Page 22 of Beneath Swan Lake (Deadly Endings #2)

The man moves closer to us in the cave, waving the device in front of him. I feel Raymundo dragging me backwards and I try to hold my ground, focused intently.

That device… it’s another timepiece. Shifting on my feet, I try to get a better view of what’s going on, but it’s too far for my eye to see.

The stranger suddenly stops and I’m only dimly aware of the splashing water behind me. The Queen will step into Swan Lake if we are careless, and that’s a battle I don’t think we will win. I think Ban is the one still disturbing the water.

“You’re late, late, late!” the man calls from across the cave once more. Ray tightens his grip on my arm, and I’m half tempted to turn into the swan and fly over there myself. He seems a bit delirious, but he might have information on what Dima got up to.

“He’s dead,” Ray hisses in my ear, causing me to frown. I’ve never seen anyone dead, as they typically turn into spirits and are beyond my reach. The man’s milky eyes look terrible even in the blue-ish light of the cave, and I swallow down my nerves.

Ray speaks again, but I don’t think it’s meant for me this time. “What did you do to him?”

My head twitches to the side but I don’t look back, afraid to miss what’s happening in front of me. I vaguely recognize this man, but not enough to truly name him. Something about him is familiar but that’s all I’ve got.

Another splash sounds behind me before the ice wizard speaks. “That’s Barty.”

“Barty?” I echo, narrowing my gaze at Ban’s words.

“Bartholemew,” Ban goes on, and now I’m not sure I know this man at all. “Or Bart if you prefer. He brings back creatures to the lake for Dima’s experiments. Only the ones mutated by the Flowerborne. I wondered where you got to, Barty!”

Wincing, I do glance back for a moment. Ban’s blue eyes nearly glow, and his hands have frost on them where his touch hovers over the water. At this angle it looks like a deep well minus the stones. I can’t see any signs of the Queen. While I’m watching him he nonchalantly taps the surface with his hand, where waves unsettle the calm and a small patch of ice forms. If the water doesn’t still, we shouldn’t have yet another problem to worry about.

“I wondered when Dima would dispose of you! How is life as the undead?”

“ Ban ,” Raymundo warns.

Staring, I can’t help but wonder how long Ban got stuck down here. It can't have been that long, but I suppose weeks or even months in this place would be enough to drive anyone to the brink of madness. Even someone as close to immortal as one could get wouldn't thrive here.

“You’re too late,” the undead man says, and I turn back again. He’s not any closer, but he’s gripping the timepiece so hard I think he might draw blood. His hand remains white knuckled, and he begins to shake his head, his neck twisting too far to either side. I gasp when it turns bouncy like the bones in his neck are gone, and his head twists down to nearly his breastbone, staying attached to the stretched out skin.

I scream at the sight, his milky white eyes bulging farther out of his head. It’s gruesome, and I step back into Raymundo as the monster of a man starts his slow gait towards us once more.

A splash sounds, then Ban’s frustrated voice. “Well, damn it, Bart! I didn’t seriously think he’d kill you too! You’re an asshole, Dima.”

It’s odd being the only person who evidently cannot see Dima lingering with the dead, so I force my gaze back to Bart once more. The twisted, contorted body has stopped again, and his ominous words linger in the cave.

When his eyes snap to meet mine, I gasp. “Too late.”

For a moment it’s silent, nothing following the eerie claim. Then there’s a loud thud, like something crashing deeper in the cave. I glance at Raymundo, but he looks just as lost as I feel. Even Ban’s gone silent.

Bart throws the timepiece and it sails through the air, landing on the dirt floor. It clatters when it hits the ground, close enough for us to see. Ray waves his hand beside me, and the piece is lifted from the ground and brought before us.

The clockwork face is broken, but it still seems to be ticking. Without any hands on the face I don’t know what time this device thinks it is, but it looks like nonsense to me.

Just as Ray closes his hand around the device, a horrid noise fills the cavern. Other than the splashes, there hasn’t been a lot of noise save for our voices. Now it’s like a gurgling, slithering sort of noise like something is being dragged through the mud.

It only takes me a moment to register what it is, and my eyes meet Raymundo’s a second later. “Flowerborne.”

Ray drags me backward, gripping the timepiece tight. Bart sinks into the ground, his strange, twisty neck staying at the odd angle as he collapses. Like he doesn’t have any bones at all.

“It’s like he’s one of them,” Ban grumbles, and I glance back at him. There’s tension in his shoulders, and he’s pressed his palm to the top of the water again. I still can’t see the Queen, but I wonder if she can see him on this side, holding her back from crossing through the looking glass. “The spirits. He’s undead.”

“He’s joining the dead,” Ray corrects. “Whatever holds his body isn’t natural. It needs to be severed so he can pass on with Dima.”

“Dima doesn’t deserve to pass on,” Ban growls. The urge to run is strong, and when I whip my head back and forth I don’t see any Flowerborne but I can hear them coming. “He should suffer-”

He cuts himself off when he pushes too hard on the surface of the water, and the top freezes over. He’s still pressing, and the new layer of ice cracks. It sinks in like he’s pushing into the water, and the deep well in the center of the cave seems to overflow. Like cracks in an invisible case, a column of water suddenly shoots out one side as though there’s a leak, and Ban gasps and tears his hand back when the water continues to sink.

