I felt a lot more rested than I thought I would, my muscles were tight, but no longer cramping.Ready to take on whatever had been coming for Silas.“How long have I been asleep?”
“Just on two hours.”
“What!”That’s when I realized my clothes were a little damp, in some places dry, instead of soaked through.“What the hell were you thinking?We don’t have time for that.You need time to rest as well.”
“I’m fine,” he said.“But we better get going.The last creature I fought off escaped, and I have a feeling it’s gone for reinforcements.”
“For fuck’s sake, Silas, you should have woken me earlier.”I jumped into the water, so frigid, it punched the air from my lungs.
We treaded, our heads the only things not submerged.
“We should be able to stay on the surface now,” Silas said.“I’ve scouted about a bit while you were asleep.I can see the land, so we were at least swimming in the right direction.And there’s no sign of Nathaniel.Hopefully, he got sick of searching for us, or he assumed we’re already dead and they’ve gone in to get themselves up on the leaderboard before anyone else.”
Made sense, but I was still pissed off.Letting me rest that long, staying in one place for that length of time, wasn’t smart.My pride also had a problem with him being “fine” even after scouting about in between fighting off several monsters on his own, while I napped like an exhausted infant.“Sounds like you have everything worked out.”
He frowned, but I dove under the water before he could say anything more and swam up to the surface.The water was far calmer below, but this made it easier to stay on course.We were pretty close to shore, well, it looked that way.In reality it would probably still take two or more hours to get there.
Digging deep, I pushed through the icy cold water and the stiffness of my limbs and concentrated on the next stroke, then the next, carving my way through the water.Now that I was swimming again, I realized I hadn’t recovered as well as I had thought.I couldn’t focus on anything other than making it to shore, on pushing my body and moving forward.Shame burned through me when I realized it was all I could manage.I hated that I trusted Silas would make sure we were safe, and I hated how pathetic and weak that made me feel, but I knew it was the truth.
A distinctive and, under the circumstances, horrifying noise came from above.
One moment I was swimming, the next, Silas had pulled me under the water.I looked up as a huge shadow circled above the surface of the ocean.Nathaniel hadn’t given up.
Had he already reported to the manor to claim first place and come back?That couldn’t be allowed?Or had he and Eloa been circling, looking for us the whole time?I didn’t know if they’d actually seen us, but they weren’t going away either.
Like before, I knew I wouldn’t die without oxygen, but as the time passed and my need for air became more desperate, the more I freaked out.Silas held me to him again, but this time my lungs were full of air, and they felt like they were going to explode.Panic hit me out of nowhere like a freaking boulder, and I burst into action, colliding hard with Silas and forcing all of the air out in a burst of wild bubbles.As soon as it happened, the pain and the desperation to inhale got even worse.
Stars danced in front of my eyes.That hadn’t happened last time, but I’d kept a little air trapped in my lungs before, this time there was nothing, and the world was growing hazy around me.
Silas shook me, his silver gaze frantically searching mine.
I tried to pound my fists on his shoulders, but instead I barely touched him, like some feeble human.
His hand suddenly gripped the back of my neck, and holding me in place, he closed the distance between us and brought his mouth down on mine.Locking our lips together in an oxygen-giving kiss, he filled my lungs with air, and as they expanded, the dizziness faded.
A moment later, we were sharing breath, sealed together, his mouth on mine, his arms around me, and those strong hands holding me in a firm, sure way that said not to panic, that he had me, that we would survive this, and gods, despite everything, I believed him.
It was a dangerous thing, allowing myself to believe it, especially when it came to this male, but right then I didn’t have any other choice.It meant nothing, I reminded myself.He didn’t care about me, he never had.We’d agreed to a truce, that’s all this was.Nothing had changed, and as soon as this was over, I could go back to making his life hell.
Finally, he loosened his hold, his lips breaking from mine, and he looked up.I internally shook myself out of the haze I’d been in and did the same.Nothing moved above us.The angels were gone, at least for now.
We surfaced.
“Okay?”Silas asked roughly, his gaze searching mine in that way of his, like he was trying to work out what I was thinking, because he’d never once had a damned clue.
“Yeah, thanks for the air,” I said and looked away, when his gaze intensified, and started swimming again, as fast as my body would allow, Silas right behind me.
I wasn’t sure how long it took, although it felt like a lifetime, before I was finally stumbling out of the water.Panting, I braced my hands on my knees to catch my breath and turned back as Silas strode out after me, like some freaking Bond hero.Not exhausted, not panting or almost falling on his ass.He’d lost his shirt along the way, though, and his muscles rippled as he moved, the thick veins along his biceps and forearms stood out starkly against his pale golden skin as he shoved his hand through his black-and-gold-streaked hair, pushing it back off his forehead.
Somehow, my exhausted body still managed to feel aroused just from watching him walk out of the fucking ocean.I hated myself for still wanting him.There was nothing but that familiar wariness in his eyes when he looked up at me, and honestly, I wanted to punch him in the nuts for it.I was over here panting, and not just from exhaustion, and he was as cold as ever.I wanted to jab him right in the gonads, watch him fall on the ground, curled in the fetal position, while he clutched his junk.
“You see the disk?”he asked, his gaze scanning the shore behind me.
No.Embarrassingly, I’d been too busy watching him emerge from the sea like Neptune, god of the sea.
Spinning away, I searched the rocky beach.“Over there.”
It was on a marble stand beside the entrance to the path back to the manor.I rushed over.Three disks still waited on top.The cat shifters, the wolves, and us.