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My eyes widen in panic as she disappears, not into the light, but pulled in the current. I spin in the water, looking for her. She can’t die. God, no. I shouldn’t have let her go. It’s so dark down here. I can barely see her outline, but I see her struggling in the water not too far away. I swim hard, pushing off the ground to get to her, and I grab her hands, making her stop, and her eyes open.
Sheer panic. That’s all I see. I nod at her, hoping she can hold on a little longer. I yank her down roughly with me towards the light, knowing I don’t have long left before I need air.
I barely manage to push her through the light, watching her disappear, when a current of water slams me to the side and pulls me up, away from the light. I gasp, letting too much cold water into my lungs, and my body shakes. I could seriously die just trying to save Arty’s life. What the hell am I doing? I need to survive. I can’t die here. The edges of my vision tip with darkness as I swim towards the light, desperately pushing against the current that seems to be getting stronger and stronger with every second, pushing me away like it wants me to sink into its depths and never come out again.
Lysander said he would help me. That didn’t mean that he was going to save me from this.
“Swim! Don’t you fucking dare stop. You’re Ellelin Ilroth and water cannot drown you.” Lysander’s voice shouts in my head, over and over. I’m sure it’s the lack of oxygen, but his commands make me swim harder as I listen to his voice. “Swim! Swim!”
No one can save me unless I fight for myself with everything I have. I keep swimming towards the light, desperately, pathetically swimming towards it. Everything in my body starts to shake, convulse, and die as I run out of air. I stop. I swear my fingertip just touches the light before everything turns black.
I wake up with a gasp, looking up at a ceiling made of light. No, not light, but yellow stained glass. It’s a domed glass ceiling with a spiky point at the top, and the yellow glass is covered in swirls of yellow mist making the room so bright it hurts to open my eyes. But I’m alive. Hell, I survived! I’m lying on a soft, massive bed with white silk sheets. I sit up, wincing at the burning feeling in my lungs and the general burning of my muscles throughout my body.
“Careful. They healed you, but you might be sore. You technically died for a few minutes there.” I turn my eyes to Emrys, who’s sitting on a chair by the bed. “But I was worried about you being alone, so I brought you back here until you woke up in case you needed more help. I can heal some minor injuries.”
My jaw drops. He does look worried. The air dragon king is worried about me, the girl he kidnapped and danced with under the stars. He leans back in the chair, his shoulders relaxing. “You’re glaring at me. You must be okay.”
I chuckle. “I’m surprised I’m alive.”
“Me too,” he admits, rubbing his chin. “You fell through the portal just in time, but you weren’t breathing, and your heart had stopped. I don’t know how long you haven’t been breathing. Lysander’s brother worked hard to heal you, and I swear even Lysander himself helped. Not that the stubborn bastard admitted to helping. Lysander’s brother isn’t anywhere near as powerful as Lysander, and you needed a lot of magic to be saved.”
Lysander saved me. So did his brother. I need to thank his brother. For a moment, I want to thank Lysander for saving my life, but then I remember the only reason he would have saved me would have been to make sure I continue with his sick deal. “Artemis was a howling mess over you, claiming you saved them all. Quite heroic. My entire court will be talking of you now. First test, you jumped before anyone else and saved many lives. Second test, you risked your own life to save your friends.”
I sigh. “I think I’m just dumb and keep getting into bad situations. All I want is to go home, not be some hero.”
He laughs. “May I?” He points to the side of the bed next to me. I nod. He comes and sits on what must be his bed. It smells like him, and it’s weirdly comforting. He leans back, stretching his legs out, his arm brushing against mine. I’m still in my pyjamas top and shorts, but I’m not soaking wet anymore, at least. “The water test is always the most barbaric, especially if you’re not a good swimmer. Six died today. Nine are left. How did you know to swim down?”
I don’t say a word. He just smiles at me. “Ah, so you have your secrets then, don’t you?”
“Of course,” I sweetly reply. Shitty, murderous deals, the kind of secrets that would make him hate me.
He tucks some of my damp hair behind my ear, and he pauses, resting his fingertips on my cheek. “I think the biggest secret I have right now is how much I want to kiss you. You want to leave, and I secretly wish you never do.”
My heart pounds as I stare into his eyes, my body feeling like it’s on fire. It would be so easy to kiss him, to imagine he isn’t a dragon king. To imagine I was free and not trapped. “I have no interest in kissing you.”
He leans a little closer. “Your racing heart is saying something different. I could listen to it beat for me all night.”
“Is that why you brought me here? To keep me in your bed all night?” I ask. Fuck, I’m flirting with him.
He doesn’t move; he doesn’t back away. “These are our private rooms. The others will kill me for bringing you here. We share these rooms, and the girls are banned, except Hope.” He lifts my chin up with his finger. “But I wanted to make sure you were okay. That’s the only reason I brought you here. I promise, Ellelin.”
The way he says my name…fuck. It’s sexy. I want him to say it over and over. What is wrong with me?
I keep telling myself to not go any closer, to step away, to remind myself who he is. He’s so gorgeous, so breathtakingly gorgeous, and charming, and he’s looking after me. And for some reason, I just need—
I kiss him. He looks surprised for a second, startled, like he was being playful before and didn’t actually expect me to kiss him. But that only lasts for a second before he’s sliding his hand into my hair, with a low growl, tightening his grip. He deepens our kiss, taking my breath away. I’ve never been kissed like this before. It’s passionate, and he sends shivers throughout my entire body from just one kiss.
“Fucking excuse me. Since when are we allowed to bring them back here to fuck?” Arden growls, an animal-like sound echoing from him. Dragon-like sound.
I break away from Emrys, flinching as I turn to see Arden leaning by the door, his red eyes glowing like pools of lava. Well, there goes my ruse of pretending to like him. He’s certainly going to know I’m not that interested now. Burning jealousy shines in his red eyes like the flames.
Emrys holds his hands up. “Cool the fire, friend. Ellelin was injured and I wanted to make sure she was okay.”
Arden doesn’t move, and the way he looks at Emrys makes fear snake down my spine. “Did that involve sticking your tongue down her throat?”
“Chill the fuck out,” Emrys growls back at him, moving slightly in front of me. The air in the room seems to pause, tense. “You need to stop. You don’t want to start this now. You’ve changed since this began.”
“Can you blame me?” Arden replies. They both have a silent conversation, and whatever they communicate is passed between them with just a look. They both seem to pause, and the mood seems to lighten when they look away. Arden moves his eyes to me, no longer glowing red. “Are you okay, princess?”
