Life to death, and death to life—
break the curse, or pay the price.
Then she lifts a hand and points to the ashes in my palm.
The pool begins to boil. The blood spreads.
And before I can scream, the ground gives way, and I fall again.
Chapter 17
The Deep
The moon hovers above the rippling water, casting silver light that dances across the waves. Beautiful, in a way. For one breathless moment, I float, weightless, suspended between sky and shadow.
Then something coils around my ankle.
I scream, but water rushes in, stealing the sound from my throat. I kick hard, twisting, but the grip tightens. Another tendril snakes around my waist. Then a third—cold, slick, unyielding.
I thrash, panic clawing up my spine as I fight to free one arm. My fingers scrape skin, fabric, and finally, leather. I wrench one of my daggers free and stab blindly downward.
Steel meets flesh, and the water blooms red.
A shriek ripples through the lake—not sound, but pressure—and the tendrils loosen. I kick free and surge upward, lungs burning, vision blurring as moonlight explodes above me.
I break the surface with a ragged gasp.
Air. Sweet, aching air.
I suck it in and swim, furious and desperate, my arms slicing through the water as I aim for the distant shore. My muscles scream. My legs feel like stone, but I don’t stop.
I can see it now. I can make it—
I’m yanked down again, barely managing one last breath before the lake swallows me whole.
The monster drags me under, harder and faster this time, the light vanishing in an instant. Darkness rushes in, thick and absolute. The water presses in from all sides, crushing, relentless.
A massive shape glides through the depths—pale as bone, scaled and ancient. Golden eyes ignite in the dark, slitted and hungry. A beak-like mouth snaps.
The creature’s tendrils wrap tighter, dragging me toward its gaping maw. My limbs burn. My chest convulses. My thoughts scatter.
So this is how I die.
Kat… Mother… I’m sorry.
Darkness closes in.
I must be dead—
And then the light returns.
A thunderous crack rips through the surface above me. With a ferocious roar, a claw punches through the water like a falling star. Razor-sharp talons slice downward, severing the creature’s tentacles in a single, precise strike.
I’m ripped free—tumbling, kicking, lungs screaming.
Finally, I break the surface with a gasp. I cough violently, choking on air like I’ve forgotten how to breathe.
Then another roar shatters the night.
