Page 147 of Tempting Fate

A problem. A really big problem.

Just as we’d feared, a wide lake spanned the whole space. Waves lapped at the gravelly shore. Sporadic rocks broke the eerily smooth surface, and the exit we needed lay on the far side down a narrow channel. A new type of crystal grew from cracks in the rock walls above the water, a blue-grey that emitted puffs of what looked like spores.

Whatever temporary calm I’d had vanished. “This isn’t good.” Something tickled at the back of my memory, but now wasn’t the time.

Airida squeezed my hand. “The exit looks clear. We just need to get through the lake.”

“Oh, just.” The water glowed with bioluminescence, and a small number of fish swam in it. “Can we try to pick our way around the edge?”

“Unless you wish to swim?”

The rock under our feet gave way to a gravelly beach of sorts at the water’s edge, an easy way in. I cast my eyes around the sides of the lake. Chills ran through me—and not from how cold I imagined the water to be. Those holes in the wall were too familiar, as were the glowing plants around the edge. “Not a chance.”

We clambered onto a rocky outcropping, edging our way along a narrow shelf under the water, but it was slow going. After only a few feet, we had to deactivate cloaking to prevent us from knocking each other in by accident. Our torches cast huge, eerie shadows over the walls, highlighting the sharp, rocky contours, the rippling reflection of the water—and us as perfect targets. Every minute we failed to get round was a minute closer to being caught.

Past the next obstacle, the wall smoothed out into a sheer surface. “You have got to be fucking kidding me.”

By our feet, fish swam all around, uncaring of our plight.

“We will have to go through,” Airida said. “Can you swim?”

“Nope.”

He clung to the last handhold and checked the datapad with his other hand. “Nor I. We are down to two pursuers again, but we have maybe a few minutes.”

“Whose fucking idea was it to come to the caves?” I asked, a high, frantic edge to my voice.

“My beautiful mate’s. And pursuit through cold water is still preferable to being on a carrier without you.”

“Don’t make me cry, dammit. You’re allowed to tell me it was a bad idea.”

He stroked my arm with the back of his datapad-holding hand. “Never. I got to dance with you.”

I swallowed. We’d danced, we’d kissed, we’d had so much precious time together. There’d be more. There had to be.

The datapad bleeped a warning, flashing bright red on the map, and we both turned.

A thick, smoky shadow filled the entranceway, a deep, dark blue lit with glistening spots of dull light. The glow of the cavern dimmed as it undulated towards the lake.

“What does a shadow stalker look like?” I whispered, though I’d seen this shadow before, pouring into the village against a backdrop of flames.

“I suspect like that.”

So this was it. The bounty hunter had found us. I squeezed my eyes closed and heard the rustle of Airida hoisting his pack higher on his shoulders, then the splash as he lowered into the water. His hands grasped mine, tugging me in.

So cold. This was fucking miserable, but not as miserable as whatever Stalker planned to do with us.

“I’m up to my neck,” I squeaked, and took a step towards him. My foot landed on nothing, and I’d have gone under if he hadn’t been holding me. I didn’t get my hair wet. Please be a good omen.

“It gets deeper. Let me carry you.”

I clung to his front in a piggy-back—piggy-front?—and rested my head on his shoulder. Stalker had made it past the lake edge, billowing towards us in deliberate, unhurried movements, like she knew we couldn’t escape.

Inky cold filtered into my bones. I bit my lips, focusing on the comforting familiarity of Airida’s body, trying to ignore the freezing water swirling around me.

A horrendous splash sounded, then a roar that shook the cavern and sent waves across the lake’s surface.

I blinked. A massive beast, easily nine feet tall, hauled itself out of the lake with powerful arms. Not just that; shadow-like tendrils projected from its back and anchored to the shore, giving it even more leverage. Water sluiced off its deep red body, streaming over blue-streaked muscles, horns pulsing with glowing indigo light. The spore clouds around the blue-grey crystals had grown, motes of them dancing around the beast, who growled and slapped at them.