“We have to get out of here!” Connor shouted.
The water was at my neck, but I’d almost reached them. A deafening roar filled the cave and then the ocean was crashing around us, roiling, hitting us with the force of a tidal wave. We were thrown apart.
I slammed into the cavern wall. My instincts screamed at me to swim up and find a way to surface, but whatever rational cells were left in my body stopped me. There wasn’t a way to surface, not anymore. The cavern was flooding with a speed that could only be credited to magic. Was it a final trap left by the Keepers or just a result of Shay claiming the water hilt? Whatever the cause, I knew my salvation lay in working with the water, not against it.
I shifted forms and shoved my mouthpiece in, knowing that I had to find Shay. He’d left his tank behind when he went after Eydis. He’d drown without an air source. I struggled against the new currents that swirled through the water, grabbing a single fin before it could float past me. Even the help of one fin would be better than trying to swim without them.
I worked my way toward the gleaming tones of the alcove, which wavered now that they were submerged. A flicker above me drew my gaze. I saw kicking feet. Shay was pushing himself toward the surface. Without a tank he had no other options. My fin gave me extra speed as I went after him.
When I grabbed his ankle, he jerked around, ready to strike at me. I pulled him down, taking my mouthpiece out and pushing it onto his lips. I held his shoulders, trying to remember Gabriel’s instructions. I had the tank, so I was in charge of the breaths. Keeping my eyes on Shay’s lungs, I counted: one breath, two breaths. He nodded at me. I took the mouthpiece from him and took my two breaths. We began to swim slowly toward the spot where I’d last seen the Searchers.
Shay pointed ahead. A light shimmered in the water—golden against the turquoise currents—a tall, narrow slab of light.
Adne’s door. She’d opened a door underwater. Shay squeezed my arm and we swam faster. Adne was hovering near the portal. She had her tank and mask on, and when she caught sight of us, she began waving frantically. But she wasn’t waving at us, she was pointing to something behind us. I flipped around and though I didn’t have a mouthpiece in, or air to waste, I screamed.
Gabriel was swimming toward us and the portal, but he wasn’t alone. He was dragging something with him. The limp body of a wolf.
Nev wasn’t struggling to swim or free himself from Gabriel’s arms. He wasn’t moving at all.
Shay shoved the mouthpiece between my lips with a shake of his head. Gabriel swam past us, dragging Nev with him into the portal. We swam after him, pushing through the shimmering passage and landing in a muddy puddle on the jungle floor.
“No!” Mason was kneeling over Nev. “Please, Nev!”
“Get out of the way!” Gabriel pushed Mason aside.
Mason snarled. He shifted forms, ready to lunge at Gabriel. Connor jumped between them.
“Wait!” Connor shouted. “Give him a minute. He’s a dive instructor, remember? He’s certified in CPR.”
Mason stalked back and forth whining as Gabriel pushed on Nev’s chest and breathed into his muzzle.
Breathe, Nev. Breathe.
Someone took my hand. I leaned into Ren, beyond grateful that he was here and alive. But when I looked up at him, I saw how pale he was as he watched Gabriel trying to bring Nev back to us.
Adne fell onto the ground beside me. “Tell me we saved him,” she gasped.
Even as she spoke, Nev’s jaws opened and water spewed out of his mouth. He coughed and shook his head, rolling onto his stomach with a whimper.
Mason yelped, scrambling close to Nev and covering his face and muzzle with licks. They both shifted to human form, clinging to each other fiercely.
Sabine sobbed while Ethan held her. Ren squeezed my hand before going to Nev and hugging him.
“Thank God,” Connor murmured. “Nice work, Gabriel.”
“A wolf.” Gabriel grinned. “CPR on a wolf. That’s a first for me.”
“All I can taste is fish.” Nev groaned, coughing up yet more water. “I will never eat fish for as long as I live.”
“Shut up,” Mason said. “Just shut up.” And he kissed Nev again.
