She nods, but doesn’t move, and for a second I’m not sure if it’s relief or something else keeping her pressed against me.
With a groan, she finally rolls off onto the moist stone surface, and we both just stare up at the ceiling for a moment. Odi’s chest heaves in and out as she drags air into her lungs. I stay still beside her, offering her some form of stability. Only when her breaths become quiet do I suggest getting up. I was lying when I called her a wet dog before. The woman is breathtaking when she’s drenched.
The chamber is sealed above us, but through the darkness I can see the outline of a tunnel on the other side of the room. Odi’s attention is locked on it too. The only thing separating us from the opening . . . is the giant, glowing pool stretched lazily across the expanse.
“I’m so over water,” I murmur to Odi beside me. I may be a siren, born of the seas, but even I’ve had my fill.
She looks up at me, a small smile tugging at her lips. “Tragic. What will the waves do without your endless brooding?”
Now is not the time to be looking at her lips, but I can’t help it. “I could brood less if you stopped giving me reasons to,” I say, flashing her a grin of my own.
She rolls her eyes as she takes a step towards the edge of the pool, but not before I catch the flick of her gaze to my lips. The blue glow bounces off her skin, making her look as if she’s a creature from another realm. “Will it never end?”
I step up beside her. “I could carry you if you like?”
She tilts her head up to meet mine. “Thanks, but I do know how to swim.”
I shrug lightly. “The offer is there.”
The glow of the water is plenty that I don’t need to use my darkvision, and Odi can see well enough. My eyes search the surface of the water, looking for signs of life. Danger. Anything that might think we are its next meal, yet I find nothing unusual. It’s just a deep pool—too still compared to all the other chambers we’ve encountered.
“Shall we?” I usher my hand towards the edge.
Odi nods before she crouches down and slips her feet into the water. I don’t think. I just dive head first, shifting the moment my hands break the surface. As I come up, Odi is already treading water waiting for me.
I offer her a wink. “Last one to the other side is a rotten sea slug.”
She huffs, and takes off swimming, splashing water in my direction as she passes by. The loose fabric of her clothes weigh her down and get in the way, stealing her momentum, but she pushes harder. For a moment I release a breath, allowing myself to hope this is the way out.
We’re halfway across when something catches my eye—a flicker of silver glinting beneath the surface. It’s nothing, I tell myself. A rock. Lost treasure perhaps. Or just my mind playing tricks.
“You know what I’d like to know, little doe?” I say, keeping my tone light. “Whether that key is still tightly secured.”
Odi glares at me mid-frog-stroke. “For your information, it is.”
“Oh good. Can’t have you losing a piece.”
“It’s notme you should be—”
Her words break off in a sharp scream. I spin, just in time to see the silver ripple in the water where something’s nipped her leg. I grab her, hauling her tight against me and striking for the ledge, but the water ahead churns.
I focus my gaze to cut through the surface and find the predators below. Shapes circle—dozens of them. Sleek bodies, rows of teeth flashing like broken glass.
Gnashies.
Flesh eating fish with blades for fins. A species so old that I didn’t even know they still existed. Last I’d heard of them they lived in the deepest depths of the ocean, preferring the darkness to any forms of light.
Odi’s arms clamp around my neck from behind, her nails biting into my skin. She’s breathing hard, quick and shallow, and the tremor in her hold tells me she’s close to full panic. We’re both treading water. I could shift to grab my sword, but there’s too many, and she’s too far from safety to make a break for it without losing skin.
“Rune, what are they?” she whispers.
“Hungry, unfortunately.”
Something familiar stirs in my chest. Something I’ve not let surface in quite some time.
I know a way to make them back off. But it means opening a door I’ve kept locked tight, showing Odi a piece of me I’m not sure I want her to see.
A shadow slips too close, teeth snapping in the dim light, and the decision’s made for me.
