Page 34 of Death’s Kiss (The Order of the Tide Raiders #1)
Vash gives himself a sweeping once over before staring back at me incredulously, and I realize he’s soaking wet. I glance down at myself and see that I'm fully clothed, weapons and all, dripping with black water.
I let out a low whine full of confusion and fear, and Vash kneels down next to me .
He reaches an arm around my shoulders and squeezes me awkwardly in comfort as I shake with tightly restrained tears that I won't allow to fall. “I’m real, Boreas. I’m real.” He repeats the words over and over until I’ve come to a calm, yet utterly mortified state.
The second I stop shaking and begin to take stock of our new surroundings, Vash releases his hesitant arm. We’re at the other end of the cavern. The small moon's light is only a distant sliver.
“What happened?” I demand, my voice hoarse.
Vash’s eyes tighten on my face. “I was actually hoping you could tell me . You were running ahead and I couldn't catch up. The ledges were too thin for me to run on and the light was chasing you so I couldn’t see until—” His eyebrows knit together in doubt and he pauses.
“I think—I think you screamed my name maybe, and then—” his gaze becomes a bit lost.
“What?” I push.
Vash shakes his head like he’s trying to rid himself of the memories. “I saw— things . Things that aren’t actually possible and couldn’t have been real. Let’s just say that.”
I swallow with a tight nod of understanding. “After that?”
His mouth twists, a hand coming to rub the back of his neck guiltily. "I was too distracted to notice the splash. It took me too long to get to you—you were floating at the surface, dead. I was certain of it. I’m really, so sorry. ” His voice cracks a bit on the last word.
“It’s alright, Larceon—really. Those pools—they messed with my mind too,” I admit with a trembling breath.
He lifts a brow, and I chew on a lip while trying to decide how much to reveal.
“I heard a splash as well, and when I turned around, you were gone. It looked like you’d slipped.
I called for you and there wasn't a response so I went back to the tidepool but when I got there, it—” My breathing hitches, and I work hard to shove the overwhelming emotions tied to the image flashing in my mind down and away. “I found Kleio floating there instead.”
Vash’s eyes flicker with a strange light as he begins standing. I grab his arm and state firmly, “Not real. Kleio isn’t here.” The look in his eyes takes more than a minute to fade.
“I thought I was jumping in after her, but it turned out to be a nasty trick, an illusion.” My voice becomes quiet at the memory of that very real illusion. The false image of Kleio’s dead body is too much to bear, so I take a deep breath and stand on wobbly knees. Vash joins me.
“I’m guessing it’s that way from here,” I say dully after a beat, motioning with a hand to the trail of stars winding outside the tidal labyrinth room. Vash agrees, and we head that way. The stone solidifying behind our backs to seal off the moonlit maze of terrors is, for once, a comfort.
We journey down the narrow tunnel leading away from that last horrible test. The sound of water dripping from our clothes and the squeaking of our boots echo around us.
After a few twists in the path, Vash breaks our silence.
“What happened after all that? I was trying to get the water from your lungs, and when you finally came, you were shouting Captain Agni’s name. ”
My mouth forms a deep frown of displeasure at his inconvenient memory. “I was having a nightmare,” I answer stoically, daring him to counter.
His expression doesn’t change, but there’s a glint of something in his eyes. In this moment, I’m extraordinarily grateful they took our affinities.
Two more archways, two more dumbass lunar phases. One waxing, one waning. I clench my jaw in sopping wet irritation; none of the weeks worth of research we’ve done has even helped.
“Honestly, at this point, I say we just rock paper scissors this shit,” I offer, looking between the two options with equal distaste.
Vash shrugs. “Fuck it.”
Scissors beat paper, so we begin trekking down the waxing gibbous path. My mind has started cramming the memory of the mania-induced events within the tide pool into a small box that I intend to light on fire. Then I force myself to focus on the trial. We’re close now. I can feel it.
