On her way to the staircase, she passed by the billiard room and overheard Wyatt and Switch playing games and being rowdy. Kira had already put Hunter to bed and was probably snuffing out candles and replacing them throughout the mansion.
As Gem floated down the stairs, her blue kimono opening in the front, Switch called out from above.
“Hey, Gem. You want company?”
She grimaced and stopped in her tracks. “Not to be rude, but swimming is the one thing I like to do alone.”
“I get it. Just thought I’d ask. Maybe some other time?”
She drifted down a few steps. “Viktor has me really busy, but maybe.” Gem paused, her hand on the stone handrail. “If you look out the window and see me floating, don’t panic. I’m not dead. Shep made that mistake once when he first came here. He dove right in after me and created a scene. I just like to float.”
“For a morbidly long time,” Wyatt added as he joined Switch’s side. “Enjoy it while you can, buttercup. It’ll be mosquito season soon.”
She simpered and waved her fingers, light leaking from the tips. “Don’t you know? I’m a live bug zapper.” She flashed away, their laughter fading in the distance.
Silly boys.
The night air nipped at her skin as she padded across the wide patio that led to the pool. The lights were easy to change colors, but Gem preferred blue and green. She let the kimono drop to the concrete as she walked down the steps of the shallow end. A thin veil of steam hovered just above the pool, and she let her fingers skim across the surface. Nothing made her feel more alive and in touch with the universe than floating on water. If she were a Shifter, she’d be a dolphin.
After she waded farther in, the water quickly reached her shoulders. Gem didn’t have to walk far in a pool before that happened. She kicked off the bottom and waved her arms, finding her center as she drew in a deep breath and raised her body to the surface. When the water filled her ears, a peacefulin uteroeffect took hold, and she was surrounded by warmth with only the top of her body exposed to the cool night air. She marveled at the heavens. The sky looked like a black pincushion filled with shiny pins. On some nights she glimpsed shooting stars.
As she often did in quiet moments, Gem thought about work-related obstacles. Ancient languages swirled through her head like a kaleidoscope. She fluently spoke sixteen languages. All other languages she understood on paper and kept the words stored in her head. Many belonged to extinct Breeds long forgotten.
She closed her eyes when the patterns overlapped and whispers from her Relic ancestors guided her thoughts back to the new book she’d recently acquired. It wasn’t often she found direct translations written on the page, but what exactly was that language? It seemed strangely familiar but completely foreign. Just when she was on the cusp of an idea, something jerked her underwater.
Gem’s arms sliced through the water as she tried in vain to resurface. Someone was pulling her down to the bottom by her dress. An arm snaked around her waist, and Gem’s heart galloped in her chest as she was pulled to the bottom. What kind of sick joke was this? If this was Switch’s idea of a prank, it would be his last day on the job. She’d make sure of that. A pocket of air escaped her lungs in large bubbles that ascended to the surface.
When her feet touched the bottom of the pool, she writhed and struggled to break free, only managing to turn herself partway around.
Gem was face-to-face with a complete stranger, an Asian man with shaggy hair.
Dry hair.
She could feel the energy sphere encasing his body, keeping him dry and able to breathe. The shield didn’t include her, and her lungs began to spasm. Gem tried to wield an energy ball, but the sparks quickly died in the water. That was the moment true panic set in. She elbowed him and clawed, her lungs squeezing tight as the need for oxygen overrode all rational thought.
Another breath escaped her lungs, and the urge to breathe intensified.
Let me go!she screamed in her head.
No matter how hard she struggled, no matter how hard she tried to kick underwater, his grip was iron, his smile never wavering.
Not like this. Not like this. Please, somebody… anybody!
If only Niko or Raven were here, she could flare and make them realize something was wrong. So many things flew through her mind. Why hadn’t she just allowed Switch to join her? Who would finish all her work in her study and care for those books? Would anyone miss her?
She couldn’t even cry out for help.
The terror of taking a breath was agonizing, the urge so strong she could no longer fight it. She tried again to swim upward, but the man wouldn’t let go.
Of all the languages she knew, the only word that came to mind in those last moments waswhy.
Why?
Water snaked through her nose and gushed down her windpipe as she took a deep breath. Her lungs filled, but there was no relief. They burned like liquid fire, and she suddenly couldn’t move anymore. It was as if with that final reflexive jerk, all her limbs turned to stone, and she became one with the water around her.
Gem was truly floating.
* * *
