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Down in the water, Kazmyn thrashed. Some planks were near him, and he seemed to be trying to reach one.
“Fucking idiot,” Visha was swearing beside me. “Stupid fool.” She was still swearing to herself as she jumped over the edge of the gorge and into the water with a rope in her hands. She’d looped one end around the still-standing post so fast I hadn’t even noticed.
“Sankara,” I bellowed. I wasn’t going to let the post be what kept Visha alive. The highblood professor and I grabbed the rope, bracing our feet.
“What is she doing?” Rodriguez wondered. “I thought she hated him. She’s going to get herself killed.”
“Do you mind? That’s my brother down there,” Zaira snapped. Her eyes glistened as she looked down at the water.
The surface suddenly exploded with foam and spray. Kazmyn let out a shout.
“Blessed dragon, hear my cry,” Zaira murmured to herself over and over.
I eyed her strangely, but suddenly the rope was burning my palms too much for me to wonder about it.
“Come on, Visha!” Pendragon shouted.
Visha rose up through the spray. She’d hooked an arm around Kazmyn’s chest. I leaned back, putting my weight into it, as Sankara and I hauled together. Something sleek and dark skimmed below the surface of the water. I saw a flash of movement, a jaw full of pointed white teeth, and then Kazmyn screamed. His leg jerked, and the water around his calf turned dark.
“Faster!” Zaira shrieked.
Sankara and I pulled, lifting the two of them up out of the water. A few moments later Visha and Kazmyn hit the rock shelf. Magda and Pendragon were waiting to help them scramble up over the edge. Kazmyn collapsed on his back, coughing violently, his chest heaving. Rodriguez was already moving, dropping to his knees beside the injured dwarf and beginning to bandage Kazmyn’s slashed leg with practiced deftness.
Magda shook her head. “Nasty slash.”
Blood ran in bright lines down Kazmyn’s shin. Visha stood over him, her short hair dripping. “How do you feel, Kazmyn?”
He looked up at her with a shaky grin. “I feel good. I think I can still walk.”
Visha nodded. “Great. That’s great.” Then she leaned over and punched him square in the face. Not hard enough to knock him out, but enough to make his head snap to the side. “That’s for nearly fucking killing us,” she snarled, already striding away.
Hawl let out a growl that I was pretty sure was a laugh. Rodriguez kept tying Kazmyn’s bandage.
Shockingly, no one wanted to stay beside the gorge full of blind eels longer than we had to. We moved into the next tunnel, packs back on our shoulders, weapons at the ready in case Mortis decided to come back for more. I walked at the back with Visha. Ahead of us, Zaira walked beside her brother. Her eyes kept flicking to his bandaged leg.
“Have a nice swim?” I asked Visha.
“Could have done without the eels,” she said shortly.
I raised a brow. “I thought you hated him.” I tilted my head toward Kazmyn.
She looked thoughtful. “I like him better now that I’ve hit him in the face.”
I snorted. Pendragon turned around from where she was walking just ahead of us. “I felt the same way about Blake.”
Visha let out a loud scoff. That shut me up.
Zaira moved back toward us. She still looked a little ill.
“You all right, Stone Keeper?” I asked.
She nodded curtly, then dipped her head at Visha. “I wish to thank you for saving my brother’s life.”
Visha blinked. “Don’t mention it.”
Zaira looked like she was about to say more, then she seemed to change her mind. She nodded at us both again, then turned back to Kazmyn. Visha watched them both. Her expression had turned unreadable. I studied her, and I thought about Kazmyn and a bit about hopeless causes. I glanced ahead at Pendragon, her long red braid swinging against her back. I’d once thought I was hopeless. Too angry and resentful to ever let anyone in. Yet here we were, alive. Together.
My mind drifted back to Bloodwing and to the other girl I once thought I’d have to spend the rest of my life with. I hadn’t given Regan a lot of thought lately, but now I wondered how she was doing back at the academy.
