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He turned his head slowly, and I realised he was scanning the water around as well as he could without moving the light.
“There’s something… in the water.” His voice was tight, and I realised he was worried. The realisation sank over my heart, moments before I felt something brush against my leg.
That was impossible. There couldn’t be any life down here, not with the saline conditions. Nothing could survive.
“Sariel. Theo. When I say, head for the platform ahead.”
“Shouldn’t we go back?” asked Theo. “We don’t know what’s -”
“We know it’s closer,” interrupted Alastor. “Use your torch, Theo. Don’t stop and don’t look back. You too, Sariel.”
My heart thudded in my chest. “Alastor…”
“Go. Now!”
Shit.I went.
Chapter Fifteen
SARIEL
Ikicked hard, moving quickly from wading to swimming, as I aimed for the ledge, keeping my eyes fixed on the dim outline. Something struck my legs from behind, slithering past me and taking way too longer than I was comfortable with. How big was this thing?
I stood back up, worried my movements were attracting the thing and glanced back at Alastor, opening my mouth to call to him, but the creature changed direction, snaking around my leg all the way up to my hip. I looked down in reflex, seeing only a pale blur in the water for a moment before the thing jerked me sharply off my feet and I was falling into the water. I thrashedaround, kicking out at the thing, reaching down to try and pull it away from my body. My hands scraped along what I thought were rough scales, until I felt my skin tear and realised that like everything this cursed water touched, the creature was also covered in salt crystals. It was the last thought I had as I sucked in a quick breath and was pulled under the surface.
Theo had told me a drop of the water in my eye would sting like hell. A rush of the saline liquid into both eyes at the same time had me crying out in pain. It felt like needles stabbing into my eyeballs from all directions, and I pressed the heels of my hands to my eyelids, as if they could shut out the agony.
The winding form of the creature tightened around my leg, and I realised if I was going to survive this, I needed to see. If this thing had lived in these caves, undetected by humans for so long, it was likely to be blind and attracted by movement. Logic calmed my panicked mind, and steeling myself, I opened my eyes again. Another rush of pain, but not as bad this time, and I could just about make out the pale serpentine form of my attacker. I couldn't work out how big it was, its body stretching back into the darker water, but it was at least ten feet long, and more to the point, it wasn't about to let me go unless I acted fast.
Which I did, immediately letting my body fall limp despite the instinct to fight like hell. The creature stilled for a moment, its grip relaxing. A little more, and I might be able to quickly jerk my leg out of its grip. That is, if I didn't drown first. The burn in my chest had been building and was now too strong to be ignored. Where in Heaven's name were Alastor and Theo? The thought crossed my mind that there might be more creatures like this one, which filled me with dread, but worse was the creeping fear that they had abandoned me, using the distraction to escape themselves. If they had, it really was down to me to get myself out of this situation.
Despite the sharp pain in my eyes and the burning in my chest, I focused on keeping myself calm. The creature's grip loosened slightly, sensing perhaps that its prey was no longer struggling. With one swift, desperate move, I twisted my body and kicked as hard as I could, feeling the creature's hold slip for just a moment.
In that split second of freedom, I propelled myself upwards towards the surface with all the strength I had left. The water around me seemed to darken as I ascended, and for a moment, panic threatened to overwhelm me. But then, just as my lungs felt ready to burst, my head broke through the surface and blessed air flowed over my face. I opened my mouth and sucked it in, filling my burning lungs with precious oxygen, coughing up saltwater as I tried to orient myself.
A huge dark shape moved in front of me, and I screamed, though barely any sound left my throat, dry and parched from the salt. I raised my hands to push it away, but a very warm, very human hand grabbed one, pressing something long and hard into it.
“Get to the ledge!” ordered Alastor, before he took a breath and dove beneath the dark surface.
I looked across, just about making out the ledge. To my right, a blinding beam of light gave away Theo’s location. He wasn’t far from the ledge, but as his light bobbed around, it fell upon the gleam of a long sinuous body, weaving through the water towards him.
