Page 41 of Maddie
“It’s this way,” Dee said. “It’s time to swim.”
At least they were telling the truth about that. Noah swallowed hard and waited for Maddie to go first so he could watch her back. As he eased from the path and into the water, goosebumps rose all over his body from the freezing liquid. Three steps away from land and the water drifted up to his abdomen. Maddie and the little bastards were already treading water. He followed suit, sinking into the liquid to swim while keeping the gun above the surface, then gasped when it lapped over his shoulders.
Maddie cut him a worried look at the sound, and he offered a stiff smile. Nothing about this felt right, but his sister was dying. There wasn’t time to swim through the entire swamp, searching for glowing fish. He would kill whoever he had to in order to return to Scarlet in one piece with Maddie at his side.
Chapter Seventeen
Maddie
Maddie swam through the freezing water, her lungs aching with each shallow pull of breath. The twins, Dee and Dom, glided through the water, but a werewolf’s body, whether they shifted into their beast form or not, produced enough heat to keep them warm.
After catching the twins’ sneaky smiles, Maddie wanted to leave them in their cages. A werewolf, regardless of its age, was a deceitful thing. They weren’t the darlings they pretended to be—she knew that. But as long as the little wolves led her and Noah to the cure, then there wouldn’t be an issue.
A golden aura glowed within the water. Thefish. Noah gave her a slight nod, catching sight of it too, while continuing to slice with his strong arms through the clear liquid.
Dee halted and treaded water before raising a hand, pointing to a landmass covered in cerulean trees with brown leaves and bright iridescent flowers. He mouthed at her,This way.
Maddie nodded, heart pounding, as she followed the fish’s flickering glow to the chunk of land. A scaly body brushed her ankle just before sharp teeth bit into her flesh.Bloody hell. She clenched her jaw to avoid making a sound and kicked at it, when another bite sliced into her wrist.
Noah growled but stopped—the demon fish must’ve attacked him too. She picked up her pace, shuttling past the golden carnivores.
Maddie neared the shore and peered up, her gaze connecting with Dee and Dom, standing at the edge of the shore. Pushing herself out of the water, she knelt forward to clasp Noah’s hand. She dragged him to safety as a swarm of fish sailed to where they’d just been. They circled the empty water before scattering and fleeing when nothing lingered for them to attack.
Her chest heaved and water dripped down her body as she observed the area. A large glistening lake, the color and texture of milk, sat before them. No matter how hard she strained her eyes, Maddie couldn’t see what rested below its surface. Curving landmasses, covered in blackened dirt, surrounded the mound she resided on, trailing to other areas in werewolf territory. Beneath her feet, brown grass shimmered like glass.
“Now what?” Noah asked, running a hand through his wet hair as he stared out at the lake. It wasn’t as large as she’d expected, perhaps the size of several of her cottages stitched together.
“Go in and get your cure.” Dom shrugged, propping his back against a tree and crossing his arms. His twin copied his movements, resting his head on a tree beside his brother.
“We can’t see shit,” Noah answered, frowning. “We don’t know how deep it is.”
“Go in and find out.” Dee grinned, shrugging his gangly shoulders as his twin had.
Maddie narrowed her eyes at them. “We aren’t both going in at the same time.” She squinted, studying the area. If they both went into the lake, then no one would be out here standing watch.
“The lake’s safe and you’ll feel the mushrooms at the bottom.” Dee tilted his head to the side. “I would go in and retrieve the cure for you, but we did enough by leading you here already. We don’t want your kind to have the cure because there’s no cure for our own curse.”
“It seems you’re cured now,” Noah grumbled. “Is that why they locked you up?”
“Our human form sickens us,” Dom said with a sneer.
Dee nodded, lips curled in disgust. “We would prefer to stay beasts.”
Noah arched a brow at them. He turned to Maddie and sighed. “Wait here while I go in. You have more experience in Wonderland and with weapons than I do. Besides, this is for my sister, so I should be the one to risk it. Not you.”
Hesitancy coursed through Maddie, but if something happened or he didn’t come back up, she could go in after him. Vampires couldn’t die from drowning anyway. And from the few who survived to tell their story, their lost body parts hadn’t gotten ripped off from anything inside the lake.
“Fine,” she finally said. “But be quick, immortal.”
Noah gave her a gentle smile and nodded, then removed his backpack from his shoulders and slipped his gun inside it. He leaned forward, softly pressing his mouth to hers. Her eyes widened as he stepped back and turned toward the lake. She placed her fingertips to her lips, her stomach fluttering.
The twins watched her as she mirrored Noah’s earlier movements and took off her backpack in case she needed to dive in after him.
Once Noah had the mushrooms in his hand, they could take them back to Alice, and hopefully, after eating one, his sister would live.
Noah sank beneath the surface, and Maddie studied the twins, who exchanged smug looks. She scowled. Something wasn’t right. As her suspicion grew, she peered back at the lake when a shrill whistle penetrated her ears, followed by another high-pitched noise.
Maddie whirled around, seething as she stared at the little bastards. “What are you doing?”
