Page 23 of The Never List (Never List #1)
Rylee
The water is warm on the surface but turns cold the deeper I swim.
It takes my eyes a few moments to adjust to the sting, but soon I can see the buttery sunbeams as they break the surface and brush the ocean floor. My heart pounds in my chest, not from the dive but from Axl, from the way I teased him on the boat.
I hold back a laugh. How else am I supposed to beat him?
And I have to beat him.
Last night flashes through my head—the execution, the way Baydel had dangled Erin’s fate in front of me like a cat playing with its food. I need to find her, if only to warn her about the kings’ sudden interest in our family. But if she’s not on a Never List mission…if that part of the record was forged like my parents’ cases and my birthplace, then wouldn’t she have seen the royal posts? Wouldn’t she know I was chosen?
And if she did… Why wouldn’t she have tried to come find me?
Whenever I think I’ve come to terms with her disappearance, more questions arise that I can’t ignore.
Axl just offered me a perfect way to get some answers. The Player loves to make wagers, loves to push boundaries. I have no doubts he’ll honor a bet placed between us.
And even if he didn’t, I’d planned on asking for Kal’s help tonight, too. Either way, I’ve got to try.
I spear my arms, pushing myself farther down. My lungs don’t burn, not in the way Ivy and Layce have described holding your breath for too long whenever we swam in the lakes of Cedar and Silk. I’ve siphoned enough air with my powers to hopefully beat Axl, but that’s only if my distraction worked.
Goddess knows I could use a distraction myself, because I haven’t had a moment’s peace since last night. I kept reliving the memory over and over, not sleeping, instead trying to change things with the power of my mind. And it’s not like I haven’t seen Baydel’s executions before; I have. They’re always brutal, always leave fear and a bitter taste in my mouth. But this one hit harder because I was right there…I was right there and couldn’t do a damn thing about it.
And maybe the man truly was guilty. He did try to attack him right in front of us. Despite my dislike of the kings, no one deserves to be murdered, right? If he attempted to murder one of them, then he certainly knew the risks…just like he did if he was concealing jewels, too. All of Lumathyst knows the risks of breaking the laws. Still, it doesn’t sit right with me. And he was a demi… He was like me. Or Baydel claimed he was.
What if it had been Ivy or Layce? Not that they’d get caught doing something as obvious as stealing from the mines, but still. What if it had been them?
My blood runs cold. I would’ve died. I would’ve fought and clawed and shredded my way through Baydel to save them.
I force the fear from my mind, burying the guilt of my absolute inability to help the man last night deep into a space inside me that I know will one day overflow.
But not right now.
Right now, I’m all too happy to dive headfirst into this wager with Axl as a form of selfish distraction. And the fact that Kal is here with me, waiting for us on the beach, is a level of comfort I never thought I’d be afforded when Jax chose me that night.
Having Kal here has relieved some of the pressure, and with his support, I’m more than excited to dive into all things Axl—his city, his antics, his body, whatever it takes to survive this.
The cluster of rocks on the seafloor Axl mentioned comes into view. A massive net is strung across them. It’s a tangled mess, but victory is a few strokes away.
A pulse of awareness ripples behind me, and I turn to see Axl diving into the water from the boat above. He’s beautiful. A bronze masterpiece of muscles, ink, and bravado that has me aching in all the right places. He’s a god in the water, the liquid folding around his body like it bends to him and no other.
I jerk my eyes away from him, focusing on the target. A few more strokes and I’ll touch the net, winning what I so desperately need—
A sound echoes through the deep water, a wounded sort of cry that is both heart-wrenching and mystifying. I’ve never heard a sound like that before, but it only takes me a few seconds to see what’s making it.
Something struggles in the net at the base of the largest rock. A creature bigger than the dogs that roam the streets of the Ashlands, its coat dark and rubbery-looking, with whiskers flanking its wide nose. The sound happens again, this time paired with the jerky movements of the animal.
