“Sutton!” My scream bounces off the leaves and dirt, carrying across the mountain air. Still, we’re met with silence, ascending to the quarry as the stillness of the forest fills me with dread.
Where is he?
The sensation intensifies as we crest the hill, the ground turning to rock from soft grass and moss under our feet.
A lone shadow lies near the quarry’s edge—so close to tumbling into Lake Lerna below that breathing too hard might knock them over.
We freeze, staring from several yards away. My stomach cramps, disbelief coloring my entire being.
No.
This isn’t possible.
It can’t be fucking real, but no matter how long we stare, nothing evaporates into thin air. A part of me is hesitant still, considering Percy’s apparent survival, but neither Lexington nor Sabrina seem shocked by this revelation.
“Is that?—”
I don’t wait for Lexington to finish his question before I’m limping over, my heart pounding, vomit teasing the back of my throat. My skull feels like it’s about to implode, and the closer I get, the louder the white noise rushing between my ears sounds.
“Sutton,” I sob, tears blurring my vision as I launch myself at the figure’s side, barely noting before I’m on my knees that he’s not wearing the sweater and slacks he left the house in. Blood pools around the prone body, and from this vantage point, I can see black hair, but my body doesn’t believe it yet.
With shaky hands, I grab the person’s shoulders and pull, rolling them onto their back.
Blue eyes, cold and unseeing, stare up at the sky.
Similar to Sutton’s—but not his.
It’s not him.
Relief washes over me, followed very quickly by the realization of who this is.
Beckett Dupont.
I glance at his stomach, where several holes have been shredded through his shirt and skin beneath. Pulling my hands back, I settle them in my lap, unable to look away from his eyes.
Sabrina lets out a strangled noise as she gets closer, covering her mouth with her fingers. Lexington crouches down, feeling Beckett’s neck for a pulse.
He sighs. As if there was any doubt.
“What do we do?” Sabrina chokes out.
But my focus shifts. A gun lies close to Beckett’s body.
Beckett wasn’t shot though.
I lean forward over the edge of the quarry. The lake water is still below, calm and unmoving but as dark and opaque as ever.
If someone fell in, you’d never know. Lake Lerna consumes its victims. She doesn’t reveal them or give them back.
Except once.
Panic surges in my chest, and I abandon the three of them, starting back down the side of the quarry. All I can think about is the water—and the green eyes that might have disappeared inside it.
Bile burns my esophagus as I begin shucking off my sweater and tights, breathing hard. Lexington wraps his arms around me at the exact moment I aim to enter the lake, squeezing so tight I can barely breathe.
“Let go!” I scream, thrashing against him. “He could be in there!”
“What are you going to do, Elle? You’re injured yourself. Diving in after him when you can’t even swim properly will just ensure you die too.”
