My hands brush into something trailing around my wrists and I flail away, but as the glowing light below me wavers again, I realise it’s seaweed of some kind, nearly as thick as both my hands put together.
It’s dense too. I push through, trying not to think of how wrong I may be, how the light may be a clever trick for a hungry maw. The fire in my lungs grows the harder I heave through the growth. Even if I tried to swim up now, I wouldn’t make it.
But I’m nearly there.
It’s slowing me, tugging me back as I press forwards. I reach, lunging my arm out as deep into the mass as I can. One more heave, and I’ll be in range. The spikes will stop, Rune will be free, and the key—
The key . . . I fight the sudden urge to laugh as the realiation hits me. The key doesn’t matter.
Not the key or the treasure. Not my dream of lonely peace. Neither of those hopes are what I swim for now. They were never what I needed. What I needed was proof that there was another way to live. That my mother’s love wasn’t the last I’d ever feel. That a crew could sing together, grieve together. That even the most fierce are fiercest for love. That a big-hearted cook can adopt all those that adopted him. That loyalty is born not of fear but of trust. That a captain can lead by example, and choose to shoulder every burden alongside those that die for him, even if that means offering his drink to the sea.
I needed proof that a smile can be gentle. That my handscan be a comfort.
Before now, I’d never owned new clothes that weren’t stolen. I’d never had things that were mine before they were anyone’s. Not my mother’s necklace. Not Ivor’s sharp edges.
And then there’s Rune, handing me a package like it’s the least he can do, announcing he’s going after Ivor like he knows he’ll win, like he doesn’t see how he’s taken everything I know about the world and tossed it, skipping it far across the water, nevermind the ripples that grow. He is confidence where I am fear. He is bold where I tend towards the shadows. Considerate where I’ve been nothing that wouldn't help me survive. We’re opposites, fire and kindling. The earth, the moon, and this tide between us.
It doesn’t matter that he hates me. Or, he wishes he could. The map, the fear, the anger, I shove it all to the back of my mind as I reach the last of my breath.
One more kick. And one more again. Because if I don’t make it, he’ll die wondering if the fear won in the end.
I want him to know that it didn’t.
I want him to know that I love him too much to let it stop me.
THE KEEPER OF MY HEART
35
RUNE
With a shuddering groan, the spikes halt, mere feet away from me. There’s no sound, bar the constant dripping of water seeping down the crevices in the stone. I drag a breath into my lungs, trying to steady my racing heart. It doesn’t last long though because the wall spikes might have stopped moving towards me, but Odi hasn’t surfaced from the pool on the other side.
I press my hands against the glass. “Odi!” I yell, waiting to see the bubbles rise from the depths so I know she's okay. But there’s nothing.
I pound the glass with my fist over and over, but there’s nothing I can do. It doesn't budge. I’m stuck here on one side while she drowns for me on the other.
Rock grinding on itself sounds behind me. I swivel to see a small door made of stone swing down like a draw bridge to reveal a hidden alcove. I rush for it and shove my hand in to reach the shining metal inside—the last key. My heart is pounding. This is it. We can get the treasure. Success after everything we’ve gone through.
Yet I don’t have Odi, and at this point it’s all I care about.
I slam the stone door shut, pocket the key, and start pounding at the glass partition again. When it doesn't budge, I grab the sword at my side and begin to smash the hilt on it repeatedly. Something has to give.
Odi . . . little doe. I’m coming.
A groan sounds through the room, making me bounce away from the glass, caught off guard. I throw my gaze to the roof to see the wall begin to sink. A heavy breath escapes my lips. “Thank fuck!” I shout to the void.
The entry door on my side opens as the glass that bisects the room descends. For a single breath, I hesitate. Is it another trick? The instinct that pulls me towards the water could be wrong. She could have found another way out. She could be waiting for me outside the temple, swept to safety once she’d made it down, but it doesn’t make any sense. Really, there’s only one reason two ways would open at once.
It’s a choice. An opportunity for anyone on this side to take the key and escape, or leap in to save the one in the water. Every temple so far has ensured that a land dweller couldn’t make their way through by force. Even with coercion involved, this one guarantees the siren—or elemental—had the choice to make it out alone.
I turn my back to the door and sheath my blade, then I shove myself up on the lip of the stone that sandwiches the glass together. As soon as there’s room for me to squeeze over the top, I take it. Every second that Odi is down there is a second closer to losingher forever.
My boots slam against the small ledge of stone flooring that is left on Odi’s side of the room as I land, and without a second glance I’m diving head first down the circular looking well of black icy water.
The shift takes me in seconds, my darkvision kicking in as I frantically search for the one who has stolen my heart . . . my breath. But it’s impossible to see anything. It's a forest of kelp down here, and not the nice kind.
It's thick, brown and as wide as an oar. If I can’t even see down here properly, how will she? I grab the stem of some, and tug myself through the tangled web of foliage. “Odi!” I call. I need her to know I’m here, and I’m not leaving without her.
