, catching the goldfish on the side of its head.
Amber-colored eyes flashed with rage, yet it didn’t pose to strike again. It wanted an easy meal, but Hunter had no intention of letting the fish get its way.
They stared at one another until the fish decided to give up. It turned and swam off, no doubt in search of docile prey.
I let out a breath of air I hadn’t been aware I’d been holding. Hunter looked back over his shoulder at me. His blue eyes were ringed with silver. He grasped my hand again and kicked off toward the sea monster skeleton.
It looked like a giant squid, one that ancient mariners prayed wouldn’t demolish their ship.
A sea witch’s lair?
I shook my head in wry amusement. Maybe Lewis Carroll hadn’t been the only one to get his ideas from this place.
We swam through the beak of the giant squid skeleton. Shadows fell on us. Moonlight did not penetrate this deep, but somehow I still saw everything clearly. We floated through what had once been the abdomen. In the near distance, there was a wall made of water. It rippled and flowed, but it held its formation.
Hunter looked at me, pointed, and mouthedmage.
The mage lay in wait behind the water wall. Hunter took my hand, and we kicked forward again. My heart went wild in my chest, but I pushed on with determination and drive.
I had to do this.
There was no getting out of it or thrusting it off onto someone else. Thane had been petrified; Hunter had been turned into a merrow. How many more losses would I have to bear if I didn’t succeed?
I’d come so far.
It was time to finish this.
Chapter 39
We grazed the water wall with our outstretched fingers. There was the sound of something fissuring, and then Hunter and I were on the other side. We’d been pulled through, and now we were in a white sterile room, completely devoid of water.
Hunter was on the ground, his eyes closed. I dropped to my knees and pressed my head to his chest. He was breathing—just unconscious.
I frowned, wondering why I was awake.
The water barrier was still intact, waving and flowing, but it blocked my sight of the other side. I saw nothing but opaque ripples. If I’d woken up in this place, I would never have thought the water partition separated me from a vast sea.
My gaze wandered around the white room. It reminded me of a lab. An emaciated, naked man, his arms and legs held captive by neon blue beams of light, was in the center of the room. His bald head hung forward, and I couldn’t see if he was breathing. But of course he was still alive, otherwise the wards on Purgatory would’ve been broken.
I took a step forward and then was blasted back. I crashed against a wall and then sank to the ground. My tailbone radiated pain, and my left wrist throbbed. I healed almost immediately and stood up.
