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My stomach hurled into my throat as I dropped with a dip in the water, moving down but staying with the current. The darkness around me hadn’t let up and every twisty turn and sweep of my body was a surprise.
The next turn jostled me, as the dip was far greater than the one just before. My head went under.
Don’t panic.
I kicked, swirling my good arm back and forth and up and down and exhaled as my ears popped and my head broke the surface once more.
My heavy breathing gave away the panic I was trying to quash to stay alive, but it wasn’t as if anyone could hear me.
I had no idea where Nicole was or if she knew how to swim or survive. I was alone now. Utterly alone in the darkness as this harrowing water roller coaster took control of my entire life.
A little swirl of water crashed next to me and then shimmied off a rock like it was dancing.
I saw it.
I actually saw it with my eyes. That meant the darkness was lightening. I whipped my head around and after another barrel roll I saw light. It was small at first but continued growing.
An opening before me where the current was headed beckoned me, and I almost choked with relief.
The roller coaster slowed and the opening to the outside brought a calm to the raging waters I’d been trapped in.
Eventually my feet touched the bottom and I could stand.
I had never been so happy to see muddy grass and dew-soaked trees.
As I rose, a dark figure crawling onto the bank a few feet in front of me caught my attention and I choked on the guttural sob that came out of me.
“Nicole,” I breathed out.
She rolled over, coughing and wheezing the whole time.
I waded through the water, pushing forward until I emerged from the river as well. I fell on my side and I couldn’t tell if the dampness on my face was from fresh tears or the waters I’d escaped.
I was battered, shaken, and bruised. But I was okay. Minus a broken wrist, I’d come out unscathed for the most part. Nicole was breathing and moving all right next to me, which solidified the fact that though the water had tried, it hadn’t succeeded in taking much from us.
“What the hell?” Nicole finally spat out.
I rolled onto my back, enjoying and savoring every breath of air my lungs took in. Her outcry was more statement than question, and I waited a few more moments to give any response and focused instead on the fact that I’d once again survived a fight with water set on drowning me.
Finally, I looked over at her. “The castle was built on an underground spring apparently.” I brought my hand to my head and sighed. “An underground spring that the builder originally decided to put a crypt on top of.”
“At least we got away.” Nicole’s voice hitched as she rolled to her knees and sat on them, peering around at our surroundings.
I stared up the river toward the small but obvious black hole that we’d been spat out of. “Now how are we going to find a way back to the others?”
“What?” Nicole scoffed. “Find a way back?” She stared at me with a look of disdain in her eyes. “There is no way back, Cora. We run. We get as much distance between us and this castle as possible. You think they won’t realize the prince’s feeder is missing? That’s if no one has tried to rat us out already to win their own freedom.”
“They were counting on us, Nicole.” I glared at her, surprised that she would so easily brush off a jail cell full of people we’d said we’d come back for. “We have to help them.”
“And how do you propose we do that? March to the castle to borrow a lantern and a torch to light our way through that hell hole?”
“We have to try something,” I bit back.
Nicole pointed back at the opening, rising to her feet. “You want to go back and save a bunch of strangers that wouldn’t do the same for you, be my guest. But the smart move, the right move, is to run.”
I rose, facing her and getting closer than she liked, judging by the way her nostrils flared. “Don’t be a coward. I refuse to let the royal guard scare me into leaving them behind without another thought—”
My eyes widened as I stopped talking, but I was seconds too late.
