I am so dead.
Poor Rían. At least he would have confirmation I was dead this time. The flesh would cook off my bones right before his eyes. I should have kissed him when I had the chance. Even if me initiating it would have required a stepladder.
I’ll miss you, Sloane.
Ice-cold reality slapped me in the face, and oxygen squeezed from my lungs in a string of bubbles that tickled my nose and stuck to my lashes.
A blur of bright blue and soft orange whizzed past, fanning a current that forced me to close my eyes against the silt rising up from the bottom of the lake.
Thelake.
I was underwater.
Not burning to death.
But where was Rían? I flexed my fingers, but our hands had unstuck. I swept my arms out in front of me, but I met no resistance. Kicking off the bottom, I shot to the surface, gulped down air then dove in again. We must have entered the water together. He couldn’t have gone far. I just had to find him before?—
There.
Swimming for all I was worth, I carved a path straight to Rían, who drifted slowly toward the surface. His head tilted back, and I saw his eyes were closed but his lips were parted. He floated like dead weight, and my heart thundered in my ears.
I can’t lose him. Not like this.
I hooked my arm through his and kicked with all my strength. Exhaustion threatened to drag me down, but I fought against it with everything in me. I wasn’t sure what had knocked him out. Burnout? I had been channeling for both of us. Had I depleted his reserves too? Maybe he hit his head on a rock or limb? Had the fire scorched him? No. He was impervious to flames.
As soon as our heads breached the water, I sucked down oxygen and paddled for the shore.
Of course, the one time I was alone with Rían for an extended period, I would almost get him killed.
Liam would never forgive me for this. He would never let us out of his sight unsupervised again.
At this rate, he would demand a bedding ceremony for the wedding night to ensure Rían survived it.
Feet sinking into muck, I stood and hauled Rían ashore. I rolled him on his side and whacked him on the back, frustrated tears blinding me. Where was the internet when you needed a how-to video on mouth-to-mouth? No cellphone service meant no way to call for help without leaving him, and I refused to do that.
Sobs lodged in my throat, and I started begging, not caring how pathetic I must sound.
“Come on, Rían. Open your eyes.” I patted his cheek. Hard. Then even harder. “Wake up.Wakeup.Wake up.” The pats turned into slaps, hard enough to leave bruises. “You don’t get to be all tall and handsome and nice then ditch me.”
Heaving gasps erupted from Rían, and he curled in on himself as he coughed up water, vomiting on the grass. Stomach empty, he flopped onto his back, his chest heaving.
“Are you okay?” I wedged my hands under him, shoving him into a seated position as I knelt behind him. “Can you breathe?”
Head loose on his neck, he nodded once, the motion causing him to groan. I braced my palms against his spine, trying to hold him upright, but he was boneless. His weight knocked me on my butt as he slumped back until I was flattened underneath him.
Well, I was definitely not running to fetch help now.
“Ana.” His core tightened, but not even his impressive abs could do more than twitch. “Ana...”
Faint tremors shook his limbs, but he didn’t make it far. Or anywhere, at all. So, I did what anyone who found themselves crushed under a handsome man on the verge of unconsciousness did. I threaded my fingers through his hair, angling his face to ensure he could breathe, and lay there.
The warmth of him, theweightof him, was nice. More than nice. I needed a new word to express the way he made me feel, but all the ones that came to mind were too dangerous to toss out there casually.
“Shh.” I rested my chin on top of his head, regretting I had left the house this morning. “Rest for now.”
Smoke rose from scorched earth not too far away, and I was certain someone would have noticed the column of fire our combined powers wrought. All I had to do was wait, and help would come.
seven
