Salvatore has slumped over the narrow top of the trunk. His jacket flares around him in the current. He coughs and heaves a breath as if he’s struggling to get his bearings.
“Salvatore,” I call over the rushing water. “Come on. We’ve got to get you back to shore.”
I reach for more ephemera to help me guide him along, but it shudders away from my fingers with a lurch of my pulse.
Okay, I’m not getting much farther with magic tonight. We’ll just have to make this work the drab way.
I kick a little closer and let go of the tree with one hand to tuck my arm around Salvatore’s back. The buffeting of the current sends my hip smacking into his leg.
“Stupid fucking river,” Salvatore mutters. He stretches out his arm past me toward the next branch over, swaying as he bobs.
I do my best to support him as he edges a few inches over, and a few inches more. He grunts when the river slaps us with a heavier swell.
My waterlogged clothes drag at my limbs. I can’t imagine Salvatore’s jacket is doing him any favors, but getting it off while we’re still adrift seems like more trouble than it’s worth.
I’m casting out with one foot, hoping to feel where the riverbed is low enough for me to ground myself with it, when the tree trunk lets out a hollow groan.
With a creak and a snap, the upper section of the tree—the part we’re still clinging to—breaks off and swirls downriver.
The log drags us with it. The spin brings a branch careening toward our heads, and I dodge, yanking Salvatore with me as well as I can.
More twigs and bark slough off beneath my scrambling hands. With another spin, the crumbling chunk whips away from us completely.
Salvatore swears and sweeps his arms through the water, managing to keep himself upright. I tread as well as I can. As I push myself closer to him, I scan the dark banks for another lifeline to aim for.
Nothing catches my eyes. The ache of my exhaustion has seeped all the way into my lungs.
Out of desperation, I grope for even a thread of ephemera again. It wisps through my fingers, and a wave of pain radiates through my body.
We careen under another, much larger and higher bridge where the lights of the passing cars don’t penetrate the night far enough to touch us. They streak by like shooting stars.
My feet drag through the water. I dig one heel against the other and let my shoes fall away into the river’s depths.
It’s a small help but not enough to make a real difference.
I turn toward Salvatore. “Can you push us with magic? I’m worn out.”
He grimaces, and his head lists to one side. “Hard to concentrate. I keep… getting dizzy.”
His eyelids flutter closed for a few seconds. A deeper chill sets in, one that soaks all the way to my bones.
The river is only going to get rougher the farther we go as its smaller tributaries add to the rush. And then we’ll be swept right out into the vast lake, where the rip current could drag us right under.
I might be able to float with the worst of the current until it dissipates and then swim back to shore—might.
Salvatore looks like he could sink again any moment.
“Gotta… try…” he mutters, his forehead creasing beneath his soaked hair. The furrows deepen, a strangled noise reverberating from his throat.
Energy heaves into us, shoving us just a couple of feet to the right—and then spasms against my skin. I lurch forward instead of sideways.
Salvatore growls through his teeth. “Sorry. Sor?—”
His voice dwindles out. His body dips in the water to his chin.
I cry out in alarm. “Don’t tire yourself out anymore. You need to be strong enough to keep swimming.”
He doesn’t answer. His features have slackened, his eyelids drooping shut.