“Theo!” I screamed, forcing my voice from my lungs. He jerked around, his eyes widening as he saw the creature coming for him, then turned and struck out for the ledge, his pace increasing. The creature was closing in on him with alarming speed, and for a second, an overwhelming panic gripped me as I realised he wasn’t going to make it in time.
“Theo, faster!” I yelled. With every powerful stroke, Theo drew closer to safety, but so did the creature, its long body movingwith fluid grace as it closed the distance between them. He was a strong swimmer, but it wasn’t enough.
“Hey!” I yelled. “Hey, over here!” I started splashing around in the water, kicking my legs underneath and using my hands to create waves and splashes. If the thing was blind, it would sense the water movement. For a dreadful moment, I didn’t think it was working, then suddenly, the serpent wheeled around, its pale deadly form coming straight for me with sickening speed.
Behind it, Theo hadn’t noticed he was no longer the creature’s prey. His hand grazed the rough edge of the ledge, and with one final burst of strength, he pulled himself up and scrambled onto solid ground, his chest heaving with exertion. Relief that he was safe filled me for a moment, before crystal encrusted coils wrapped around my waist and dragged me back under the water.
I hadn’t even had time to take a breath before being pulled under, but this time, though, I was armed. I gripped Alastor’s knife tightly and struck down. Another flicker of panic as the blade glanced off the salt crystals, but I gripped the hilt tighter and struck again and again. This time, the water around us darkened as the creature bled out into the water. It began to thrash against me, squeezing tightly around my ribs, forcing what little oxygen I still had out of my mouth in a flurry of bubbles. I struck again, but it only seemed to make the creature angrier and more determined. It sank lower, pulling me further from the surface, and I felt my vision start to darken as my body screamed for air.
A large hand came around the back of my neck, tangling in my hair and holding my head firm, and Alastor’s face came into view. Relief filled me. He was here, he hadn’t abandoned me. That relief was swiftly followed by shock, when he pulled my face closer to his, and brought his mouth to mine. The pain in my lungs faded away, and even the serpent, as just for a moment nothing else in the world existed save for Alastor and the feelof his lips moving gently over mine. Then I felt another blessed sensation as he breathed into my mouth, filling my lungs with air. My mind flashed back to where we were as my body got what it needed, and as Alastor pulled away, I turned and drove the knife back into the serpent again and again, filling the water with its blood.
Beside me, a flurry of movement caught my attention, and I turned as the water seemed to explode around me, a maelstrom of chaos and fury. Alastor, but not the man I knew. Fabric tore away, muscles stretched, and bones twisted as he shifted and the hellhound emerged. His transformation was a thing of violent beauty, the wetsuit giving way like tissue paper against the colossal size of his other form. His eyes blazed like coals as they fixed on me. Fear filled me at the sight of the monster before me, fear and something else. Something wild and primal. Something that filled my body with heat and the darkest of desires. Not even a desire, a need. A need to be forced to submit, to be taken, even if I resisted him. My body craved him like nothing I’d ever known. And that terrified me even more than the devil before me.
His eyes glowed brighter, as if he could sense my very thoughts and my heart leapt as he moved closer, then he was past me. With the might of hell itself, Alastor lunged forward tearing into the serpent, a frenzy of strength and savage intent. Alastor's transformed body, a blur of motion as he descended upon the serpent with the ferocity of an avenging beast. His teeth found flesh, his claws tore through scales. They twisted and fought, and the thing released me.
I pushed toward the surface, my lungs begging for air. As my face broke through the surface and I inhaled once again, I heard Theo shout my name. Gasping and spluttering, my head spun from the sudden rush of oxygen as I turned towards the sound. He knelt on the ledge, leaning over the water and stretching outhis hand to me. Beneath me, Alastor still fought the nightmare beast and I hesitated.
