Page 90 of The Throne Seeker

But he wouldn’t.

Straight out of the blue, the beast’s glorious form sprang out of the water, leaving a trail of sparkling droplets in its wake. Its bloodthirsty eyes fixated on her as its wide jaws opened, exposing a row of razor-sharp teeth.

It happened so quickly she didn’t even have time to react.

In one swift movement, the beast’s teeth severed her chains, and just like that, she plunged into the depths alongside the monster.

“Rose!” Tristan roared.

She sucked in a large breath just before she plunged into the sea.

Her body slammed against the cold water, and immediately, shock hit her. She did her best to swim, but even with her freed wrists, she flailed, the bubbles from her fall obscuring her vision.

If she hadn’t been so panic-stricken, she’d be able to appreciate the beautiful sea floor. How the gentle streams of sunlight shone down from the world above, casting their raysthrough the water onto the glittering sand that had settled among the sunken ships littering the ocean floor.

As the bubbles cleared, she found the beast was already back in the sea with her. Its bright, sea-green eyes locked on her, frozen so still that it was as if she was staring at a floating statue.

This was it. This was how she’d die.

She waited for it to lunge or strike. Instead, the sea monster’s terrifying gaze remained fixed, like a cat watching a trapped mouse.

Meanwhile, she was floundering like a fish out of water, struggling to keep herself from sinking. She dug into her memories, trying to recall if any of the books she’d read had ever mentioned a creature like it, but this was a beast she’d never come across inanyhistory books. She tried to make out if the creature had any vulnerabilities. That’s when her gaze fell upon something shiny strung around its neck. Her eyes widened. It was the golden sun relic, the very thing she was meant to retrieve, and that wasn’t the only thing—a large iron clasp was also locked around its neck, chaining it to the bottom of the sea.

It was trapped, just like she was.

As if sensing her gaze on its collar, it glanced at it with her, its magical sea-green eyes dimming.

Before she could react, Tristan was at her side. His powerful arms quickly encircled her waist, propelling them upward, clawing for life. She tried to help, kicking her feet as hard as she could.

They broke through to the surface, coughing as they gasped for air.

“Hold on to me,” Tristan said breathlessly, wrapping her arms around his neck. “I’ll swim us back to shore.”

“No, wait?—”

The sea monster’s tail whipped between them, forcing them apart, sending them back into the sea.

She somersaulted round and round, swirling in a disorienting cycle, her arms and legs flailing to regain control over her body. The sea beast bolted straight for Tristan, ready to strike. Tristan swam with all his might, but his speed was no match for the sea beast.

It swiped its claws at him, parting its jaw to swallow him whole.

No!she screamed—an internal cry.

To her utter shock, the creature listened, stopping as its head whipped to her.

Her lungs burned, screaming for air. There was no way she’d make it to the surface in time. No way to swim upward, even if she tried. She had no choice but to take in a big gulp of seawater.

She braced for the painful ordeal, but to her utter shock, her lungs didn’t miss a beat.

Somehow, in some miracle, her body filtered the water, drawing air from it. She put her hand on her throat.

She could breathe underwater.

The beast was still staring at her, waiting.

I’ll free you, she said in her mind.If you promise not to hurt us, I’ll free you.

The sea creature stared at her for so long that she was sure it hadn’t understood her at all. But then it changed course, coming for her instead. Tristan swam like a madman again, trying to stop the beast in its wake, but it was a waste of energy. The beast was already upon her—so close, she could reach out and touch it with a single stroke.