When I opened my eyes, the world spun around in circles, like I was looking out from inside a washing machine. The sun’s rays seeped through the turquoise ocean. I tried to move, but my limbs were too heavy. My hair floated in the water above my head. A violent tremor ripped through me. I opened my mouth to take a deep breath and choked on a string of coughs.
Cota’s purple and neon-white head crept into my view. He cocked his head to the side and blinked. After a second, he whimpered and nudged me with his big, beautiful head.
“It’s okay.” I coughed. My lungs rattled against my rib cage. “Are you okay?”
Cota nodded and licked my face.
I sighed. At least he wasn’t hurt. Couldn’t quite say the same for me yet. We did it. We got the scale, and Cota was unharmed.
It took every ounce of strength I had, but I managed to raise my arm to pet his face. “I’m glad you’re okay. Sorry we scared you. It’s over now. You can go home.”
Cota made a noise that sounded like a purr. He dipped his head and pressed it against mine. I ran my fingers through his mane, then he took a step back. He nodded then swam off out of sight.
I smiled. Yeah, that could’ve gone better. I tried to move again, to get up and swim back to the boat with my friends, but my body barely budged. I tried to summon another wave to lift me onto the boat, but the ocean wasn’t answering. My eyes fluttered and tried to close. Uh-oh.
A wave of raw energy rolled through the ocean. It tingled against my skin. My eyes closed. NO. I forced them back open…and found Tennessee hovering over me. His mouth moved, and it took me a few seconds to realize he was shouting my name.
I opened my mouth and felt the vibration of words coming out, but I had no idea what I said to him. Mismatched eyes met mine. He cocked his head to the side and frowned. His body lit up in that wild glow of his whenever he used intense power. He scooped me up into his arms and held me tight. The light coming off him was soothing and warm, so I nestled in closer. His lips moved again, and this time it sounded like an incantation.
A few seconds later, I took my first deep breath since releasing the ocean. My body ignited with renewed energy. I wiggled my fingers and toes, and they all worked again.
I leaned into his chest and coughed. “I think I broke my magic.”
Chapter Twenty-One
Tegan
Tennessee’s chest rumbled against my face as he chuckled. He held me close with one arm wrapped around my waist and the other brushing the hair off my face. “No, Kitten, you didn’t.”
I pulled back and looked up at him. “But it’s gone? I couldn’t stop it.”
“If it was gone, the ocean would’ve killed you just now.” He shook his head and cupped my jaw. “It’s not gone. You just exerted yourself too much. Once we train you, this won’t happen often.”
Hope flared inside me. I thought I’d used it all. “Oh, so it’ll come back?”
He smiled and nodded. “Absolutely. I’ve healed you enough to keep moving, but you’ll be limited with your magic until we do a proper healing circle.”
I gripped the front of his shirt and pulled his lips down to mine. He was warm and soft, and I wanted to stay there forever. The energy flowing between us was stronger than the wave that pinned me to the ground. I wanted to hold on to his kiss, but my body slumped down into his arms again.
I smiled up at him. “Thank you.”
He stared at me for a long moment before shaking his head, like he’d been lost in deep thought. “Stay here and rest for a second. I’m going to go tell them you’re okay.” He sat me back in the sand then pushed off out of sight.
I lay there concentrating on breathing and wiggling my body parts. A minute later, Tennessee reappeared.
He pulled me to my feet and held on to my hands. “You okay?”
I rolled my shoulders and moved my limbs around. Everything seemed to be back to normal. “Yes. Why didn’t you take me back to the boat just now?”
“Because we have a locket to find.” He reached into his back pocket and pulled out the purple scale he cut off Cota.
I frowned. “Just us? What about the others?”
He shook his head and put the scale back in his pocket. “I’ve been to these caverns before. It’s a long story, but I don’t trust myself to take them down there.”
“Why not?”
“These caverns are deep, and I’m sure the one we’re going to is even deeper than the ones I’ve been inside.” He glanced up to the surface of the water. “I can’t promise I can hold their air bubbles.”
Oh. “So, if I wasn’t here, you’d be doing this part alone?”
“Yes, and I’m used to that by now.” A smile pulled at the corners of his lips as he looked back at me. “But I’m glad to have your company this time.”
I grinned and tried to ignore the rush of heat to my cheeks. “Lead the way, boss.”
His smile spread, and he shook his head. “Not you, too.” He waved me forward to walk along the ocean floor with him.
I had a bad feeling we were headed for the glowing, swirling water I’d seen before Cota came out. I decided not to ask. Ignorance is bliss. I had Tennessee to myself for a change, and although I desperately wanted to kiss him, I wanted to know him more. “Well…I see why they say it. Leadership suits you well.”
He pushed his long, wavy black hair out of his face. “My father, Kessler, said that exact thing to me a few days ago.”
“Sounds like my uncle is a smart—oh my God.” I froze in place. My jaw dropped.
Tennessee stopped and frowned back at me.
My Uncle Kessler was Tennessee’s father. How did I not think of this? “Are we related?”
He laughed one short burst and shook his head. “Yeah, I kiss all my cousins like that.” He winked, and I almost forgot my question.
“Are…are you adopted?”
“Yes, but that’s a story for another day. C’mon, let’s keep going. Sunset is upon us.” He walked backwards until I caught back up.
I glanced up at the surface of the water and smiled. The rays of sunshine had diminished to a soft glow, and the color was now a warm orange. Florida sunsets were incredible. We were silent a few feet, while we passed over the mountains of sand.
“I know you don’t like being in charge. I guess I’m curious why,” I said.
“I don’t know.” He sighed. “I guess it’s mostly the pressure and the responsibility.”
Pressure. I saw the effect it had on him. His shoulders were always tense and his eyes dark with worry. He never looked relaxed or carefree. A muscle in his jaw popped, and I wondered if he grinded his teeth.
