His blue gaze was calm as he nodded and said, “Don’t die, all right, lovely?” Then he pried my hands from him, shifted his grip on my body, and tossed me into the air.
A startled gasp left me as I soared toward the monster’s closing lips. For a terrifying moment, I wasn’t sure if I was going to make it. The gap was closing too fast, and I was moving too damn slowly. A yellow tooth sliced deep into my left leg, the deep burning sensation making it feel as though hot lava was searing my flesh, but then I was free of the monster’s maw and falling back toward the ocean’s surface.
The creature’s gray scales were a blur in my vision as I fell past the monster’s body and past a wicked fin that looked sharp enough to slice me in two had I been three inches to the right. Coming to my senses, I lifted my arms and formed a point with my hands above my head, but the force of the water was still brutal as I went headfirst into the water. A ringing started in my ears, and pressure built in my head as I sank lower into the ocean.
Darian. My heart squeezed as I thought of the siren still in the monster’s mouth, but I tried to push the image of him from my mind.The surface. I have to make it to the surface.
Bubbles trailed upward, the air escaping my mouth, and I flapped my arms to right myself and stop my descent. Light shone on the water’s surface high above me, and I pumped my arms, kicking to push myself upward. But the surface was too far, and I was too exhausted. Hours of swimming had left my body feeling like a stone.Goddess, I take it back. Fishtail. I need a freaking fishtail.
But my body didn’t change, and I was swimming upward too slowly. Fire burned in my lungs as my body cried for air, and cold desperation sank into my bones. Darian had sacrificed himself for me, and it wasn’t even going to be the sea monster that killed me.
Keep swimming.I tried to hold on to the thought, but my arms slowed, the burning in my chest becoming too much. A small spark of energy ignited inside me. It was only just there, but it was unmistakable. I tried to mentally reach for it, to will it to become stronger, but I was too weak. Too deprived of air. I wasn’t going to make it.
Just as my mouth was about to burst open, clawed black fingers reached toward me and strong arms wrapped around my torso. I barely registered Locke’s face before he yanked me brutally to the surface.
When my head broke above the water, my mouth burst open, and my lungs expanded painfully as I sucked in a huge, gasping breath. Air rushed into me, and I coughed at the sudden intake.
“You need to swim away from here,” Locke said as he released me. His leathery wings were folded behind his back, water streaming down the thick membranes, and fury shone in his hard onyx-colored eyes.
“Where’s Darian?” I wheezed. “He— The monster,” I gasped.
“Whatever you do. Keep fucking swimming,” he repeated, ignoring my question as he peered at something in the distance.
I followed his gaze to see the huge monster’s body cutting through the water a few hundred yards away. Not far from the creature’s mouth was a flash of blue and silver as Darian swam, diving under the water before springing into the air again. His powerful siren body carried him quickly now that I wasn’t in his arms, and the sound of his song hung in the air.
Thank the goddess.I didn’t know how he’d made it out of the creature’s mouth, but I didn’t care. Darian wasalive.I blew out a breath of relief, but then I noticed how the outlier was gaining on him, its gigantic body inching closer with every second.Fuck.
“Doesn’t his power draw creaturestohim? Why the hell is he using it?” I said as I watched on anxiously.
“I imagine he’s trying to make sure the outlier’s attention remains fixed on him.”
“But that’s idiotic!” I said, turning back to Locke. “We have to help him.”
“I will,” Locke replied with a hard expression as he moved his arms and legs, treading water, but his voice sounded strange, his words sluggish. Frowning, I studied his pale gray skin, the color a shade lighter than normal. His eyes were hooded as if he was struggling to keep them open, and his powerful shoulders were hunched slightly like his body had been sapped of all its energy. It took me a moment before I remembered what he’d said about the sunlight. About how it made vampires weak.
“Are you all right?” I asked with concern, but before he could answer, a cry sounded over the water. We both looked across the ocean as Darian pivoted, twisting his body back toward the outlier and leaping toward it, raking his claws across one of the creature’s eyes before diving back into the water.
The outlier let out an awful shriek that stung my ears, then it shook its head before diving into the ocean, following after Darian.
Indecision flickered in Locke’s eyes. If I hadn’t known how he hated me, I would have thought he was reluctant to leave me there.
“You have to live,” he said to me. “Or Kade and Asher are dead as well. The gargoyles will be here soon. I can already hear them. Until then, swim for the beach like your life depends on it because it does.”
I wanted to ask what he was going to do, especially in his weakened state, but his black eyes bore into me, and I just nodded. Seemingly satisfied with my response, he said again, “Swim, Raine,” and then he turned his back on me and began swimming toward the creature.
CHAPTER 10
~ Locke ~
Itwasmyfuckingfault Darian and Raine were in the water. We hadn’t had any sea creatures turn into outliers before, but I should have guessed it was only a matter of time. I should have known not to risk taking them out there.
Stroke after stroke, I made my way closer to the outlier and Darian, swimming through the water and pushing my pathetic body as fast as it would go. Fuck, how I wished I could use my wings.
When I’d seen Raine fall from the outlier’s mouth into the water, I’d known if I went after her it would be hard to get airborne again. But I couldn’t let her drown. The urge to protect her had driven me to action as searing pain erupted in my chest, and I’d dived into the ocean determined to save her from the inky darkness of the water. When my clawed hands had grabbed her, the relief that had gone through me was almost crippling, and I’d had to fight against the urge to pull her to me and swim with her back to the beach, forsaking my siren brother.
Swim, Raine,that’s what I’d just told her. My stomach hardened again as I thought about how I’d just left her, but Darian needed me, and the outlier had to be taken care of. I peered back, satisfied when I saw she was heading in the direction of the beach. Thank Halced she was strong.
Turning, I forced myself to focus my attention forward. Time seemed to pass excruciatingly slowly as I made my way through the water, and I tried not to think about how fucking impotent I felt. The ocean clung to my wings, pulling me down, and any attempt I made to lift myself and try to stretch my wings out failed miserably.
