Desperate, Marc looked all around him for something, anything that could help them. He had to free Trystan. Had to save him. He couldn’t lose him. Not again. Not ever.
Then, Marc saw her.
At the bottom of the lake.
The glowing image of a woman.
Marc took a chance. With all the speed he could muster, Marc swam down to the woman who appeared very much alive and breathing under the water. She was bound in chains, but who was this woman?The Lady of the Lake?Surely the stories of her weren’t actually real, but what else could explain a living breathing person underwater? Perchance if he could free her, she could help him.
Time was running out.
Marc took his sword and used it with all his strength to pull against the chains that held her. The chains broke. The water-bound woman lunged forward, full of life and freedom. She thrust out her arms and emitted a wave of energy that rolled across the lake.
“Go!” said the Lady, her voice like an echo. “Save him before it’s too late.”
Whatever magic had bewitched the lake, somehow, the Lady he’d freed deflected it and lit the whole lake in a blue glow, enough for Marc to see clearly. The vines around Trystan loosened, withering as they shrank and fell away from him, but Trystan no longer struggled against the malevolent plant. He floated, motionless. Lifeless. Marc grabbed him and swam to the surface, no longer frozen over. He pulled Trystan out of the water onto the shore and collapsed.
Catching his breath, Marc rose up on his hands and knees. He looked down at Trystan. He wasn’t breathing.
“Trystan!”
Remembering something he’d seen once with a woman in a corset, Marc immediately pulled Trystan into his arms. He squeezed his arms with all his strength around Trystan’s chest and below his ribs then abruptly released him.
Nothing.
Marc squeezed him again. And again. And again. “Bloody gods, help him! Trystan!”
Trystan’s body jerked. Marc released him as Trystan coughed, spitting up water.
“Thank the Gods.” Marc puffed his cheeks, letting out a deep, shaky breath. He collapsed on his back next to Trystan, his chest rising and falling with heavy breaths. He rolled his head sideways. Trystan trembled, his breathing labored as he lay on the damp ground beside him.
“I’m sorry,” Trystan croaked. He coughed, his body quivering.
“Don’t be,” Marc panted. Rolling to his side, he propped himself on his elbow. “Just promise me you won’t run off again without at least telling me. At least not until we understand who is after you.”
Trystan gave a subtle shake of his head and closed his eyes. Tears rolled from the corners of his eyes down the side of his face to his ears. He brought his hand up over his eyes as he swallowed past the strain in his throat.
“I promise,” Trystan said, his voice gravelly and unsteady. He couldn’t help the tears as tremors racked his body. He’d almost died. Had Marc not found him when he did, he would have surely drowned.
“I’ve only just found you again, Trystan. I don’t want to lose you.”
Marc moved closer to Trystan, pressing against his side. He nudged Trystan’s hand away from his eyes and palmed Trystan’s cheek, gazing into his pale blue eyes as the glow of the pre-dawn sun lit the early morning sky and the rain clouds dissipated. Marc leaned down and kissed his mate.
The moment Marc’s lips touched his, Trystan’s eyes slipped closed and a warmth spread through his body. The pain in his lungs ceased and his breathing felt normal again, as though healed by his kiss.
Marc released his lips and nuzzled against his ear.
Trystan’s eyes fluttered open. His body froze, panic setting in again.
Above him, twisted, barren limbs branched outward.
“The tree.” His throat closing up on him, Trystan barely managed to utter the words.
Marc looked up. “What about it?”
“It was in the dream I had last night. In my dream, my mother told me to come to this lake.” Trystan rolled and heaved himself to his feet. “We must go. We must leave now.”
Marc stood. A disturbance in the water drew his attention, and he looked past Trystan.
