Both are impossible, but the latter has to be my only choice because survival by any means necessary is all I know.
Clutching for ideas, I tighten my hold on the bar in my right hand and quickly jerk my body toward it for better leverage. The mermaid moves alittle with me, sprouting the smallest hint of an idea and springing me to action.
With all of the strength I can muster, I drag myself deeper and deeper, tugging them along with me. My arms burn, and my legs throb from where they continue to stab me with their ridiculously sharp fingernails, but I keep moving. It’s the only choice I’ve got.
My vision blurs and my face pulses from the pressure as my head collides with a hard surface, confirming we’re at the bottom. But it’s almost futile due to the fact that I can barely keep my eyes open. I’m certain the only thing keeping me going is the vampire essence still thrumming through my veins.
As if sensing the thought, the vampire thrumming through my veins incinerates the inability to focus, and before I realize what I’m doing, I reach the final bar and yank the mermaid closer.
With speed.
Vampirespeed.
My ear drums are on the brink of bursting from the almighty cry that carries through the water the second before their head collides with the floor, with much more force than mine had, and as every fiber of my being hoped, it shatters.
The pain subsides in my legs as their grasp ceases to exist, but cuts lance across my skin as marble splinters in every direction.
Despite the pain, I reach for the metal bars once more and start to drag myself back toward the surface, the remnants of the vampire abilities disappearing as I struggle to breathe.
Lurching from the water with a gasp, I throw my arms over the side, only to feel a set of hands grab for me. I’m soaring through the air before colliding with a firm body.
Hands smother me, more than one pair, but it takes me a second to open my eyes properly to see what’s going on. The first thing my gaze lands on are Thorne’s eyes.
Darker than dark, and riddled with undeniable fear.
“Echo,” he breathes, and I splutter, struggling to process what on earth is happening.
It takes a second for me to acknowledge I’m wrapped in Thorne’s arms, while Rion and Ocean crowd me with a sense of urgency.
Rion grabs my chin and tilts my head to face him as Ocean whimpers my name.
I’m sopping wet and hopeless.
“I couldn’t see, I?—”
“Fuck finding it, Elodie. We couldn’t get in, we couldn’t help you. Where’s the mermaid?” Thorne rushes, and I shake my head, bewildered.
“Gone.”
His hands flex at my sides as Rion speaks.
“It all happened so fast, Petal.”
“What did?” I manage, wiping a wet hand down my even wetter face.
“The second you went into the water, the mermaid came alive and followed after you. As soon as we tried to help, the others created a barrier. We managed to destroy one, but those fuckers are insane, and before we could get through another, you reappeared,” Rion explains, my head reeling over everything as Thorne squeezes me one last time before slowly lowering me to my feet.
He places a soft kiss on my forehead before I take a step back, trying to suck in a deep breath of air, but it’s pointless.
Despite the horrors that just unfolded in the water, I slump against the side of the fountain, my head sagging between my shoulders as I attempt to gather myself.
“I couldn’t see it. I could try again, but, fuck…” My teeth chatter from the chill that runs over me.
“We can keep looking,” Ocean insists, planting a hand on my arm, but I shake my head.
“It's pointless. I was lucky tonight. God knows what will happen the next time. Vampire or not.” I scoff, the sound hollow as I take a deep breath. “I’m not a vampire, siphoning it or not. I am a scythe. That means I'm not the same, no matter how much I try. It also means I don’t really stand a chance against something like that,” I admit, pointing over my shoulder to the statue mermaids, which now has a blank spot.
“It's okay, Elodie,” Ocean consoles, and I nod, chest heaving as I slump back against the fountain, head tilting up to the ceiling.
