Raine was mine.
~ Raine ~
Airsawedinandout of my lungs, burning up my throat with each gasp, and my arms felt as heavy as lead as I forced myself to keep swimming. Stroke after stroke, I made my way toward the beach and the small shape of the mountain in the distance. It felt like hours had passed, yet the ocean stretched on, the land still so painfully far.
With my next stroke, water splashed onto my head, and a wet strand of hair dropped over my left eye. Determined not to stop, I continued forward while jerking my head in spurts as I tried to shake the strand to the side of my face.Move, damn it, I willed my hair.Of course, the strand refused to move, and instead, I just wasted precious energy shaking my head up and down like a crazed person.
Frustrated, I cursed and was about to stop swimming and show the hair who was boss when Darian glided up beside me, his slender fingers reaching forward to tuck the stray strand behind my ear.
“You’re doing good, lovely,” he said as he swam lazily beside me, his long fishtail flicking in and out of the water every so often and his silvery blue scales reflecting the sun’s light like crystals. As beautiful as it was, the sight stung my eyes, and I winced, peering away from him and focusing on putting one arm in front of the other and kicking in the water.
“Thanks,” I muttered quietly between breaths.
The siren was near silent as he swam beside me, and I thought of when he’d been dancing with me in the garden, his song taking me to the depths of his soul. Once again, I was reminded that the monsters were nothing like I’d expected they would be. Had he really been pushing himself beyond his limits when I was influenced by the Silver Sand? All to try to bring me back?
I tried not to think about it.
Just swim, Raine. If you don’t make it to the beach, you might just die in this forsaken ocean after all.I didn’t really believe that. Not with Darian beside me.
You can push through this, I told myself as I tried to ignore the way my whole body ached. But as time passed, my muscles shook from the strain, and I struggled to keep my head above the water. As my chin dipped lower, water sloshed into my open mouth, and I stopped swimming and coughed violently. Sea salt burned the back of my throat, and I inwardly cursed Locke. I knew why he was putting me through the ordeal, but I still hated him for it.
Darian came up behind me and began rubbing my back in slow circles as I continued to hack. The action surprised me, but his hands were soothing on my skin, and before long, I was calming again.
“I’m sorry for, you know, knocking you out,” I said to him when I was able to speak again. I’d wanted to say it earlier but hadn’t.
“That’s quite all right. If the tables were turned, I’m sure you’d try to save me,” he said, and his eyes sparkled at the last bit. I got the feeling he was baiting me to see what my response would be.
I arched a brow, giving him a skeptical look. “I wouldn’t bet on it.”
He smiled, seemingly not at all bothered by my answer. “I would.”
I rolled my eyes and forced myself to begin swimming again. Not much time had passed when one of my legs cramped.Ah, fuck, ow.I groaned, pausing to hover in the water.
As I reached down to try to massage the muscle, the water became strangely cool, and goosebumps prickled up my arms and legs.A faint cry sounded above me, and Darian’s head jerked upward.
“What in the name of the Devil Enzal?” he breathed, moving closer to me as the water began to rise around us.
Darian’s gaze changed direction then, flicking to something across the ocean, and before I had the chance to even register what was going on, his strong arms wrapped around my waist and the siren began pulling me through the water at a punishing pace. Ocean spray and the wind stung my cheeks, chilling me, and I struggled to breathe in Darian’s grip. His hold on me was so tight it constricted my ribcage, and for the first time, I noticed long, wicked blue claws had protruded from his fingertips.
“What’s going—?” I started, but my words died off when I peered behind us. Moving fast in the water, a creature swam in our direction, its massive body slowly emerging from the water like a mountain rising from the ocean. The monster’s curved back was dotted with massive, long spines that jutted into the air, and five gelatinous red eyes bulged from its enormous, spiked head. Razor-like fins protruded out the sides of its wide, scaled body, and its gaping maw opened wide to reveal a dark cavern filled with a single row of needlelike teeth that were as long as swords.
“Holy Goddess,” I said as fear wormed inside me. Darian’s only response was to increase his speed as he pulled me through the water.
The siren was moving so fast that the wind felt like shards of ice, but the sea monster surged after us, its massive body gliding through the water while it kept its mouth open.
As I watched in horror, the monster lifted its head higher and then closed its maw before diving into the ocean.
“Darian,” I said, my voice tight. The monster wasn’t close enough that its movements had the water dragging us under, but a sickening feeling overcame me as I tried to stare down into the ocean.
Abruptly, Darian changed direction, but the siren was too late. I clung to him as the outlier sprang out of the water beneath us, its open maw too wide for us to escape. It lifted us into the air, and we sunk lower in the creature’s mouth as water drained from between its needle-like teeth. The rancid smell of the creature’s rotting flesh made my eyes water, and I peered around frantically, wishing I had a weapon in my grasp. My bare feet slid on the outlier’s slimy tongue as the water continued to lower, and I imagined myself plunging a sword into the fleshy organ. Slowly, the monster began to close its mouth, and my heart beat so loud the noise was almost deafening.
“Let go,” Darian commanded, turning to me.
I blinked, but my gaze remained fixed on the monster’s long, pointed teeth as its mouth continued to close. “What?”
“Just…trust me,” he said, pulling my attention back to him. “Can you do that?”
“I—” I stared at his face. “I don’t know.”
