Page 9 of A Thief Among Fae

The current rips the axe away. Time’s running out. The draugr’s nails dig into my throat. My submerged body screams for air. The water is cold and stings like a thousand needles piercing my skin. I have to escape. I won’t die like this. My hands find my neck, prying at the draugr’s rotten fingers.

A bone snaps. One finger down. But the darkness grows.

Survive. Snap. Survive. Snap. Survive. Snap.

I grip the final finger wedged into the hollow of my throat and pull. Just as the finger cracks, a low thunk echoes through the water.

I break free of the torrent and gasp. Water vortexes around the draugr with the strength of a tempest, pinning it in place.

“Hah! You’ve lost!” I scream at it, my voice hoarse.

The draugr bellows. Ice crackles inside the vortex, and it freezes itself solid. Behind it stands Evie with the draugr’s axe in her pale, quivering hands. She must’ve struck it when I broke free. Her blue lips stretch into a relieved grin. “Cyn! You’re okay!”

I wrap my drenched, shaking arms around her and laugh. My hair clings to my clammy skin, and blood oozes from my shoulder, but we’re alive. I feel alive.

I look her over. “No cuts? No bruises?”

She shakes her head. “Just cold. Really cold. But your shoulder. . . We need to get you to Beula.”

Evie is alright. Thank the gods. I wouldn’t have forgiven myself if something had happened to her. In a few hours, our trembling limbs and blue fingers will be nothing but memories.

“Where’s my pack?” I ask her.

“Why?” She stares at me, then frantically searches for it in the dim light of the enchanted candelabras. They fell, but even water can’t extinguish mage lights. “It’s right here!”

I pull it through the air to my waiting hands.

“Do you have bandages?” she asks.

I sift through the contents. Some of the gems have fallen out, and so have the bandages. “They must be buried in the rubble.”

Past the ice, water still sloshes, and she’s holding it back.

I search the rubble. My hands shake as I toss rocks aside and collect the gems and my dagger. Even if I can’t find the bandages, we’ll go straight to our village apothecary after leaving the tomb.

“Did you bring a numbing salve? I’ll help you find it.” Evie joins my side, then freezes as she watches me pocket a ruby. “You’re. . .” Her mouth curls in a snarl. “You’re looking for more treasure? After we almost died?”

“If I’m searching for the bandages, I might as well grab the treasure. This wasn’t worth almost dying for otherwise!” I exhale in relief as I find an emerald.

This is for her. It’s always been for her. She just doesn’t know it yet.

Evie scoffs. “Cynthia!” She stomps toward me and grabs my shoulders. Ire storms across her face. “We’re leaving. Now!”

That anger shocks me. Evie’s the amicable one, the daughter with Dad’s composure. I’m the one with Mom’s temper. But right now, she looks more like Mom than I ever have. I sigh. “Okay. We’ll go.”

Evie takes five steps toward the exit, and the stone beneath her foot sinks.

My heart stops. “Duck!” I scream. Evie turns to me, confused. She sees the urgency in my eyes as I throw myself at her, but she’s frozen with shock. An arrow flies from a crevice in the wall too quickly for me to stop it, too quickly for me to shield her.

It spears her stomach.

I throw my weight sideways so I don’t fall on her. My hip hits the flagstones first, and pain throbs through my bones. I ignore it, scurrying to my feet as horror drums in my chest.

Evie stares at the arrow. At the black liquid dripping from its shaft. Elowyn, save her, I pray. It’s poisoned.

“It hurts,” Evie says, her voice wobbling. She looks at me with wide eyes, but she’s still too stunned to panic. I need to keep her calm. Panic will accelerate her heartbeat and spread the poison.

“Hold still,” I murmur. With my dagger, I carefully cut the shaft shorter. Evie whimpers as I scoop her into my arms. She’s only a few inches shorter than I am and just as heavy. Carrying her up the stairs pulls at the gash in my shoulder with excruciating pain. I don’t have a choice. I have to get her to the apothecary.