Toran
The water sent a wave of shock through Toran’s body.
It was like the first time Loriana kissed him.
He’d been trying to find ways to kiss her for weeks. But if there was anything Loriana was adept at, it was evasion. He’d never seen someone duck so many ways. It became a game for them.
In the end, she won. Catching him before he’d realized how close she was, her hands on his shoulders and her lips pressed to his. The touch had made his whole body freeze, every nerve centered around their connection. The shock had been so great it had taken him several seconds before he let the kiss take him away.
It was exactly how he felt falling into the ocean. He was submerged before he knew what had happened, the cold a strike that hardened his body. It took a few seconds for him to find his bearings.
He and Genna broke the surface at the same time. The sight of her sputtering, of her slim hand wiping water out of her eyes, made him freeze all over again.
Shit. Nes.Where was Nes?
He’d promised her. Toran dove under.
The salt stung his eyes, but he blinked it back, swiveling around in search of her. He found her, only a couple strokes away, her eyes squeezed shut. She’d sunk deeper than either him or Genna. The skirt she wore billowed around her waist, her exposed legs pale against the backdrop of the dark water. The braid he’d wound floated beside her, a snake coiled for attack. But it was her hands that made him pause.
They clutched her ears, fingers curled over the tops as if she weretrying to pull them from her head. As if clapping her palms over her ears wasn’t enough—as if she couldn’t stand whatever she heard.
Toran heard nothing but silence.
He swam for her. He reached a hand toward her and felt the current working against him. With barely any water between his fingers and the crook of her elbow, Nes opened her mouth. A full circle, it filled instantly with water. And then she screamed.
She screamed and it was like the current heeded her call, strengthening with every bit of soundless agony she exhaled. He grabbed her around the middle before he lost his chance and kicked them both upward.
They broke through the surface. Nes’s cry hit air, and he nearly dropped her back beneath the water, her screech clawing at him. Were he not using both arms to keep them afloat, he might have slapped his hands over his own ears.
But once she sucked in a breath, the scream cut off. Nes spit mouthfuls of ocean, coughing and sputtering.
In his periphery, he could see Genna had managed to climb back into the rowboat and was beckoning them toward her, but his attention was on Nes.
She’d finally opened her eyes, blinking rapidly as if trying to clear nightmares from her head. Perhaps she was. Perhaps that was what she saw, what she felt, underwater. All her nightmares come true.
She stopped blinking, her eyes honing in on him. The arm she had wrapped around his neck tightened. “You kept your promise.”
He didn’t break her gaze, trying not to focus on the way her fingers smoothed the small hairs at the nape of his neck. “You didn’t make it easy.”
“I tried to warn you.”
He laughed. “You did no such thing.”
She grinned back. “You’re right. That doesn’t sound like me at all. I prefer an element of surprise.”
A small wave rolled into them, and she leaned closer. Strands ofher hair were plastered to her forehead. A forehead close enough he could have bumped it with his nose. Even like this, soaking and nearly drowned, she was wild—wild and still beautiful.
Another wave rolled, this one bigger, and broke against Nes’s back. She let loose a small cry, her arms tightening around him. He kicked his legs hard to keep them afloat.
“We didn’t come out here for a swim!” Genna yelled.
“Yeah,” he called back. “Coming.”
“Wait,” Nes said, her voice small.
“What is it?”
“There’s something you should know. I—” She hesitated.