I’ve begun imagining dry clothes, warm food, and soft sheets waiting in my bunk. The longer we walk, the more real those wishful thoughts become. My daydreams are so tempting they start clouding my actual vision, and I smack right into Vash’s back upon his very abrupt halt.
"Ah—Vash, what the hell?” I snap, tasting blood on my tongue after biting the absolute living shit out of my lip. A quick scan reveals the path we’ve been journeying down has ended in a large circular room, one that is already occupied.
Corvina turns her lovely head of braided raven locks to glare at us in clear disgust. Yet I also notice something curiously like uncertainty hiding in her emerald gaze. I bristle immediately in response to the sight of her, and my hand goes to the knives around my middle on instinct.
If she’s going to make another move against me, now would be the time.
Captain Leporem's lip curls at the movement, and her own hand goes to remove the dagger on her thigh. I notice the new silver metal finger-cap adorning the one I kissed with frostbite. A wickedly sharp nail gleams at the tip of her new accessory while I take a step closer.
Before either of us can make another move, a voice from the shadows drawls, “Don’t go riling up the squid , Corvina. You know how terribly feral they are.”
I turn to find Agni and his burning ember-eyes emerging from the dark bend.
He sneers at the look I give him, and it feels like the mutual loathing between us has managed to intensify into something darker, something so potent it's almost tangible.
My hand grips the knife handle tighter as he swaggers towards our group.
“Watch your mouth, Agni,” Vash warns from my side.
How ironic .
Those amber irises barely flit in Vash’s direction before the corner of his mouth lifts and his eyes return to mine. “Someone has to remind her of what she is, of her place .” Agni’s tone is mocking, a pointed reminder of that night in the training chambers before the first pillar task .
Water continues to drip from my soaking wet uniform, and I watch as cruel delight sparks inside Captain Agni’s gaze. “Oh no , did the little bastard go for a swim? I thought it smelled like wet dog in here.” He takes a pointed sniff in my direction.
Heat floods my face as hatred pumps through my veins. The tide pools sick fucking joke of an illusion was meant to crack my sanity. I’m certain of it. Seeing Agni's staggering form before me now—the one I know to be true—is enough to just about tip me over the edge.
To my surprise, Corvina actually holds a hand up in caution. “Olsson, we don’t know whether they’re actually—” But I don’t hear the end of her warning.
I’m too busy chucking the knife in my hand for Agni’s stupid fucking head.
In typical fashion, he’s faster than I anticipated. Agni snatches the blade right from mid-air, and those amber eyes glitter with cool amusement before he chuckles. “Oh, it’s her alright.”
My face sours as he begins twirling the blade— my blade—in his hand and weaving it through his fingers with expert precision. He watches me watching him, and a smug smirk pulls on his lips.
I don't so much as glance at Vash, who's staring at me like I've lost my godsdamned mind. My attention is narrowed onto the male I want to strangle with my bare hands—and he knows it.
Cutting off my affinity has also clearly taken away my self-restraint.
“What did you mean you don’t know whether it’s actually us?” Vash demands, turning to Corvina in question.
Her gemstone eyes are glued onto Agni, who's currently doing everything in his power to rile me up further. She tears them away to snap at Vash, “I don’t see how that’s any of your concern.”
He blinks in my direction as if to say, Is she for real?
I don’t react to either one. There's a concoction of humiliation and unease churning inside, mixing with my usual hatred. A deep, dark part of me is panicking at the idea that Captain Agni might somehow know what I saw in that pool. His face is unreadable, but every time something flickers in his gaze, I’m thrust back into the false memory that I’m desperately trying to forget.
Vash moves towards me in an effort to get my attention, while Captain Agni also takes a step in my direction. The floor beneath us instantly flares to life with green and blue light.
My attention snaps downward to find a circle has been crafted from those glowing pin pricks, and they extend around the four of us now standing in the center of the round chamber.
Then the world begins to spin.