Page 151 of Daughter of the Dark Sea

“He’s . . .” she winced, pain slicing down her mind as she tried to remember. She tapped her head. “He’s here.”

The male reached forward at the sign of her pain and Kora flinched back. Her arm waved, rippling with a liquid, rounded shield, defending herself against his attack. He paused, shrinking back, reining in his distress.

“Yes. That’s me.”

“Yes.That’s me.”

It was alarming to hear his voice simultaneously in two places, but her water beast delighted in it, curling over inside of her, purring, and clawing to connect.

“I . . .” she shuddered at his closeness, at his scent. “I’m broken.”

His face softened. “I can fix you.”

“How?”

She found herself stepping towards him again and, this close, she had to tilt her head to look up at him. His jaw was sharp, and on impulse she ran a single finger down its edge. He moaned, leaning into her touch, and heat collected between her legs at the sound. She could listen to him moan over and over again. Her finger sizzled at the contact.

He slowly, gently, placed a large hand on her chest, his eyes deliberately looking down to show her what he was doing. Her pulse raced as the male pushed down slightly on her chest, and Kora was propelled backwards by a flash of power, sending her into the darkness of the void.

Darkness. Emptiness. Void.

She was somehow back here—and she was awake. This wasn’t a dream, it was real life. It was jarring to experience. To be in existence and to cease being, all at once. The past, present,and future converged on Kora, and she released a flare of her power.

Beautiful blue light bloomed from her core, spreading into a webbed structure all around her. It grew and expanded within the void, feathering out in intricate loops and swirls, stretching and twining. The threads echoed with sounds—voices, and when Kora touched one, a memory of her life flashed before her eyes.

She soared across her timeline, picking at the exposed threads of her mind.

Celebrating her birthday last year with Samuel and Erick.

Bree visiting when Kora caught the flu two winters ago.

Surviving the Darkoning Trials with Blake.

When she’d first defeated Erick during one of their training sessions years ago.

Her first time sailing a ship.

As she delved further into her past, peeling back the years, the blue threads dimmed, becoming infrequent and sparse. Soon, her intricate webbed structure diminished to a few frayed strands, the far ends fading from a glowing vibrant blue to a writhing shadowy black. The strands were decaying and rotting, their layers peeling away and drifting into the void where they evaporated into nothing.

“It ends here.”

His voice was here with her. She couldn’t see him, but their connection burned brightly in her mind.

“They have destroyed the tether to your true self—he has invaded your mind and left disease.”

Those sickening, writhing shadows hissed, flailing in the void at the sound of his voice, and Kora grabbed onto them, her hands burningcold.Ice collected on her palms, cascading up her arms. Her water humanoid form began to freeze over, and she panicked.

“Help me!”

Her limbs froze solid, and the stinging chill chased up her spine, smothering her chest, wrapping around her throat, suffocating her.

“Help me—Raiden!”

With a clap of thunder, Kora plummeted back into her body.

The force sent her careening into Raiden’s arms, and he pulled her towards him, burying his face in her neck, inhaling deeply. The sensation of returning from the void made her head spin, and her legs gave way. He held her up, stroking the short strands of her hair.

“I’ve got you,” he murmured.