I half push, half drag Raymundo back to look. We peer into the water for just a moment, the rippling face of the Mad Queen phasing in and out of existence as she tries once more to reach into the pool. This time as she reaches in, the water drops, and as it slams into the three of us, her image disappears.

I try to scream but the water overtakes me. All the noise in the cave disappears as we’re dragged under by the sudden wave. I lose my grip on Raymundo, and in the sudden rush I’m not certain which way the water drags him or Ban.

My back slams into something solid, and I realize that I’ve been thrown into the side of the cave from the rush of water. I struggle to the surface, fighting against the choppy waves, and I’m gasping for air by the time my head breaks the surface of the water.

Choking, I look around. The blue light still lingers above us and on the surface of the choppy water, but instead of helping, it's making it even more disorienting to look around. My eye begins looking for either of the Reapers, but I can’t seem to focus on any one point for more than a few seconds as I struggle to stay above the surface.

The cave wall is too smooth to grip, leaving me with nothing to hold onto. Panic creeps in as I frantically scan my surroundings for a way out. Another rush of water slams over my head, and I barely have time to catch my breath before I’m thrown under the waves again.

Underneath the water I can’t make out anything, and I don’t see my Reaper or feel the shadows. I don’t even know if he can find me like this. If I thought I could beat the next wave I would transform, but I’m not certain my swan will be able to rise quick enough before the waves slam against me again. Then I’ll just be drowning with feathers and wings instead of a feathery dress.

Pain rips through my head, and I have to swallow a scream. For a moment I think the water pushed me against the wall and I hit my head, but when I flap my arms around me there’s nothing to touch. I either drifted from the wall or I imagined it.

But the pain comes back, twice as terribly, and I can’t stop screaming this time. The water surges down my throat, and it’s like the time Dima ripped my eye from my face, but this is somehow worse.

It’s like someone’s pulling at the empty socket, seeking an eye that isn't there anymore. I blink against the water, struggling up and up through the crashing waves again. If I die because a looking glass cracked and flooded the cave I’m going to have some unfriendly words for Death.

Reaching up, I struggle to break through the surface again. I need more air, and if the shadows aren’t going to suck me in I need to save myself before I swallow anymore water. The phantom pain in my face will have to wait -

Fingers suddenly latch around my wrist. Relief shoots through me as I’m tugged above the surface, gulping in air as I feel myself break free from the water.

Then the comforting feel of the shadows surrounding me curls along my skin, and the frigid cold of the lake water melts away. I blink my eye open but I can’t see who it is that’s dragging me free. The shadows are absolute, spreading out above me and tearing me through the darkness.

I feel no fear. Even if this is Ban and not Raymundo, I know he won’t harm me. Away from the suffocating sensation of the water, I can finally gulp in as much air as I need, trying to steady my thoughts. The overwhelming dread fades, replaced by a sense of reassurance—we’re going to be okay.

We move quicker back through the cave than we ever did coming in, and I can’t keep track of where we are as we move and I choke up the water I swallowed. This is a mad dash to freedom.

I’ve just evened out my breathing when we cross through the cave’s entrance and I see the break of dawn across the sky. My shadowy ride brings us level with the ground before setting me on the grass, and I land on my side with a plop, growing at the impact.

Blowing out a breath, I blink up at the light. This is nothing like the magic of the cave. “T-thanks, Ban.”

It has to be Ban. Ray would be in my face already, checking how I’m doing. Rolling on my back, I let my arms fall to my sides even as my bag digs uncomfortably into my side. My head buzzes as the lack of oxygen slowly disappears, and the longer I’m away from the water the better I feel.

He touches my face and my eyes widen, staring up at the light. It’s the impression of a hand, but I don’t see the man. Ray wouldn’t do this…

I blink several times, fighting the disorientation, and the figure comes into focus. I try to scoot back, but everything feels weighted and impossible, like I can’t physically get up right now.

Dread clings to my throat, until I see him, the memory clicking into place.

Dark eyes. Ashen skin. Dark black hair.

The Shadow Man.

“You’ve done well, sweet swan. Now you’ve become Death’s friend.”

The words don’t make sense to me and I look to the side expecting to see Ray or Ban. My fingers skitter across the ground, willing me to get a grip and push myself up.

This is the man the four Reapers whisper about? The one that made them Death?

“I am sorry my protégémisused his magic,” the man goes on, and he holds something above my face. I almost don’t look, afraid to tear my gaze from him, but my curiosity is too great.

Looking up, I’m not sure if I’m seeing clearly. Is that my eye?

“I can’t change what fate has made you,” he goes on, and I almost gag when he rolls my eye across his knuckles like a ball. I can’t see my iris, and I’m not sure if that’s somehow better or worse. “ But I can right a wrong, and make you whole again. You’re not done yet playing with Death.”

I open my mouth to ask what he’s going on about, but the words don’t come. Instead, the nameless shadow man pushes my thick bangs off the side of my face, wet hair still clinging in places. And before I can utter a word, he pulls my eye socket open and plunges his fingers into the hole in my face.