I tow Jace away by his good arm, my thighs aching against the thick waves as we push on. It’s like moving in quicksand.
That’s when the other Naiad tears through the water to wrap its spindly arms around Jace’s neck. I scream as she tackles him below the surface.
“No!” I shout, my heart plummeting. Before I can think of what to do, his head explodes through the surface with a loud gasp.
“Jace!” I struggle through the tide to get to him, the water now up to my thighs. He grapples with the scrappy Naiad, her jaw fully retracted as she snaps at his neck. She’s strong. His arms buckle beneath her as she strains to take a chunk out of his flesh. I reach into my belt and pull my own dagger free.
“Hey, bitch!”
I pray to God they don’t shift positions in the split second it takes to hurl the knife through the air. I hold my breath as it sinks into the bony ice blue arm. Chilling black eyes slide toward me.
“Come and get me.”
The Naiad tosses Jace aside and beelines for me, slithering along the tide like a serpent. I have mere seconds.
Think like a fighter.
Defense or offense. Defense or offense.
Who has the advantage here?
She does. She has the home advantage.
Defense, I decide.
I wait until she’s nearly upon me before I call forth my fire. My hands heat in a split second, flames erupting from my palms. Jace fumbles toward me, bloody and horrified. I lock eyes with him and lift my flaming hands.
“Wind,” I command.
As if reading my thoughts, he sends a blast of wind toward me. I deflect it, aiming at the Naiad as a wall of wind pushes my fire out in a brilliant explosion of light. She screeches as her wings burst into flame. The fire devours them until all that remains is their bony frame with nothing in the space between.
The distraction allows Jace enough time to reach me. I slam into him and hold fast, summoning my shadows to hurry the fuck up and get us out of here. I feel them materialize beneath the inky water. My heart skitters as I glimpse the onslaught of serpentine bodies once again charging toward us. I squeeze my eyes shut as the shadows reach our necks. The snapping of hungry jaws looms closer and closer. Bony fingers wrap around my ankle a second before the shadows suck us up, and we evaporate into thin air.
The shadows spit us out exactly where I hoped they would. Somewhere safe, on the island. I silently thank their intuition as we fall to our knees, gasping.
“Are you alright?” Jace croaks.
“I’m fine.” I crawl toward him. “Your arm.”
“It’s just a scratch.” He winces as he lifts it.
“That is not a scratch, Jace.”
He grumbles as I pull his arm toward me to inspect it. The cut is deep. “I’m going to try to heal it.”
“Don’t,” he mutters, wrenching it back heatedly. “You’ll probably fuck it up and leave a nasty scar.”
“Hey!” I look up at him. “I saved your ass back there. I haven’t heard a thank you yet.”
“I told you to go. To run.” He glares at me, suddenly furious.
“And you thought I would, what,listen? You think I would leave you to die?”
“It doesn’t matter if I die—it’s you that’s indispensable!”
“Youare indispensable, you idiot!” I shout. “I can’t lose you.”
“I couldn’t live with myself if you died because of my stupid mistake.” He clamps a hand against his chest as if quelling a sudden pain there.
