With Chase’s arm slung around her waist.
Evie:
Jas. I fucked up. I found something I shouldn’t have. I can’t get a hold of Dad. Please help.
I read the text half a dozen times before I go get Talon and Dredyn from down in the living room of my house. My parents are out to dinner—not answering their phones.
Evie’s phone goes straight to voicemail as I throw on my hoodie and the three of us pile into the car, speeding toward Ashen Grove.
Her dorm in Cromwell hall is empty, her window thrown open, curtains flapping. Talon’s phone rings and he puts it on speaker.
“Hello? Evie?”
“Is Jasper with you? I can’t… I can’t find the way out?—”
“Where are you?”
“Catacombs”
“Let’s fucking go!” I yell.
We used the only entrance that we knew of thanks to our fathers—beside the library. We climbed the stone steps down until we were underneath the university, the darkness swallowing us whole.
“Evie!” My voice ricochets down the passage. No answer, just the low hum of something ahead.
Then, her scream. “HELP! Get off me!”
We sprint. Dredyn barrels forward, Talon right behind. My lungs are on fire, but I push harder. The sound yanks me onward.
We burst into the reservoir chamber, and my heart stops.
Evie thrashes in the black water, a man’s arm pinning her chest, shoving her under. Her dress floats around her like a shroud.
“Fuck!” Dredyn doesn’t hesitate. He dives in, water exploding around him. Talon rips off his jacket and throws himself toward the edge.
The shadow holding her down vanishes into the dark the second we close in, leaving only her body half-submerged, tangled on something below.
“Get her loose!” Talonshouts.
My hands close on her wrist. Dredyn’s got her other arm, pulling hard. She kicks, bubbles erupting around her mouth, but her leg is caught—wire, grate, I don’t know. She shakes her head, frantic.
We pull, both of us, but she jerks once, then slackens.
“No! No, no, no!” My scream drowns in the cavern.
We haul her onto the concrete. I drop to my knees, hammering her chest with both palms. Her ribs give under the force. I give her mouth-to-mouth, her lips icy, water seeping out of the corner.
Nothing.
Again. Harder. “Come back. Please. Come back.” I slam my fists against her sternum like I can beat her heart alive.
She can’t leave me.
Talon paces behind me, fists in his hair, muttering, “She’s gone, man, she’s gone,” while Dredyn kneels silently, blood running down his knuckles from tearing at the grate.
But I don’t stop—I can’t stop—until finally, her skin goes stone-cold under my palms, and I know.
There’s nothing left to save.
