The tense silence is overwhelmed by a rumble. A wall on the far side grinds against the floor, pulling back like an invitation. When it stops, I look at Rune, expecting triumph. It must be our way out, but his fin-like ears are twitching, his scaled forearms rippling as he grips his fists tight.
“You know how you hate water?” he says grimly, his eyes locked out of focus.
My heart drops to the cave floor. “What?”But I hear it—a tell-tale roar. Familiar and terrifying. Faint at first, then growing, screaming louder with every heartbeat that passes.
The holes in the walls erupt, but I’m already moving. Rune is beside me, his arm wrapped around my waist like he can urge me faster than the voice that chants in my head.
Run.
Run.
Run, little doe.
The temple is filling with water.
THECOFFIN LID
19
RUNE
Of course thisgods-forsakenplace would be filled with mechanisms of self-destruction should someone take the temple's prized possession. I should have guessed it from the start, but I’d been too busy trying to keep me and Odi alive.
Or perhaps I’d been too distracted trying to keep my hands off her.
Her heartbeat pounds against my chest.Ba dum, ba dum, ba dum—solid and unrelenting. I don’t blame her for being afraid, I am too. Not for myself, I was born in water. No, my fear is reserved for my crew. All I can do is hope that they all made it out before the water began to rise.
The tunnel opens into another room, and Odi’s breath catches beside me. “Rune . . . the water—”
My gaze flicks to the floor as I release the grip I have on her waist. The salt water is up to our knees now and quickly rising, pouring in from the top of the room as well as seeping in from somewhere underground.
I turn to her, searching for her face in the dark. My vision isn’t quite as good as it might be underwater, but I know shecan’t see a thing. Her eyes are unfocused, her brow creased, teeth catching on her lower lip as her gaze flicks desperately around the room, searching for light. She can’t even shift—her deer form would be more hindrance than help here. I have to get us out.
“We need to work together. Hands on the walls. You go left I’ll go right, yell out when you find something,” I call above the rising waters.
“But Rune—” Odi hisses, not bothering to mask the panic on her face now.
I lay a hand on her arm gently and squeeze, trying to offer her some sort of reassurance. “Stick to the walls. If you feel anything unusual, call out and I’ll find you.”
She nods, her unfocused gaze resting a little too far to the left of my face, then begins to move away, running her palms over the smooth stone surface. I move right. The walls are dripping with water, and all I can hope is I don’t come across one of those lizard-like creatures we’d encountered earlier.
It feels like we search for hours, but I know it’s only been minutes, if that. The water rises to my mid-thigh now, which means it will be at Odi’s hips soon. We need to find a door.
“Anything?” I yell across the room as I keep searching.
“Nothing!” Odi’s voice is muffled by the sound of rushing water.
Shit.
This can’t be the end. I didn’t come all this way, risk so much, just to live the rest of my days inside a maze of water.
Worse, I’d have to watch Odi drown.
I can’t let her die. Not when she and the map are the only link I have left to my mother.
“Rune, there’s something here!” Odi cries out.
I spin around, searching for her silhouette in the inky shadows. She’s across the room.
