He opened his eyes again and looked at Calanthe, whose chalky face was alit with anticipation. Her lips pulled into a triumphant smile, her elongated incisors gleaming in the eerie lights.
When Darien spoke again, his words were meant for Calanthe. “You’ll find the other half of the Dominus Volumen there. The spell words necessary for operating the Well are in our half.” His eyes burned as he looked at Loren, his vision flashing between the face of a demon and her beautiful, tear-stained features. “Now let her go.” He swallowed bile, his eyelids slipping shut again, so they wouldn’t be able to see. “Please.”
Darien heard Randal release Loren with a shove, water splashing around her. And then he strode up to Darien’s side, where he leaned in close to his ear.
“Lead the way,” Randal hissed, the stink of booze wafting Darien’s face,“Devil.”
As Darien pushed himself to his feet, he kept his eyes closed. He didn’t open them again until the last second, so the black of them wouldn’t give him away.
Calanthe and Randal shouted in unison as Darien threw out his one remaining burst of power and launched Loren out of the Well—and into the river current.
PART V
THE GARDEN OF REMEMBRANCE
54
The current sucked her under, propelling her toward the floor of the pipe as the rushing water carried her away from Randal’s lair, to one of the dozens of stormwater outlets that bled into the Angelthene River.
She kicked fiercely against the current, fighting to stay upright as she spiralled through the muddy water. It was no use—the water was too fast, too strong. Against its pull, she was limp as a ragdoll. Her lungs were tight and burning, and her heartbeat was gradually slowing, every thump heavy and painful. There was pressure on her skull, so heavy she knew it was only a matter of time before she lost consciousness.
The drugs made her see things that may or may not be real; made her scream and thrash as the scaly hides of creatures rubbed up against her sides.
The water was cold as ice, and so dark, she could scarcely see a thing. Her lungs were burnt to a crisp as the last of the air in them was sucked dry.
Light filtered weakly through the water, falling upon rows of sharp teeth.
Bubbles exploded from her mouth in a scream as she kicked and kicked against the current. The teeth kept coming at her, closer and closer.
Something hard struck her in the back of the head, and everything went black.
—
Loren jerked awake in the mud, beneath a sky that was a deep and churning gray. Someone turned her onto her side as she retched up a lungful of stormwater.
It took her a while to gather her bearings; to see that she was lying on the riverbank below an overpass. Cars were crossing it, the sound of their tires unbearably loud. The edge was softening off the drug, but her vision still shimmered as she tried to make sense of the faces above her.
Four people were crouched around her, murmuring to one another as they waited for her to come to. And as she blinked her burning eyes, Loren finally recognized them.
Maximus, Sabrine, Tanner, and Dallas.
Loren blinked one more time, praying like hell that she wasn’t dreaming.
Dallas’s face became crystal-clear as she threw her arms around Loren and fell to the ground beside her, knees squelching in the mud. “Loren, I’m so sorry,” Dallas sobbed, squeezing her tight.
“Thank the Star you’re alive, Lor,” Sabrine said, crouching down beside her. “When we heard what happened through the audio on Darien’s watch, we came as fast as we could.” She smoothed a strand of wet hair from her face.
“You had us going for a second there, Calla,” Maximus said. “It would be nice if you stopped trying to die once in a while.”
Loren gave a gurgled laugh, her teeth chattering.
“Holy Caligo,” Dallas breathed, still holding onto Loren with a death-grip. “You’re shaking like a leaf. Let’s get you in the truck.”
Loren tried to stand, but her legs were too weak, and the drugs made her sink into the slippery mud again. It felt like her lips were turning blue.
The riverbank disappeared beneath her as Maximus lifted her into his arms. “Stay with me, Calla,” he said. She wrapped her arms around her middle, trying to warm herself. “None of us will want to see the mess Darien turns into if you don’t pull through.”
Her body swayed with every step as Max carried her to the SUV. After loading her into the backseat between Sabrine and Dallas, he found her a zip-up hoodie in the back and draped it around her shoulders.
