I plunge hard and fast, my mind dunking into its own inky void as the ocean bellows beneath me, swallowing me in its monstrous maw.
Cool drops of water scatter upon my blazing skin, luring me from my smokescreen sleep. I heave a strangled breath, the salty smell of the ocean filling my lungs.
Subtletapspuff against me like little blows of air …
Familiar.
Impossible.
I drag my eyes open, seeing a smudge of white hair and deeply tanned flesh. Seeing piles of sparkly things that bounce piercing shards of light that hurt my squishy brain.
A groan bubbles up my throat as I scan my blurry surroundings, trying to hone my vision, panic clawing at my lungs. Shredding them.
Tightening a noose around my throat.
“Where—”
“It’s okay, Treasure. It’s okay …”
Kai …
Sobbing, I squeeze my eyes shut.
“I’ve got you. You’re safe.”
I’m not.
“I have to remove the bolt, Treasure. I need to snap it first, then pull it out.”
A deep throbbing pain penetrates my senses, and I shift my hazy gaze to my arm, mind barreling back to visions ofhimsaddled in arrows.
He was crouched over me, bleeding.
Faltering.
Protecting.
I whimper, releasing a string of tears as I squeeze my eyes shut.
“Are you ready?”
No.
“Yes,” I whisper, giving a tight nod.
He takes my arm and gently lays it across my chest, a stab of fiery pain searing through me. There’s a snapping sound, a devastating ricochet, and a scream bludgeons up my throat when the shaft slides free, grating past bruised and tender bone.
My body convulses in muscle-munching pain as I tumble toward a pall of sleepy darkness … hoping this is a nightmare. That I’ll wake in a cavern wrapped aroundhim—high on the smell and the feel and the ache ofus.
Loving us.
Hoping …
* * *
Blinking my eyes open, I take in the damp, salty smell of my smudged surroundings, shot through with a cold bolt of disappointment.
It wasn’t a nightmare …
