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“Holy hell.” I jump to my feet and run toward him, but Mack catches me and tugs me back.

“Nova, don’t.” Kole slams an arm in front of my stomach to keep me from ducking out of Mack’s grasp.

The three of us watch as Tanner rises up into the air, arms splayed at his sides, lightning dancing up and down his body then down into the lake and across the water.

Overhead, thunder rumbles through the sky. Dark clouds move quickly, obscuring the moon and stars and casting the lake into almost complete darkness—except for Tanner’s light.

He starts to move. He floats out to the lake’s center. Below him, the water begins to glow. As if there’s a fire somewhere at the bottom of the lake, a ball of dancing light flickers beneath him.

He roars again, clenching his fists. Then so quickly I barely understand what’s happening, the light drags him under.

25

TANNER

I feel fucking amazing. Like I could swim the Atlantic Ocean barely needing to stop for breath. Like I could make love to Nova for hours, days, weeks. Like I’m invincible.

Light courses through me. It fills me up and jumps from my body, creating an unbreakable bond between me and the lake’s power.

I’ve always known the falls were powerful. I’ve always known they were important, but now I feel them. They speak to me. The heart of the lake speaks to me. I move closer to her—to the lake—floating through the air like a fucking eagle.

She’s pulling me toward her, giving me her power.

But then she drags me under. Water fills my lungs. I can’t breathe. I can’t scream. I can’t see. Everything is black. The white light has disappeared, and cold dark water presses down on me.

Pain replaces the giddy pleasure I felt a few moments ago. Unbearable pain, like my bones are snapping and molten lead burns in the spaces between them. I grab my skull, digging my fingernails into my scalp, screaming as blinding pain rolls through my head, down my neck, and spine, and into my feet.

When my vision starts to clear, I see a large stone-flagged room. Some kind of hall. There is a throne in front of me, but it is empty. I claw at the ground and cry, “Please, not again. Please, make it stop.”

Then I’m no longer in the throne room, I’m in a basement. A figure strides toward me, silhouetted in the darkness. The sight of him sends waves of fear through my body.

As the figure shows his face, and I scramble back, pressing myself against the wall behind me, I realize I am not me. I am Sam.

This is Sam’s memory, which means I made it; I am inside his head.

I try to take in his surroundings, but they are moving in and out of focus. They’re not real. He’s not really here; he is stuck inside the memory. When it ends, there is no time to take a breath. It restarts. The same man, the same fear, the same pain.

I feel it all as if it is happening to me but, as well as my own pain, I feel Sam’s. I start to claw at my head. I need to get out of here. I need to get out. I can’t see it again.

Sam screams. I scream too. Then the blinding light is back. I feel water rushing around me. Cold fills me up. I start to shiver. I can’t breathe. My lungs are tight, burning with the need for air.

Then suddenly, I’m free. I’m gasping for breath. Something is holding onto me. I thrash and writhe in the water. My hand meets something large and wet. I realize teeth are gripping my shirt, pulling me toward the shore.

“Snow?” I splutter.

The huge white bear grunts and keeps on pulling. When we reach the beach, he drags me onto the sand and drops me from his jaws. Nova rushes to me, smoothing her hands over my sodden clothes, then my hair, then my face. She jerks my head toward her and stares into my eyes.

“Are you there? Are you safe?” she asks, tears streaming down her cheeks.

Snow shakes his large body, sending droplets of water flying, then quickly shifts back into Mack. The professor kneels down next to me. “Tanner? What happened?”

Luther and Kole are close too. Luther waves his hand and conjures a flame, which he casts sweeping over my body to dry my wet skin.

“He’s alive.” I look at each of them in turn. “I found him.”

“Where?” Nova asks, gripping my hand so tightly the pressure whitens her knuckles.

“He’s stuck. In his memories.” I meet Nova’s eyes and a shudder of fear drips through me. “He’s there, Nova. But I have no idea where there is. And I have no idea how we’re going to get him out.”