Wager all but forgotten, I push my muscles to the brink, maneuvering myself through the water as fast as I possibly can. I reach the creature in no time, hesitating only a moment as I take in its tangled position.
It’s stuck. Trapped.
I hurry to grab handfuls of the net, working it in and out of the rocks as I try to free the creature. A glimpse of sharp teeth makes me pause and wonder if this thing will bite my head off once free. But my heart races with each panicked cry, pushing me to work faster. Goddess, I wish I had a knife.
My arms ache from lifting and pulling and shifting the net, but I work through the pain, almost there—
A burning sensation expands slowly inside my chest. I furrow my brow, my vision going blurry for a few seconds. Oh no—this is what it feels like to run out of air… I didn’t take enough, and not even my powers can pull air from down here. Panic spiderwebs its way through me as I move toward the surface on instinct—
The cry sounds again, and I snap out of it, forcing myself back down to where I almost have the net clear of the creature. If I could just get this last…line…
My thoughts come slow and thick, like they’re coated in syrup.
A shadow looms over me, so large I think I’m passing out, but one look and I see it’s Axl, eyebrows scrunched together, golden eyes blazing as he looks down at me.
The burning intensifies, but I ignore it and keep tugging on that net, keep trying to set the creature free. Another tug, and the creature is freed, swimming the opposite direction as fast as it can.
Axl waves an arm in front of me—
Water swirls around me in a spiral, driving me toward the surface at a gentle yet accelerated pace. A blink and the blue sky replaces the ocean, the water keeping hold of my hips as it races me toward the beach.
Kal is on his feet in seconds, catching me in his arms as the ocean finally lets me go.
I gulp lungfuls of air, the oxygen so damn sweet.
“What happened?” Kal asks, looking me over.
“I—”
“What the fuck were you doing?” Axl stomps out of the ocean and along the beach until he reaches us, looking very much every inch of the Legend he is.
I shift against Kal until he lets me on my feet, and I turn to face Axl. His eyebrows are drawn together, and there’s panic in his eyes.
“The creature,” I say, breathing easily now. The power in my blood dances at no longer being suffocated, the sensation downright intoxicating. “I couldn’t let it die—”
“At the cost of your life?” he cuts me off. “You could’ve died! I saw how long you held your breath, Rylee. It was too long.”
I feel Kal’s strong chest shift behind me, and I twist to look up at him with a silent assurance.
“I’m fine,” I say first to Kal, then focus on Axl in front of me. “I promise.” I gently smooth my hands over his forearms, trying to coax some of the tension out of his muscles.
“You were reckless—”
“And you love it,” I fire back, and his golden eyes widen. His black hair is soaked, sticking to the sides of his face, his powerful jaw, and down over his shoulders. He looks almost otherworldly, like some sea king in his own right. “Admit it.”
Axl parts his lips like he’ll argue, glancing behind me where Kal stands, giving him a confused, incredulous look before he returns his focus to me.
“Fuck me,” he growls. “Is she always like this?” He aims the question at Kal.
“You mean fearless, compassionate, smart, and downright fuckable at all times?” Kal asks, making my heart swell and my cheeks blush. “Yep.”
Axl blows out a breath. “Good to know.” He slides a finger along my jaw, planting those golden eyes on mine. “Don’t scare me like that again,” he demands.
A warm shiver skates down the center of me. I can feel every hard inch of him pressed against every soft part of me. Our bodies are slick from the ocean, and I tremble from the shift in temperature. Add to it Kal’s warmth pressing against my back, and my head is practically spinning with the sensations.
“I make zero promises,” I answer, then smirk up at him. “I got to the net first,” I say proudly. “I won.”
His features shift from concern to awe in the span of a breath. And then he laughs, that infectious booming sound that is comforting and exhilarating at the same time.
“You did,” he says, nodding. “Let’s get you dried off first, and then we can talk about your prize.”