Her grip faltered. I lunged forward. The temple gasped as I dashed into the basin and dove headfirst. The water was pitch black even with my eyesight. My glowing eyes and glyphs were swallowed by the darkness. I swam viciously, down and down, but the liquid was deceptively thick and stifling the further I went. I was pulled down with ease, but swimming upwards or even laterally became almost impossible.
The fact that I couldn’t hear her anymore propelled me faster, harder through the dense abyss.
My hands searched all around me, seeking contact until at last my fingertips met a silky, weightless softness. Hair.Rahzlyn.I grasped for her, the outline of her body barelyilluminated by the glyphs emanating from my skin. I curled my hands under her shoulders to yank her upwards. My kicking barely held us in place against the force that pulled us down.
No life sounded from her. No heartbeat, no struggles.
No, no, no!
I sealed my lips to hers, prying them open carefully and sucking the water that filled her. Clamping her nose, I spewed the water I’d sucked, then took her mouth back with mine. I blew—using all of my guardian strength to send ample breaths into her. I didn’t know if resuscitating underwater would even work, but I knew I had to fucking try.
Even if it meant giving my all, including my life.
I wouldn’t let her die.
Breathe, my intuition commanded.
I exhaled ferociously. All that mattered was reviving Rahzlyn before it was too late. My body faltered. I’d never felt so breathless before. My legs grew tired, no longer able to tread us in place.
The seconds dragged. My chest burned from how much air I expelled into her.
Thump, thump.
Her heart, thank fuck.
I continued, giving her all of my air as her pulse steadily increased. Then her body jolted against mine, and she was gasping into me. Choking. Her eyes widened. I wanted to reassure her that she was safe, that I would always keep her safe, but I couldn’t spare another second. I couldn’t let her die.
I slid my topaz ring from my finger onto hers. My remaining strength waned. The faint light from my glyphs and eyes disappeared, plunging us into darkness. Hopefully her donning a real talisman would work long enough for her to wield her power. To succeed. Tosurvive.
Her hands clutched my shoulders. A brightness kindled in her eyes. With our mouths still fused, a new symbol emerged on her forehead. The shape of an upside-down triangle appeared. The symbol of water, her primal glyph.
She did it.
Her hands touched my cheeks as gold light poured out from all the connected glyphs that marked her skin. An amber hue blazed suddenly and vibrantly until it nearly blinded me. A force ripped her from me. I reached after her in the darkness that surrounded, but she was gone. Safe. My crazy, thoughtless plan miraculously worked.
Thank you, Hector.
Out of breath, out of life, I sank further into the abyss.
Chapter 52
Rahzlyn
Water surgedall around me.One moment I was certain I was dead, and the next I was hurtling through the ancient basin and blasting beyond the surface. It was as if an invisible hand had plucked me from the water’s depths. Only it wasn’t a hand.
It was the water itself that had swept me into its embrace and carried me upwards to where I now hovered, floating above the center of the temple’s basin, cradled by towers of water shooting straight up. My arms and legs were stretched wide, kept in place by the fanning waves that cascaded around me.
Dozens of eyes stared wide with shock and awe—at me, at the water raised from the basin, keeping me afloat. I was as high up as the head of Scorpio’s statue.
This control, this manipulation came fromme. As soon as I’d regained consciousness, I’d wanted to be free from the darkness below, and I’d simply clung to the music enveloping me. It was as if I’d heard one musical note in particular and hitched a ride to the surface with it.
The music surrounded me, in the water like before. Only now it wasn’t only something I heard. I couldtouchthe music, theway I tried through dancing. In doing so, I could bend it to my will.
Adrenaline flooded my veins, keeping me from collapsing from sheer exhaustion. Voices called up to me. Without Raithe’scommunica, I couldn’t understand them.
Raithe.
My chest throbbed as I searched the crowd below. Gregorios and the acolytes stood near the water’s edge. Felaf waved at me to come down. Alekko and Vesperah scanned the surface frantically. Raithe was nowhere to be seen.
