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He grimaces. “Let’s hear it, then. Anything else bothering you?” Annoyance linked with sarcasm flashes over his face.
“Fine. What about all of the secrets you and Kane keep from me? I know you have answers to all of my questions. I know there’s an answer to why you both seem to know every single one of my darkest secrets!” I’m in his face now, slapping my hands on his chest to shove him backward. But his stance is unmovable.
“You think we want to keep these secrets? That I get off on knowing things you don’t?”
“That’s exactly what I think.”
His nostrils flare. “You’re starting to piss me off.”
“Good. Maybe you’ll start to feel half the frustration I feel.”
“Jesus, Skylenna!” He invades my space with a clenched jaw and fists. “I’m doing my fucking best. The burden of what I know is on me, not you. One day, you’ll thank me for that.”
“The only reason you keep information to yourself is because you think I’m weak and helpless.” I shove him again. “And the worst part is, I want you!” He raises his eyebrows and catches my hands before they push him again. “Yeah, I want you. I want you to touch me. I want you to tell me how you feel about me. I want to be with you for the rest of my life. Even if that means our time is spent running!”
He watches me, a roar of emotions being birthed in his dark eyes. Stunned. In momentary disbelief. And there’s this pull to his body growing like the thirst for a single drop of water in a desert.
Muffled voices followed by the howl of DaiSzek echoes through the body of the red oak trees. We tense. It’s not close enough that they would have a direct sight to us, but not far enough that we have time to run. Dessin guides my chin with his fingers back to him.
“We’re going to hide, okay?” The footsteps are fast, running. “Hold my hand, and stay under,” he instructs while turning us to face the lagoon. Oh, of course.
I gasp for one final breath right before we step off the cliff, launching ourselves into the body of water. And it’s a single moment of silence. Of peace. A clear sky. Not a single cloud. The turquoise water sparkling underneath us, like tiny diamonds floating on the surface.
As we hit the surface, our hands are pulled apart. The temperature is shocking at first, like walking through snow without shoes. But the coolness soothes my skin pumping with hot adrenaline.
The sunlight is fracturing the water into amber diamonds and tiny emeralds and streaming gold ribbons that shine down on me. I flap my arms through the water, trying to find Dessin. A hand grips my wrist, yanking me down deeper into the lagoon. What is he doing? I have to muffle my instinct to kick and thrash for air. He’s trying to hide us.
He takes hold of a large curly root, sponged under seaweed so we can stay under without floating back up to the top.
My lungs tighten like a fist under my chest. How long does he think I can hold my breath? But he isn’t focused on me. No, that face carved as sharp as a warrior is tilted up, watching the surface the way DaiSzek looks to the trees if he senses an intruder. And that large hand is gripping my waist. A firm electric current passing from his fingertips to the pit of my belly.
He’s beautiful down here. The sunlight is glistening off of his tan skin, like melted gold pouring over a bronze statue. The soft, gentle blur from the water. The silence and distorted whooshing of waves. It’s as though we’ve fallen into another dimension. A pocket of heaven that has shut out all evil.
That bubble of peace does not last.
My body begins to violently contract, muscles clenching and unclenching. I’ve been under too long. I need to take a breath, open my mouth, let out the old oxygen I no longer need.
Dessin!
His trance to the surface is broken, eyes flicking down to my coiling body that needs air. Without another thought, his hands wrap around either side of my rib cage, thrusting me upward until water is silently whooshing past my face, and the top of my head breaks the surface. I suck in a long, loud breath. Coughing on drops of water that made their way down my throat.
Dessin rises next to me, holding his finger to his plush lips, then signaling for me to follow toward the only sound that drowned out my choppy gasps for breath.
The waterfall.
That source of magnificent energy beats down on the lagoon. We tread toward the cloud of white mist. Is he taking us under the fall? He can’t be. He was so reluctant to go near there last time. Something about keeping a promise to someone.
He’s about to pull me under the veil, the glass sheet of the fall, when I tug his hand.
His eyes land on my nails digging into his skin before they look to me in question.
You said we can’t go in there! I mouth the words, although, I should really let it go. I’m the one that wanted to go under the fall. Shouldn’t I see what the fuss was about? Shouldn’t this be my chance to hear what his promise was? Why the waterfall is significant to him?
He ignores my questions, tugging me under the heavy weight, the crashing gravity of chilled water. And for a moment, I take pleasure in the sensation plummeting down my hair before we are swallowed behind its shiny curtain.
I’m greeted by the scent of moist earth after a rainstorm. Murky and sweet. It’s like a wet cave, with slimy algae coating limestone, and thick briny air.
He then eases me against the stone wall, my back squishing the spongy slime. And I take another look around. Quickly, skeptically, despite his feverish eyes nailed to my body. What’s the big deal? I don’t see any hidden passageways. There isn’t any secret code written on the slippery limestone. It’s just a waterfall. A secret waterfall that seemed to snag his attention when we were last here.