FIFTEEN
WE TRUDGED THROUGH the jungle, sodden and dripping. The joy of saving Nev and retrieving Eydis were muted by losing Silas. As we came around the bend in the trail where the forest dropped down toward the sea, the dive shop peeked out through the cover of branches.
“There’s Inez waiting on the deck,” Gabriel said. “She’s got those mother-hen instincts big-time.”
Inez’s back was to us; she was lounging on a deck chair. Miguel was sitting in the shadow cast by the dive shop’s eaves. Two more chairs were pulled up between Miguel and Inez. A woman in a bikini stretched languidly in one. Next to her, a man in an open linen shirt and khaki shorts laughed, threading his fingers through hers.
“Who are they?” I asked.
“I don’t know,” Gabriel said. “I didn’t think we had any dive groups scheduled for today.”
He picked up his pace, not running, but taking swift strides toward the figures on the deck. The woman in the bikini saw him and began to wave. Her companion stood up, pushing back his sunglasses.
Ren’s nose crinkled up. “Hang on.... Do you smell that?”
“Yeah . . . shit,” Nev snarled, glancing at the thick jungle that surrounded us.
“You smell shit?” Ethan asked. “Thanks for sharing.”
“No,” Nev said. “We smell cats.”
I sniffed the air. They were right. It was subtle but definitely there. An acrid scent like burning silk and dried sage. A growl rose in my throat.
Gabriel’s eyes widened. “Las sombras . . . no!”
“Gabriel, wait!” Ethan shouted. But the other man was bolting toward the hideout, yelling.
“Inez! Miguel!” Neither of the Searchers on the deck moved.
It happened in the space of a blink. Gabriel had just reached the deck and it dropped onto him—a shape descending like an ebony cloak. The panther screamed as it leapt from its hiding place on the other side of the roof. Then it was on Gabriel, who was screaming when the cat’s claws sank into his shoulders. His cry cut off abruptly when its jaws locked around his neck and twisted sharply, breaking the bones.
“Damn it!” Ethan glared as the panther darted off the deck and into the jungle’s shadows.
The water was at my neck, but I’d almost reached them. A deafening roar filled the cave and then the ocean was crashing around us, roiling, hitting us with the force of a tidal wave. We were thrown apart.
I slammed into the cavern wall. My instincts screamed at me to swim up and find a way to surface, but whatever rational cells were left in my body stopped me. There wasn’t a way to surface, not anymore. The cavern was flooding with a speed that could only be credited to magic. Was it a final trap left by the Keepers or just a result of Shay claiming the water hilt? Whatever the cause, I knew my salvation lay in working with the water, not against it.
I shifted forms and shoved my mouthpiece in, knowing that I had to find Shay. He’d left his tank behind when he went after Eydis. He’d drown without an air source. I struggled against the new currents that swirled through the water, grabbing a single fin before it could float past me. Even the help of one fin would be better than trying to swim without them.
I worked my way toward the gleaming tones of the alcove, which wavered now that they were submerged. A flicker above me drew my gaze. I saw kicking feet. Shay was pushing himself toward the surface. Without a tank he had no other options. My fin gave me extra speed as I went after him.
When I grabbed his ankle, he jerked around, ready to strike at me. I pulled him down, taking my mouthpiece out and pushing it onto his lips. I held his shoulders, trying to remember Gabriel’s instructions. I had the tank, so I was in charge of the breaths. Keeping my eyes on Shay’s lungs, I counted: one breath, two breaths. He nodded at me. I took the mouthpiece from him and took my two breaths. We began to swim slowly toward the spot where I’d last seen the Searchers.
Shay pointed ahead. A light shimmered in the water—golden against the turquoise currents—a tall, narrow slab of light.
Adne’s door. She’d opened a door underwater. Shay squeezed my arm and we swam faster. Adne was hovering near the portal. She had her tank and mask on, and when she caught sight of us, she began waving frantically. But she wasn’t waving at us, she was pointing to something behind us. I flipped around and though I didn’t have a mouthpiece in, or air to waste, I screamed.
