First, I needed to control my fear. If fear wasn’t triggered, rage wouldn’t follow, and maybe then I could keep calm long enough to let someone help.
Deep breath in.
Wood creaked, and I heard the slide of a window opening.
Blow the breath out.Again.
I felt the salt on the air as it entered my lungs. It spread and spread until I thought I would burst with it. My next exhale was a little shaky, but I kept that fear in a tight grip. I could do this.
The sound of trickling water made every hair on my body stand on end. When it turned into full-on sloshing and the very obvious sign of the bathtub being filled, my deep breaths turned harsh and short. Not long after, the scent of the sea barreled into the room and punched me right in the face.
I was wrong. I couldn’t do this. My eyes darted between the open bathroom door and the exit. There was no way I was strong enough to make that in a run, but some deluded part of me still held onto the idea and wanted to take it for a ride. Slowly, so slowly, I pulled the blanket off me with trembling arms. Myknees shook just as badly, but I put my feet on the floor anyway and took a couple moments to let the dizziness fade.
I tried the deep breaths again. Ignoring the salt that came with it, I forced air back into my lungs, held it, and then let it out. Two more times. The dizziness dispersed, and the shaking eased. Time for a good ol’ fashioned escape.
“Oh, good, you’re sitting up. That should make drinking this a whole lot easier.”
Ezra somehow snuck into the room without me noticing. The door was ajar behind him, and the smirk on his face said he was there long enough to watch me pathetically build myself up for… well, nothing now.
In his hand, sat a tiny glass vial filled with a deep blue liquid. He moved to stand in front of me, until his feet anchored on either side of mine, caging me in. Somehow, even with him towering over me, I felt anything but trapped. He wasn’t crowding or pushing. His body language was wide open, almost like he was there to offer support should I fall forward or choose to try and stand.
“This will help you gain back some of that strength you burn through with all that attitude.” He said with a wink, then held the potion out to me.
I didn’t even hesitate to take it. Eryn told me how much his potions helped her when she was poisoned, how it saved her life ten times over. If it could take away even a fraction of the pain and weakness I felt deep in my bones, then I wanted fifty of them. I expected something harsh and heavy on my tongue, but the cool liquid had a faint aftertaste of mint and went down easier than water.
Within seconds, I felt its effects. The heavy presence camped out on my chest disappeared with an easy breath. My back straightened, no longer bowed and sharp, and my neck lost that dull ache that flared when I turned my head. Lighter. My bodyfelt light enough to float on air, like I could run a marathon three times over.
I’d settle for just running.
My gaze zeroed in on the open bedroom door, and Ezra smoothly stepped to the side and blocked my view with his abs instead. I glared up at him, but something serious lurked in his stare. I didn’t like that look. Warning bells went off, and energy infused my limbs as adrenaline flooded my veins. Another splash came from the bathroom, and I remembered why we were all up here to begin with.
Ezra had a plan to make me better, and I had a sick feeling in my gut that it involved whatever was splashing in that bathroom. The very bathroom that I knew for a fact had a deep clawfoot tub and a powerful siren doing something to it. Fuck. So much for controlling my fear. No amount of deep breathing was going to stave off this panic attack.
When Cova stepped back into the room, bringing with him all the deliciously terrifying scents of the sea, the blood drained from my face. The lack of color, along with my trembling, must have given away my plans, because Ezra was right there, in my bubble, before I had a chance to leap up and run away.
“Now I know that yummy potion has you thinking all kinds of exasperating thoughts, but I have to warn you not to even think about—”
I bolted. A quick dodge, faster than either of us expected, and I was running headlong for that door and the safety that was anywhere but this room. In a blink, the entire opening sealed over with a thick layer of ice. I barely missed breaking my nose against it as I swiftly turned around and was caught with a strong arm around my waist.
“Why are you so stubborn?” Ezra growled, obviously trying real hard not to hurt me as I fought his hold.
I didn’t care to return the favor. I kicked and clawed, bit, and stomped on his feet to try to get away. I didn’t want any part of what lay in that bathroom, not even if it saved me. All my bravado about getting help and being strong flew out the freaking window.
“I’m not… fucking… going in there!”
“Grab her damn legs!” Ezra demanded.
Cova did as he was told, with the same stoic yet pissed-off expression he’d been rocking since he got here. The second his hands closed around my shins, it was over. Between the two of them, there was no getting away. That didn’t mean I wasn’t going to try, though. I still wiggled and squirmed as best I could, but their steps ate up the distance to the ensuite like a countdown straight from my nightmares.
The two of them carried me deep into the bathroom, past the walk-in closet and enclosed toilet, until the three of us stood before a porcelain white tub filled with enough saltwater to drown in.
And I knew it was saltwater. I didn’t even have to touch it. How in the fuck had they gotten all of that in here? The sharp cry of a seagull answered through the nowopenwindow, and I had my answer. My entire body quaked hard enough that my ribs clacked together. I could do nothing but watch wide-eyed as that bathtub grew closer and closer…
The world spun as the boys set me on the counter across from it. Ezra remained in front of me, his eyes glued to my face as he gave Cova an order I couldn’t hear over the roaring in my ears. I watched his lips move, watched his tongue dart out to wet them before he said something again.
Garbled sounds filtered in through the panic. My sight tightened to pinpoints, zeroing in on the most random things to keep my brain from shutting down; the one dark strand of hairat the end of a blond eyebrow, a tiny freckle, little waves in a bathtub behind his shoulder…
“No, you look at me, baby. Right at me.” My attention returned to Ezra’s face, and I watched his lips widen as he spoke again. “Good girl, just keep looking right here. Can you take a breath for me?”
