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I shrugged off my jacket, stuck one sleeve through the grate, and tied it to the other sleeve. Good enough.
I took a deep breath and dove into the murky water. Not cold, but not especially warm either. Evdokia’s sweater would buy me some time. Wool kept you warm even when wet. I swam down along the wall. Darkness and bricks. No secret passages, no tunnels, no pipes with covers that could be pried loose.
Blood pounded in my ears. I had to turn back or I’d run out of air. I did a one-eighty and kicked for the surface. Above me the liquid sky promised light and air. I kicked harder. My lungs screamed for oxygen.
I broke the surface and gulped down air.
“. . . does he think he is?”
This was a prison cell meant to hold a shapeshifter. The silver in the bars would keep them from screwing with it. The water was too deep to kick off the bottom and try to ram the grate. Even if I somehow managed to pry the bars of the grate loose, which wasn’t bloody likely, the grate would fall on us and its sheer weight would drown us. My mind served a nightmarish view of the grate landing on me and pushing me deep into the dark water. No thanks.
The lanterns just added insult to injury. You could see exactly how hopeless the situation was.
You want to be treated like an animal, I’ll treat you like one. Thanks, Hugh. So glad to know you care.
I could do this. I’d trained all my life for it.
Ghastek had fallen silent.
“I don’t suppose that fancy uniform comes with a flotation device?”
“Don’t be ridiculous.”
“A girl can hope.” I dove down and untied the laces on my left boot. The right boot followed. I surfaced to grab some air.
“What are you doing?” Ghastek asked.
“Lightening the load.” I dove, carefully pulled off my left boot, surfaced, caught the grate, and looped the shoelaces over the bar. I tied a knot and left the boot suspended, then did the same with the right boot. “I’ll get tired in an hour or two and I’ll need the shoes if we get out of here.”
I pulled off my belt, threaded it through the bars, and locked it into a loop. Ghastek raised his eyebrows. I thrust my arm through the loop and held on to the grate. The belt kept me in place without treading water.
Ghastek’s face fell. “How long do you think he’ll keep us here?”
“I have no idea.”
He sighed and began stripping off his boots.
• • •
I HUNG MOTIONLESS in the water. Time crawled by. I had no idea how long we’d been here. We had taken turns diving to search our surroundings but found no exit. Eventually we stopped. Sometime while we were diving, the magic wave ended. Now four dim electric lamps lit the shaft. The light, dim and watery, felt oppressive, just another form of torture.
We’d used Ghastek’s jacket and his belt to fashion two loops to hold him upright. With two supports each, we would be able to sleep. Small comfort, but it was something.
A while ago my mouth had gone dry and I had drunk a little from my canteen and passed it to Ghastek.
“Do you always carry a canteen?”
“It’s force of habit.” You could survive many things as long as you had a canteen and a knife.
He had taken a swallow and passed it back. “What happens when we run out of water?”
“We drink this.” I’d nodded at the dark water flooding the shaft.
“It doesn’t seem clean, and even if it is, it won’t stay that way for long.”
“People dying of thirst can’t be choosers.”
We hung in the water.
“What did you do with Nataraja?” I asked.
Ghastek blinked, startled.
“I was always curious. He just kind of disappeared.”
Ghastek sighed.
“We’re not going anywhere for a while,” I told him.
He raised his gaze to the ceiling, pondered it, and shrugged. “Why not? Nataraja was always fond of hands-off management. I never understood why he was placed in charge in the first place. He looked impressive but had very little to do with the actual function of the office. I oversaw research and development, and Mulradin handled the financial aspects. A year ago Nataraja’s behavior became increasingly erratic. He wandered around, mumbling to himself. He killed that monstrosity he kept as a pet.”
“Wiggles? His giant snake?”
“Yes. A journeyman found sections of her strewn throughout the upper floor. A report was made to the main office. A high-ranking member of the Golden Legion arrived and conducted some interviews. Nataraja disappeared. We were told he was recalled.”
“Do you think he was recalled?”
Ghastek shrugged. “What’s the point of speculating? Mulradin and I were left jointly in charge of the office until either one of us ‘distinguished’ ourselves or a replacement was assigned. I suppose now the question of distinction is moot. He’s dead and I’m here.” He spat the last word.
Now he had gone to sleep. It was best I slept, too. I closed my eyes and imagined being on the beach with Curran. It was such a pleasant dream . . .
• • •
OUR CANTEEN HAD gone dry. It held enough water for over two days if carefully rationed, and we’d split it in half. We’d been imprisoned here for more than twenty-four hours. Probably closer to forty-eight. We had begun drinking the water around us and it didn’t sit so well in my stomach.
The water in the shaft had turned colder some hours ago. The temperature hadn’t actually changed, but water sapped body heat about twenty-five times faster than air. We’d been soaking long enough to really feel it.
I was starving. My stomach was a bottomless pit filled with ache. I’d kick myself for not gorging on something delicious while I was in the Keep that morning, but it would waste too much energy. I had to conserve every drop. Hang in the water. Last. Survive.
When the cold got to me, I untangled myself from my belt and swam. The exertion burned through what meager supplies of energy I had left, but it made me feel warmer. Until the shivering started again.
“We’re going to die here,” Ghastek said.
“No,” I told him.
“What makes you say that?”
“Curran will come for me.”
Ghastek laughed, a brittle sour sound. “You don’t even know where we are. We could be halfway across the country.”
“It doesn’t matter. He’ll come for me.” He would turn the planet inside out until he found me—and I’d do the same for him.
Ghastek shook his head.
