The line on the speargun goes taut.
Celine clings to the weapon with both hands and wraps her legs around the tree. She’s the strongest person I know, but from the tension woven into every line of her body, I don’t think it will be enough.
Every instinct I have screams at me to help her.
I hammer my fists against the invisible barrier. “Let me fight,” I snarl.
A muscle beside Riven’s eye twitches, but he doesn’t look at me.
I kick the barrier and barely feel the impact. Again and again, I hurl myself against the magic fencing me in. Squeezing my eyesshut, I call on my nightmares. There’s a tiny kernel of magic inside me, but it’s sluggish. I can’t wake it up.
The branch Celine is braced against quivers from the pressure.
Please. No. I can’t lose her. I won’t survive it.I don’t know if I’m praying or if every piece of my mind, body, and soul is screaming to the universe for help.Let me help her,I beg.
Self-preservation tells me to close my eyes, but my heart won’t let me.
Celine glances at me. Smiles.
I can’t stop screaming.
She turns to Luca, Alistair, and Malach.
And I hear the crack.
Then she drops into the churning water and disappears beneath the surface.
FOURTEEN
Monster Realm Survival Tip #26:
Expect the unexpected. Surprise kills.
CELINE
The shock of the frigid water is dangerous.
I let the icy stabbing sensation fuel my urgency; I won’t be able to hold my breath forever. Squeezing the speargun between my thighs, I tug on the cable.
Hand over hand, I pull, propelling myself deeper under the water.
Instinct tells me it’s a mistake; logic tells me it’s my only chance. Eyes wide, I search the murky water for my opponent.There.Through the bubbles, bark, and tree needles, I see it.
Long like an eel, the monster has mud-colored, segmented skin. No eyes at all. Its mouth is perfectly round, as big as a tree trunk, and filled with hundreds of needle-like teeth.
My feet twitch, desperate to propel me toward the surface.
Blood stains the water, oozing from the place my spear isburied. I hit the monster in its second segment—where its neck would be if it had one. Not a bad shot, but it’s not enough.
The worm thrashes beneath the water, trying to free the spear.
My fingers are numb.
It’s getting harder to hold on.
Every muscle in my body screams for me to let go and swim away.
There’s only one problem: I can barely swim. We don’t have bodies of water in the celestial realm, except on the bottom tier, which I’ve never visited, so there was never any reason to learn.