Gabriel was swimming toward us and the portal, but he wasn’t alone. He was dragging something with him. The limp body of a wolf.
Nev wasn’t struggling to swim or free himself from Gabriel’s arms. He wasn’t moving at all.
Shay shoved the mouthpiece between my lips with a shake of his head. Gabriel swam past us, dragging Nev with him into the portal. We swam after him, pushing through the shimmering passage and landing in a muddy puddle on the jungle floor.
“No!” Mason was kneeling over Nev. “Please, Nev!”
“Get out of the way!” Gabriel pushed Mason aside.
Mason snarled. He shifted forms, ready to lunge at Gabriel. Connor jumped between them.
“Wait!” Connor shouted. “Give him a minute. He’s a dive instructor, remember? He’s certified in CPR.”
Mason stalked back and forth whining as Gabriel pushed on Nev’s chest and breathed into his muzzle.
Breathe, Nev. Breathe.
Someone took my hand. I leaned into Ren, beyond grateful that he was here and alive. But when I looked up at him, I saw how pale he was as he watched Gabriel trying to bring Nev back to us.
Adne fell onto the ground beside me. “Tell me we saved him,” she gasped.
Even as she spoke, Nev’s jaws opened and water spewed out of his mouth. He coughed and shook his head, rolling onto his stomach with a whimper.
Mason yelped, scrambling close to Nev and covering his face and muzzle with licks. They both shifted to human form, clinging to each other fiercely.
Sabine sobbed while Ethan held her. Ren squeezed my hand before going to Nev and hugging him.
“Thank God,” Connor murmured. “Nice work, Gabriel.”
“A wolf.” Gabriel grinned. “CPR on a wolf. That’s a first for me.”
“All I can taste is fish.” Nev groaned, coughing up yet more water. “I will never eat fish for as long as I live.”
“Shut up,” Mason said. “Just shut up.” And he kissed Nev again.
FIFTEEN
WE TRUDGED THROUGH the jungle, sodden and dripping. The joy of saving Nev and retrieving Eydis were muted by losing Silas. As we came around the bend in the trail where the forest dropped down toward the sea, the dive shop peeked out through the cover of branches.
“There’s Inez waiting on the deck,” Gabriel said. “She’s got those mother-hen instincts big-time.”
Inez’s back was to us; she was lounging on a deck chair. Miguel was sitting in the shadow cast by the dive shop’s eaves. Two more chairs were pulled up between Miguel and Inez. A woman in a bikini stretched languidly in one. Next to her, a man in an open linen shirt and khaki shorts laughed, threading his fingers through hers.
“Who are they?” I asked.
“I don’t know,” Gabriel said. “I didn’t think we had any dive groups scheduled for today.”
He picked up his pace, not running, but taking swift strides toward the figures on the deck. The woman in the bikini saw him and began to wave. Her companion stood up, pushing back his sunglasses.
Ren’s nose crinkled up. “Hang on.... Do you smell that?”
“Yeah . . . shit,” Nev snarled, glancing at the thick jungle that surrounded us.
“You smell shit?” Ethan asked. “Thanks for sharing.”
“No,” Nev said. “We smell cats.”
I sniffed the air. They were right. It was subtle but definitely there. An acrid scent like burning silk and dried sage. A growl rose in my throat.
Gabriel’s eyes widened. “Las sombras . . . no!”
“Gabriel, wait!” Ethan shouted. But the other man was bolting toward the hideout, yelling.
“Inez! Miguel!” Neither of the Searchers on the deck moved.
It happened in the space of a blink. Gabriel had just reached the deck and it dropped onto him—a shape descending like an ebony cloak. The panther screamed as it leapt from its hiding place on the other side of the roof. Then it was on Gabriel, who was screaming when the cat’s claws sank into his shoulders. His cry cut off abruptly when its jaws locked around his neck and twisted sharply, breaking the bones.
“Damn it!” Ethan glared as the panther darted off the deck and into the jungle’s shadows.
