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It’s up to me to protect her.
I don’t give myself time to think. That’s the first lesson my weapons master taught me; if you’re thinking, you telegraph your intentions to your opponent. My body moves on impulse, my arm whipping out as I release the dagger. It’s not meant for throwing; it’s a little too long and not weighted properly. It’s still my best chance.
Or at least that’s what I think until the hunter flings out his hand and a wave of power hits me like a runaway carriage. I barely have a chance to remember that he’s telekinetic and dastardly strong before I’m flung backward.
Over the cliff’s edge.
20
MAURA
I hear a scream and look up in time to see Juliette fly over the edge of the cliff above me. It’s not an accidental fall; she is too far away from the edge for that to make sense. No, she was pushed. The understanding hits me in the span of a heartbeat. I don’t stop to think. There’s no time.
I leap from the cliff with every bit of strength I have and collide with Juliette midair. She still screaming. I clutch her to me and throw out a hand in the direction of the water below us. I’m still so damn tired from the fight with the Cwn Annwn earlier, but I put every bit of strength I have into dragging the ocean up to meet us. It doesn’t have to be far, just deep enough that we won’t die on the rocks below.
It feels like trying to fight gravity.
We’re falling too fast. It’s rising too slow. Another beat, maybe two, and we will hit the rocks. That will be the end of us.
No.
I fucking refuse.
My scream joins Juliette’s, picking up where hers starts to falter. Rage. All I feel is rage. At all the years I missed spending in her presence. At her father and my pride for keeping us apart. At the damned Cwn Annwn for ruining the future I want so desperately.
The ocean surges.
It rises to meet us, and we hit hard enough that I wonder if there was any point in this at all. It hurts. Everything hurts. The water closes over our heads, and we sink. Now is the time to move, to swim to the surface and figure out exactly how long we need to survive before The Kelpie comes to scoop us up.
My arms and legs aren’t responding to my brain’s commands to move. My lungs aren’t responding either. My mind shrieks at me to move, to swim, to do something to keep us from drowning. Nothing happens. It’s as if I’m trapped in a body that’s already dead.
An arm clamps around my waist, and then I’m being dragged through the water. Up and up and up. The pressure is so intense that I almost open my mouth and let the sea in. I can’t do that. I can’t give up now, not when I’m so close to the surface once more.
We break through the surface with a gasp. My rescuer turns me over onto my back and bands an arm beneath my breasts. It takes several long seconds before my exhausted mind registers the soft gasping breaths as belonging to Juliette.
She saved me.
“Damned…Cwn Annwn… I’ll…kill him.” She drags me to a low rock and manages to cling to the edge of it. “My weapons master…might’ve been right about my impulsiveness. Also, holy shit, adrenaline is a wild drug.”
I try to speak but only end up hacking. It takes several long minutes to spew out water that apparently slipped past my lips and into my lungs. I want to help, but all I can do is submit as Juliette turns my head to the side so I don’t choke. I can’t do anything but fight not to drown now that she’s saved me.
“A few more minutes.” She sounds as exhausted as I feel, but she makes no move to wrestle me onto the little rock. “Better that he thinks we’re dead.”
It takes far too long for her meaning to penetrate. He. Bowen. That must be whom she’s talking about. I cough a little more. “Bowen pushed you?”
“He’s telekinetic,” Juliette reminds me. She has to pause to adjust her grip on both me and the rock. Each wave that comes in threatens to dislodge us. “I threw the dagger, and he defended in a more robust way than I expected. I don’t know if he meant to throw me.”
She’s giving him a lot more grace than I want to in this moment.
“Maura. I really need you to be okay.”
I have to wait my way through another coughing fit before I can respond. “I’ll be fine. I just need a little bit of time.” I really hope I’m not lying.
“Yeah, about that. I think the tide’s coming in.” Her voice is fainter than it was before. We’re both too exhausted to survive much longer. Juliette clutches me tighter to her. “And, um, I think the mermaids aren’t only on the south side of the island.”
