Save us.
I swallow roughly. “I’m not sure we should—”
“We don’t have time to stand here and debate what’s below.” Arion’s gaze snaps to mine, and I try to maintain the eye contact. I try not to look at those black veins, at the pain glinting sharp and bright in his gaze despite how he tries to hide it.He’s dying.“I don’t see stairs. I don’t see a ladder. There’s no other way in, aside from jumping. Unless, Zephyra, you tell us you’ve already been inside that room, and we look elsewhere—”
I shake my head, resisting the urge to reach for him. To keep him close beside me. There is only one way to save him now—there has only ever been just one way—and if we don’t find it soon, all this will have been for nothing. I shake my head harder, fiercer, and will myself to concentrate. “No. I have never been down here—have never seen that door or this chamber—in my life.”
He holds my gaze for a second longer before nodding brusquely. Without any further preamble, without listening to Amaya’s new commands to her crew or Gavriall’s hesitancy or Vesper’s curses, Arion walks forward. Two steps, and he slips into the abyss.
He’s just—gone.
Panic spikes abruptly, and I throw myself on my knees, scrambling to peer inside the blackness that swallowed him. He does not scream or shout. There is no grotesque thud. Only voices and the ice-cold chill of death skittering up my spine.
“Do you see him?” Vesper asks, kneeling beside me now. When I don’t answer, my fingers clenching white upon the threshold, she adds, “Do you really think Abysses is down there?”
“I don’t know.”
We crouch in silence for any sound from Arion—for anyhintof what awaits us below—until Amaya loses patience and finally shouts, “Warlock Stone! Are you alive?” Her crew waits behind her with bated breath, and my pulse races even faster as I realize the silvered cord has vanished. Just like Arion, it’s gone.How is that possible?
Arion doesn’t respond. Silence prickles over my flesh until I can’t take it anymore. I dangle my legs over the opening, and Vesper grabs my arm, hissing, “What are you doing, Zephyra?”
I jerk away from her, sliding my hips to the edge. “What does it look like? I’m going after him.”
Her eyes narrow incredulously. “We don’t know what’s waiting. He could be dead.”
Yes.That simple truth slides like a knife through my ribs, but I force myself to acknowledge it. Because he could be. Arion could have fallen to his death, or been eaten by a horrible monster, or maybe the poison in his veins climbed higher still, killing him before he could land. Maybe that’s why he isn’t answering. Logic wars against the onslaught of emotion in my chest. It roots me to the floor. Because if he’s dead, I’m next. And I should run. I should run away.
I grind my teeth.
Ishouldrun away, but I can’t. Iwon’t.
“We are here for a reason. There is no other way out.” I peer up at Vesper, hoping she understands my meaning when I say, “I’m not running this time.”
Her gaze flashes in realization. Emotions pool in her dark blue irises. I wait for her to recoil, or curse me, or perhaps even push meinto the darkness, but instead she simply… grins. It’s a hard grin. A resolute one. She isn’t running either. “After you, then, Zephyra.”
And though my bones shake with fear and my tongue has swollen to a lump in my throat, I throw myself into the abyss. I follow those voices. I followArion.
Down. Down.
Down.
And then—sideways.
Falling doesn’t feel quite the same as it usually does. It doesn’t suck the wind from my lungs or make my head spin or beat terrified fists in my chest. Instead, I float. Gently and gracefully on an easy breeze as the wall behind me morphs. Transforms in the blink of an eye andshifts—ticking like the minute hand of a grandfather clock as it replaces the floor. As the previous floor snaps into place as a wall. The entire chamber seems to rotate around me until I land soft on my feet in a mess of damp earth.
Right in front of Arion.
Warm relief floods my system, and my pulse eases at the sight of him. Wings splayed wide and proud behind him, his black tunic open and damp with sweat. “Zephyra.” His eyes glitter as I straighten on unsteady feet, and he seizes my wrist, instantly pulling me into his chest. He holds me like that. For seconds. Minutes. I can no longer hear Vesper’s or Amaya’s voices above us, can no longer hear anything except the faint beat of Arion’s heart. His shallow breaths. His lips brush against my forehead.
It doesn’t feel likehellothough.
It feels likegoodbye.
I push away from him before he can admit as much. “Let’s find this fucking heart.” I lift my chin, daring him to argue otherwise. This will not be the end of us. We still have time. Wemusthave time. To fix this. To save him.
He nods, though he doesn’t appear convinced. “Okay, mermaid.”
“Okay, warlock.”
