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9
LAIKEN
Pieces of dead fishermen float around us as I tighten my grip on Penny, holding fast to my new prize.
I want her. Ineedher. And now, she’s mine. But there’s something terribly wrong. When her mouth opens, there is no sound, and her dark eyes grow hazy and unfocused without that vital spark of terror that I’ve grown accustomed to.
“Breathe,” I snarl.
She doesn’t seem to hear me, her movements losing spirit until she stops struggling altogether. I release my grip, knowing that her limbs are not strong enough to get the better of me. Not here. I grip her hard and shake her, but her head lolls to one side, and she threatens to drift away from me.
Parts of the boat brush past us in their descent.
This is wrong.
I capture her face and pull her closer, the tendrils of my mouth feeling for that warmth beneath her skin, that steady pulse of her heart. It’s there, but it’s starting to fail. The ocean’s cold current is drawing her heat away with every passing moment. Her eyelids flutter, and I realize I don’t have much time to make this right.
I have never let a land creature live long enough beneath the water to realize they cannot breathe it in as I can, and the sudden realization startles me. I can have Penny all to myself, but I will lose her before I can hear her voice again. The ocean is robbing her of her vibrant spirit, so I do all I know.
I lock lips with her and push my magic into her.
I’m not exactly sure what it will do, exactly. The sea’s magic has always played by its own rules, and I can not shape the outcome quite as I wish it. All my focus hones in on the warmth of her soft mouth and the slight tingle of electricity between our tongues as I lash hers into submission.
Nothing else matters.
Breathe, I command silently, fury and panic mingling.Breathe, Penny. I will not watch you die.The magic floods into her, and all I can sense is the quiet roar of the sea. No surge of breath from her. Nothing.
I pull back, not quite sure what I expected.
The anticipation is too much to bear, so I try again, rooting deeper between her parted lips. I have never felt the heavy weight of concern like I do now. We have so much of one another to explore, it can’t endnow.
The tingle of magic fades, and I’m certain I’ve failed.
Still, I hold tightly to her limp body, burying my face in the crook of her soft neck. What I wouldn’t give for her to open her eyes. To stare in wonder or terror, it doesn’t matter. Anything to defy the fate laid out for her in my realm.
I expect to feel her heart falter, to fail completely.
Then, something strange happens. Her body shudders, and a powerful rhythm begins, slowly at first, then picking up speed. She twitches, and when she gasps again, the glow of magic illuminates the back of her throat.
Then she thrashes against my hold.
It doesn’t feel intentional, more of an automatic bucking as her lungs fill with seawater. “Breathe,” I murmur again, clutching her close with a burgeoning grin. Whatever fate the ocean had planned for her, she will not meet it today.
She shudders hard, her eyes opening.
But she doesn’t seem to see me.
In fact, I don’t think she’s entirely lucid yet after her scrape with death. Sobs wrack her body, and the skin of her neck seems to change slightly. Tender gills form, invisible until they flare open and let the sea rush in.
She chokes on the salty water, not accustomed to its viscosity.
I cradle her against my chest, holding fast so she does not feel alone as her body is transforming. I have never done such a thing to another living being, but no doubt it is exhausting to her fragile body. At least she is breathing.
It is one thing to covet her. Another entirely to watch my greed nearly kill her. With her safe in my arms, rioting against the magic that still grips her, I cut a line towards my home below the waves.
Relief is a distant notion as she struggles to acclimate. Humans are not built to endure magic the way I am, or the dark elves are. Just as the magic can save her, it can destroy her, too. I need to make her comfortable during this transformation, or else I might lose her twice.
The path to my lair is long, but I make quick work of it.
