My mouth fell open. “You stole my mother’s book?”
“Let’s discuss my thievery another time, shall we?”
I was just glad I hadn’t lost it. At least I had a chance to have the book in my hands again. “And then what do we do once we get this broken sapphire?”
Stone’s eyes darted to Zephyr. I turned to Zephyr, too.
Zephyr was looking past me at Stone, then his bright neon green gaze jumped to me. “After Phoenix melts it back together, we will set it in your chain, and return it to where it belongs on Bone Island.”
A disbelieving smile graced my face. “It can’t be that simple.”
Stone’s hand came over my shoulder. “Do you want to help your town or not?” he asked me, andof course, I want to help the town.
I glanced over at the spring. “How far down is it?”
Beck shrugged. “About ten to fifteen minutes down, another ten back.”
Panic started to pile inside me. “I’ve never held my breath that long. Maybe thirteen minutes at most,” I said, shaking my head. Then I turned to Stone, my voice turning into a whisper. “I can’t do this.”
He dropped his chin to his chest. “That’s ridiculous. Of course, you can.”
Mom’s nightmare flashed in my mind. I remembered how it felt to drown, for your lungs to fill up with water, and the fear of never being able to take another breath. “Stone...”
His gaze circled around at the Heathens. “Listen to me,” he said, taking me and stepping us off to the side. “You can do this, all right? You were born to do this.” His hands came over my head, and he smoothed my hair down, eyes drifting over my face. “Do you honestly believe I would let you go on the slightest chance something could happen to you?”
“You have too much faith in me.”
“And here I thought you could hold on for as long as it takes.” Stone grinned, taking off my jacket with a lift in his brow. “You disappoint me, Adora Danvers.”
“Just swim straight down,” Beck interrupted. “You won’t be able to see anything, so just swim straight, arms out in front of you until you reach the floor so you don’t hit your head. If you enter by that rock right there by the wall, that’s where the broken sapphire is scattered.”
Within seconds, I was removing my shoes, my sweatshirt, sweatpants, leaving on the pajamas I had been wearing underneath. The other Heathens just stood on the sidelines, watching, bored. How were they bored when I was freaking out? “And what do I do once I reach the pieces?”
Beck turned to me, his expression blank. “You pick them up.”
I dropped my head to the side. “That’s it?”
“Then you bring ‘em to the top,” he answered, a sardonic smile.
I stood on the rock, looking down at the black waters that didn’t hold my reflection. As all other times beside the spring, my chest began to ache with grief that wasn’t my own. It stirred inside me, and I found myself sad and longing for something I couldn’t quite put my finger on.
Stone came up behind me. “I’ll be here waiting for you. Very impatiently.” Dazing off, I nodded. “Adora,” he said, turning me around. The other Heathens were staring at the two of us with scrutinizing gazes. “Ignore them and look at me,” he demanded. I blinked back at him. “I’m not the only one who has faith in you. Your mother believed you could do this, too. I found the message in the book. You’re the only one, darling, and if anything happens, I’m coming down there to get you.”
“You? You would drown.”
“Fine, I’ll send Beck.”
“Are you going to kiss me?”
“No,” he said. “You need something to fight for to get back to me.”
And I made sure Stone’s smile was the last thing I saw before diving into the spring.
The water was surprisingly warm and so black that it didn’t matter if I had my eyes opened or closed. As Beck had said, I kept my hands out in front of me, descending deeper and deeper.
And the deeper I delved, the more Circe consumed me.
I felt how scared she was, seeing her husband hold her under in the spring. A man she was supposed to trust not to ever hurt her. A man who was supposed to protect her.This was how she died, my heart cried. He drowned her in this very spring.
