Darion cupped the back of my neck and pressed our mouths together in a hasty, sloppy kiss.I was so shocked that I scarcely knew how to react.His lips were soft and welcoming, and his stubble scraped against my cheek.For a brief moment, the tumult of the world around us drifted away, and it was only the two of us.
I didn’t want this.And yet it was also everything I wanted.
We separated, and the world came crashing back.
“For luck,” Darion said.
“For luck,” I echoed, half dazed, touching my hand to my lips.Then I snapped back to reality.“Let’s go!”
Below us was churning white water and darkness.We jumped together, hand in hand, plunging into the torrent.
The first sensation was one of bitter cold as the icy water instantly filled every crack and crevice on my body, including my nose and ears.The only warmth was that of Darion’s hand, which gripped mine like a vise.Rushing water pushed us swiftly down a narrow tunnel, barely illuminated by my vial.I fought to keep my head above the surface, gulping precious air at every opportunity.The tunnel twisted and turned.The ceiling of the cave undulated over us, towering far above us one moment, plunging the next so that we had only just enough room to breathe.
The current picked up.Darion shouted something, but the splashing water was far too loud for me to make out what he said.Just ahead, the ceiling of the tunnel dropped below the water’s surface.I had just enough time to take a deep breath, then pulled my hand away from Darion just in time to push against the top of the cave and duck below the surface.
Under the swirling water, avoiding the rocks took every bit of concentration, the vial’s glow providing barely enough light to keep me from crashing into them.I kept my hands out in front of me, feeling for craggy edges, dodging each time a rock threatened to bash my head in.A sharp edge scraped my leg, most likely drawing blood.
My lungs burned, hungry for air, and I desperately wished the tunnel would end.But it continued, and the pain in my chest consumed my every thought.Panic wrapped its fingers around me as if trying to squeeze the last bit of air out of my lungs.Had I drawn my last breath?Was this to be my watery grave?
An unexpected warmth flowed through my body like the golden glow of the sun.My mind calmed.My heart rate slowed.The burning in my lungs diminished.For a moment, I wondered if I had died and this was the afterlife.But if this wasn’t death, perhaps I could last a little longer.Maybe a few more seconds.Maybe enough to live.
The tunnel forked again, the left channel pulling at me with a ferocious energy.I had no choice but to submit, and the current sucked me through, plunging downward faster than ever.
I was at the end of my endurance.I needed a breath.A gasp of water would end everything.
And then it was over.The river leveled out, and the shiny luster of water against air appeared above me.My head burst through the surface, and I gasped for air, lungs sucking in oxygen as if they’d never tasted its sweetness before.
I’d made it.I was alive.
“Darion!”I called, coughing up water as I yelled.
Only echoes replied.
The river still moved swiftly, but it had slowed enough that the surface was calm.I treaded water and looked around as I floated through a wide, tall tunnel that grew larger as it went.Just ahead, a large opening revealed a sky full of stars glimmering off Analon Bay.
“Darion, where are you?”I cried.
He would surface any moment.He had to.He must be right behind me.
But with every moment that passed, the panic I’d felt in the throes of the tunnel increased tenfold.Had he met the fate I had narrowly escaped?And if so, could I live with myself?My heart shouldn’t have hurt this much for a man I’d just met.
I had made it through alive, but Darion was nowhere to be found.
Chapter thirteen
Spiral
“Youwereoutlatelast night,” Elena said as I descended into the kitchen, bleary-eyed.
“Mmmm” was my reply.I had gotten home only a few hours earlier.My head pounded from lack of sleep, and red scratches ran up my arms and legs from the rough ride in the River of Souls.My entire body ached down to my bones.
I had floated into Analon Bay, then swum to shore and searched for any sign of Darion.But after only a few minutes, a contingent of Royal Guards began to scout the beach, no doubt looking for us.I watched from the shadows.After nearly an hour of searching, the guards finally left.Only then did I make my way home, wracked with guilt that I might have been responsible for Darion’s death.He had gone into the catacombs because of me, and he had only entered Queen Amara’s tomb because I’d led him there, all under false pretenses.
My last memory of him was our kiss.I couldn’t bear it if that was myfinalmemory of him.It would shred me to pieces.
And all for this stupid parchment that didn’t even make sense.I was sorely tempted to throw it in the fire and be done with the whole thing.
When I moved into the sunlight, Elena’s jaw dropped.“You look like shite,” she said.“What in the dust happened to you?”
