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I scramble toward him, and it’s only then that I realize Orion is barely breathing as water pours in around us. There are bits of flora and fauna coming in, too: jellyfish and squid, and other things that writhe and crawl in the dark. Just because I can breathe underwater doesn’t mean that I’ll be able to survive the plummet into the chasm…
“Can you swim?” I ask Orion, stupid with panic.
He huffs out a breath, the pain clear in his throat.
“Of course,” he grits out. “Amphibious. But my leg…”
Fuck; it’s obviously broken. “I’ve got you,” I say. “We’re going to wait for the chamber to fill up, and then we’re going to swim out of here.”
“But…” He takes a haggard breath. “You can’t breathe.”
“Apparently I can,” I say. “I’ll explain later. Are you ready?”
“We’re going to live,” he grunts. “My warrior queen…”
He passes out.
Fuck.
“Now isnotthe greatest time to reveal you’re not bulletproof,” I mutter, looking around. The water is rising fast, and it’s all the way up to the dais now–at least ten feet. I’ve hated swimming all my life, Ihatethe idea of the abyss stretching on and on beneath us…and Lamia is nowhere to be found, until I look behind me and realize her gown is floating in the water as it rises above my knees.
She’sgone.
Annihilated by her own power. Drained of Elixir.
And this throne room is going down.
As the water rises, I haul Orion up onto my shoulder and step into the water, cringing at the creatures that whirl around my feet. “Hey, Yrsa?” I call out to no one in particular. “If your ceremony gave me tentacles, too, I’d love it if you could just switch that on right about now.”
There’s no response, and my legs don’t suddenly turn into tentacles.
“Okay,” I breathe. “Okay.”
I dive into the water.
The palace is still rumbling all around us, Orion a dead weight at my side. I swim desperately for where I see a crack in the window, and I let myself breathe fluid into and out of what I now realize are delicate gills on my neck. It’s really weird, but I let it happen–because I have no other choice. It’s getting darker and darker by the second, and when I reach the edge of the window, I understand why.
Because we’re already sinking.
My feet want to curl up under me, my heart pounding. This isn’t a place for me. This is a place for monsters. And Orion is dragging me down with him, like he’s already a corpse.
But I can see his own gills moving, feather soft on the scales of his neck.
I have to do this for him.
For them.
So I plunge into the abyss, and I hope I can carry us both.
CHAPTER FIFTY-EIGHT
KYE
Nereus looks at me with tears brimming his lagoon green eyes and my heart drops in my chest.
I don’t know what has happened, exactly. But I know he’s right. I can feel it in my bones. This isn’t just danger, it feels like Fiona is on the brink of death. And I trust her with my life–I trust her with all our lives–but I’m not going to let her die without at least trying to help her.
And I can’t let Nereus suffer like this. I can’t let him blame himself. The burden of this would destroy him…it would destroy both of us.
