Page 56 of Panther in the Shadows
My throat burns. Lungs ache. Every breath tastes like copper and salt water.
"Rafe?" The word comes out as a croak.
The pacing stops. Then he's beside me, gentle hands on my face. "Don't move. You're hurt."
"I'm fine." I swallow past the burning. "The vision?—"
"Nearly killed you. You stopped breathing. There was blood everywhere." His voice shakes. "Don't ever do that again."
"Had to." Swallow past the burning. "Needed to see."
"See what? What was worth almost dying for?"
The memories crash back. The woman in the depths. The bound spirits. Elspeth in chains. And the message.
"She said to tell you she remembers everything." My eyes find his. "That the drowned never forget. That when she completes the ritual, you'll know what you tried to steal from her." Watch his reaction carefully. "Who is she, Rafe?"
He goes absolutely still. Color drains from his face.
"The woman in the vision. She knew you. Knew me. Used your full name—Rafael." Sit up despite the spinning. "She has Elspeth. Has the others bound in chains. And she's coming for people we care about specifically to hurt you."
"Describe her." His voice comes out rough. "Everything you saw."
"Salt-white hair. Skin gray-blue like drowned flesh. But she was underwater, moving, talking. Not breathing but not dead either." The vision's strangeness surfaces. "She looked..." I struggle for words. "Wrong. Like something that shouldn't exist. Something between human and sea-spirit."
His hands curl into fists. "It's not possible."
"You know who she is."
"I know who she might be. But she's supposed to be dead." He turns toward the window, every line of his body tense. "She was a shifter, but no other magic."
"Not any more." The vision's fragments surface. "She was underwater but not drowning. Her skin was wrong. Gray-blue. And her hair was white as salt. She looked..." I struggle for words. "Wrong. Like something that shouldn't exist."
His shoulders tense. "It can't be her."
"She knew you. Knew me. She said when she completes the ritual, you'll know what you tried to steal from her." Watch his reaction carefully. "What did you take from someone? Who would want revenge badly enough to become... that?"
Long silence. Then he turns back, raw pain in his eyes. "My exile. There was a woman. She orchestrated everything that led to Diego's death. To my banishment." His jaw tightens. "After I killed my brother defending myself, she told the clans I'd murdered him out of jealousy. That I was paranoid. Possessive. That Diego died trying to protect her."
The pieces click into place. The brother he killed. The woman who destroyed him.
"She got me exiled, but the scandal destroyed her family's standing. They sent her to a nunnery in Spain to atone." His voice drops. "I heard she threw herself into the sea off the cliffs. Drowned."
"But she didn't die."
"Or she died and came back as..." He gestures helplessly. "This. Something between human and drowned. And she's here for revenge. For everything she lost because her plan failed."
"She has Elspeth. Has the others bound and waiting." My hand finds his. "She's targeting people we care about. People whose deaths will hurt us the way her losses hurt her."
"Then we end her before she can complete the ritual."
"How? She wasn't breathing underwater. Her skin looked drowned but she was moving. Talking." The vision's strangeness surfaces. "Whatever she's become, she's not fully human anymore. Not alive but not dead either."
"Everything can be killed. It's just a matter of finding the right method." His thumb traces circles on my palm. "But first we find her. And we free the spirits she's bound."
"Including Elspeth."
"Including your sister. I promised you wouldn't have to fight her. That promise still stands."
