I’d give up anything for her.
I’m sprinting as I enter the chapel. I leap over the smaller pools until I reach the back of the chamber. My beating hearts throb in my ears as I arc my body and dive into the ceremonial tunnel system.
Swimming at breakneck speed, my muscles work on overtime as I snake through the narrow passageway.
I don’t see any sign of Marta, and I can’t believe she’s gotten this far. I can only hope our lessons have made her into a strong enough swimmer to survive this.
I stop dead in my tracks, though, when I come to the first fork in the system. The emerald walls of the tunnel split into two paths.
I know, from a lifetime of navigating these waters, that the tunnel to the right is the quickest way to the shrine and the surface. But what direction would Marta go?
Anxiety wells in my throat as I realize I don’t know. When every second counts, one wrong turn could mean Marta’s life.
Just as I’m frozen in fear, something brushes my side and barrels at full speed down the left-hand tunnel.
Nubbins rockets ahead of me, howling a sad song as he does.
He knows where his mother is.
I kick off the wall behind me and pursue him as quickly as I can. I follow every twist and turn Nubbins takes as we both swim deeper into the maze.
Without warning, after a hard right turn, I knock hard into something solid. As I shake the impact from my system, I see Marta’s hand floating limply in the water. The small metal e-breather floats behind me, caught in the current Nubbins and I have created with our speed.
Marta’s eyes are closed, and a bubble floats from her open mouth. I grab her and pull her violently into my embrace. Nubbins peppers her cheeks with mournful kisses.
I press my lips against hers for the first time. They’re as soft as I always imagined. Please let this be the first of many kisses, don’t let this be the last. I breathe into her mouth, and water rushes out of her nose. I begin to swim back to the chapel caverns. Every few seconds I attempt to replace the briny liquid that’s filled her respiratory system.
Marta still hangs limp in my arms as we surface.
Nubbins yelps as I roll my mate onto her side. Her skin is as blue as when she slept in her cryopod.
I reach for the kahne’ah’s collar, snapping the silver cylinder off his collar. I’ve never been more happy for an impulse purchase in my life, that my anxiety over Marta taking Nubbins down to the temple may be the one thing that saves her life.
I slide back the injector’s sheath and plunge the medicine into her thigh. A complex cocktail that includes blood oxygenation nanobots, adrenaline, and painkillers begins to course through her system.
“You can’t leave me now,” I mutter as I thump her on her back, trying to clear her airways. “You don’t get to f’teeing leave!” Fat tears well in my eyes as I take a huge breath and blow air into her again.
“You’re not allowed to die,” I whisper, breaking into a manic fit of sobbing as I refuse to let the goddess have my mate. “I promise I’ll let you do whatever you want, I’ll let you leave me if that’s what it takes. You just can’t f’teeing die!” I gather her up in my arms and give her back one last violent thump.
Her chin is on my shoulder when I feel a rush of wetness hit my neck. Marta’s body shakes as she rasps and coughs. As she comes back to me, she grips me hard.
“I drowned,” she sobs and hiccups. “I drowned!”
I squeeze the little human just hard enough not to crack her ribs. She trembles and shakes, and Nubbins lathes her knee with his tongue.
“I drowned, Raf’ere.”
I pull back, clutching her face between my palms. I turn her head gently to either side, looking for any wounds.
“Does it hurt anywhere?” I kiss her forehead. “Take a deep breath.”
“I…I drowned.” Her eyes are unfocused, and she starts to shake.
“I’m here, Marta. I won’t let anything bad happen to you, you’re safe,” I whisper as I gather her up against me and stand.
She keeps repeating herself, and I stroke her wet hair against her head as we ascend the stairs. Jens’i rushes into the secret corridor just as we hit the top step.
“Raf’ere,” he says, completely out of breath.
