AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Taking a deep breath and praying for help and strength, she plunged into the water. A few steps in and the bank slipped away. She dropped into the water, wet clear to her ribcage. Even though it was June, the water was icy cold. She took gasping breaths as the pulsating, throbbing liquid stung her arms and legs with its cold and its strength.
The current was so vicious, it threatened to sweep her feet out from under her. Aliya slipped on the mossy rocks, cried out, and tried to find footing and press through. Her feet touched solid ground and she used her arms simulating a breaststroke to try to propel herself toward the other shore.
Aliya stepped on a slick, mossy rock and pushed off. On her next step, she found no footing at all. Her head went under water and the current shoved her downstream. The stream narrowed and picked up speed, spitting her head out so she caught a breath, but holding her body in its grip.
She rode downstream like the worst river ride of her life, banging against rocks but not slowing at all. There was no sign of the rapids letting up, and Aliya barely able kept her head above water as she tried valiantly to swim out of the flow. The current was too strong, and she was powerless to escape its grip.
The stream plunged down the mountain, trees and undergrowth rushing by her on the side of the riverbanks. She was helpless and could only keep her head up and try to keep her feet pointed downstream. The flow was a torrent taking her faster and faster as the descent became steeper and steeper and the water churned more powerfully.
Was she going to drown in this frigid water, or would it eventually slow down and release her from its grip? She fought to keep her mouth and nose out of the frothing water and keep breathing precious oxygen. She prayed constantly and focused on the one positive—unless Jared jumped in after her, it would take him hours to make up the distance down the mountainside trails that she’d accomplished in the past few minutes of her vicious river ride.
The water got more turbulent, and she heard a distant roar. Was that just in her head? It couldn’t possibly be?—
Aliya didn’t even have time to scream as the water spewed her over a ledge and she was tumbling and free falling headfirst. Shouldn’t she somehow spin her body and land feet first?
Too late.
Crying out in horror, she slammed into rock-hard water. It stung the side of her face, but as she plunged down, she realized she’d survived. If she could right herself, maybe she could?—
Her head struck something even harder than the surface of the water, and everything went black.
Chapter Two
Prince Curtis August spent most of his days hiking or dirt-biking the mountains framing the east side of the kingdom of Augustine, a natural border between their country and Austria. He patrolled the myriad of trails for any hikers, and hosted many of them at his huge cabin.
He was good at befriending and welcoming, but also screening and sending information on to his brother Ray, general of the military, or Ray’s close friend Jensen, head of the police.
Curt also searched for the elusive, fabled ‘cure’ to the curse that had plagued the women who married into his family. Some believed the ‘suicide curse’ was the cause of his mum’s death.
Curt and his brothers knew their beloved mum had been murdered, but not even brilliant Raymond, the general of their army, could find any clues that led to the culprit. Curt felt driven to find the cure, to prove his mum hadn’t killed herself and keep any future brides, particularly Macey, his brother Ray’s fiancée, safe.
Since the early sixteen-hundreds, thirteen wives of Augustine royalty had died in what he thought were murders or staged suicides. Be it a magical curse, a medical condition, something in the water, or an evil secret society orchestrating the deaths, Curt had to try to stop it. Some scrolls, written in the heyday of the suspicious deaths, alluded to the mountains where Curt had built his life as the likely spot to uncover the solution.
Nobody knew where the cure might be, what it looked like, or what it even did. Maybe it was a waste of time searching. Most days it felt like that as he found no clues. But what else did he have to do besides screen hikers for possible ill intent and host any travelers who knocked on his door?
Since he’d killed Suzanne eight months ago, he’d rarely left his mountain. Losing his mum two months later to a death he didn’t understand had given him even less desire to return to the castle or ‘real life.’
He missed his family, though.
Tristan and Raymond, his older twin brothers, came to visit fairly often with food and supplies, sometimes bringing his dad, their wild and adorable little sister Kiera, workaholic Dr. Steffan, and occasionally the playboy Malik. He hadn’t seen the ‘Ninja Warrior Prince’ Derek since Mum’s funeral.
He needed to go visit Tristan. His oldest brother, the crown prince, had sustained extensive burns from a stupid kid’s jealousy and homemade pipe bomb. They’d recently brought him home, with medical personnel staying in the castle to ensure he healed as well as possible.
Today Curt had hiked several miles straight east, to the base of one of the passes that led to the Austrian side of their Alps. It was picturesque, prettier than the Sound of Music—live and in full color. He’d stopped at his favorite waterfall, stripped down to his shorts, and plunged in the icy cold lake at the base of the forty-foot falls.
Some people paid for cryotherapy or took ice baths. Curt dove in a mountain lake and got all the cold therapy benefits anyone could ask for. He forced himself to be still for a few minutes and then swam around the small lake, swimming under the pounding pressure of the waterfall and letting it massage his neck, head, and back. It was invigorating and his entire body was going numb. If only his heart and his mind could do the same.
The agony of not being able to save Suzanne and then having her family blame him for her death hurt. It hurt all the time. He’d quit climbing after she died. Suzanne had been a close friend first and he’d gradually believed himself in love with her. They’d had a lot in common and he’d appreciated having a willing friend to hike, climb, and explore with.
His brothers had been his best friends growing up, but all of them had found their own busy paths in life and now he was left behind to flounder and wonder what his purpose was. Firefighting was done for him. A passion for rock climbing, bouldering, and hiking wasn’t a productive career—especially since he wasn’t climbing anymore. Ray utilized him as a support to their border control, and he didn’t think his brother was placating him that Curt was a ‘one-man protective army,’ but he wasn’t certain.
He felt tremendous guilt for Suzanne’s death and he missed his friend, but he didn’t mourn her like he mourned his mum. Memories of his mum’s laughter, sweetness, and never-ending love for him were bittersweet agony. He loved his dad, but the hard-working king of Augustine had heaps of demands and meetings. His dad and Tristan worked long hours to keep up. It was little wonder his dad didn’t think much of his fourth son wandering the woods, looking for a cure his dad didn’t believe in, and the media proclaiming Curt a ‘mountain man.’
How his dad, Tristan, Ray, Steffan, and Derek kept living and working and being productive after losing Mum was baffling to him. He’d quit climbing after losing Suzanne, and he had quit living after losing Mum.
He swam away from the fall and treaded water, gazing around at the verdant trees and undergrowth. The mossy green rocks framed the water spilling off the cliff. The falls were running high today, still full of spring runoff even though it was mid-June.
A scream of terror rang through the air as a woman plunged over the falls headfirst. Curt didn’t have time to make a sound of surprise before she faceplanted into the water and disappeared.