“They expect a lot of you, don’t they?” I asked.
“The Coven has two leaders, one female and one male. The Emperor always takes the metaphorical throne.” He scratched the back of his neck. “I’m the first Emperor who hasn’t.”
I frowned. “But you’re a teenager.”
He looked over at me and smirked. “Usually by now, the Emperor has made his leadership intentions known, and The Coven prepares for the shift in duties once the Emperor is an adult.”
“So, when you’re eighteen?”
“In our race, we hit adulthood at seventeen.”
“How old are you now?”
“Seventeen.”
“Oh. I see. And you don’t want to be a leader of The Coven?”
“Who’s to say I’m worthy of such a role?”
“Your Coven-mates, I imagine.”
He stared at the sand with a distant look in his eyes. “I don’t know.”
Translation: I don’t want to talk about it. I let it go. This was clearly a rough subject for him, and who was I to make any judgement on it? I’d only just met him. The fact he’d talked about it at all made my heart soar.
I looked down at his empty hand and frowned. “Hey, where’s your sword?”
He stopped, frowning, looked off in the distance, and cursed. “I dropped it by the sirens to help Royce and
Libby. I completely forgot.”
He shook his head and held his right arm out to the side. The water around his hand pulsed and rippled. Seconds later, a black, shiny object soared through the ocean and slammed into his palm. My jaw dropped. How? He grinned and twisted the hilt around in his hand.
“How did you do that? The sirens were far from here.”
“Magic.” He winked at me again. “Okay, we’re here.”
I frowned and turned to face forward…and took a few steps back. Somehow, we’d made it all the way to the glowing water. I reached forward and ran my fingers through it. The water was ice cold.
“What is this?” I asked.
“The Strait of the Dead,” he whispered. “We just have to swim through it.”
I narrowed my eyes at the glowing water. “Swim?” We hadn’t swum on our way over here, so his choice of words had to be significant.
“You do know how, right?”
I smacked his arm playfully. “Of course.”
He grinned. “We’ll still be able to breathe, but the rest of our water magic doesn’t work inside the strait. So, we have to swim through it to the other side. If you let the current take you, well, you’ll go with the dead to the afterlife. Ready?”
Ready? Well, shit, when you put it like that. I kept those thoughts to myself. I wanted to seem confident and not freaked out by this new world of mine.
When I nodded, he pushed off his heels and dove into the glowing river. He disappeared from sight. Oh crap. Wait for me! I took a deep breath then copied his dive.
The water was thick and dense. It sparkled with little specks of glitter. Swim, Tegan! I kicked my legs and pushed through, but with every movement, the icy water threatened to turn me into a snowman. It reminded me of the time I fell through thin ice and my dad had to jump in and pull me out.
Dad isn’t here this time. I knew Tennessee was in here, except I couldn’t see him. The glow I’d seen wasn’t from the water itself, but from the spirits. Just like at The Gathering. Except these spirits had a blueish hue to their glow. Their bodies weren’t fully formed. From the waist down, they shimmered in and out of visibility. Each spirit I passed turned to look at me with small, welcoming smiles on their ghostly faces.
Come with us, High Priestess, I heard in my mind over and over.
I smiled and nodded. Okay. All of the stress inside me vanished. I felt calm and relaxed, like I might lie down and take a nap.
Something sliced through my chest. I gasped in pain. With every second, the burning intensified.
Tegan!
Tegan!
TEGAN!
Keep swimming!
I frowned. I knew that voice. “Tennessee.”
Reality crashed back into me. I looked down and realized I’d stopped swimming. Stupid! I gritted my teeth and pushed off the sand with my feet. I kicked my legs as hard as I could. My arms cut through the water, propelling me forward. Those little specks of glitter turned into shards of glass. They sliced into my bare skin, drawing blood with every cut. I winced. Just keep swimming.
Finally, a saw it. A large, tan hand with two silver rings floating a few feet in front of me. Tennessee. He’d made it to the other side. I could too. I pushed with everything I had, kicking and pumping my arms until his hand was within reach. I grabbed onto his fingers, squeezing him tight.
NO. Come with us, High Priestess! the spirits screamed in my mind.
I shook my head. “I have to go.”
Ghostly blueish hands grabbed my arms and legs. Their touch was ice cold, like instant frostbite. Stay with us. Stay with us. They chanted over and over while pulling my body against Tennessee’s hold.
“Tennessee!” I screamed and my throat burned.
I didn’t know if he heard me or realized something was wrong, but his hand lit up so bright I had to look away. The water rippled around his fingers. Those sharp glitter shards scurried away. His hand squeezed mine and then he pulled. The world rushed by me in a blur of light until I landed on all fours in the sand.
I coughed. My arms and legs tingled from all the cuts. I was riddled with them. It took me a minute to catch my breath, but when I did, I was surprised to find myself on the ocean floor. The water was back to its comfortable, warm temperature, and there was nothing living or dead within sight. It was going to take me some time to adjust to how breathing underwater was as easy as on land.
“Are you all right?”
I glanced to my left and found Tennessee sitting beside me. “I think. That was intense. They kept calling for me to go with them. They know I am the High Priestess.”
He rolled his shoulders and frowned. “I have no idea why spirits react to you so much.”
I shuddered at the thought of what might’ve happened had Tennessee not been there. “So, where is this cavern we need?” I needed to change the subject, to focus on the task at hand.
He climbed to his feet and pointed in front of him. “Right there.”
Chapter Twenty-Two
Tegan
I knew he said cavern. I knew that meant a deep, dark area. In the back of my mind, I’d pictured exactly what we’d face. Yet, standing there on the edge of a vast black abyss deeper than the ocean floor, I realized what fear looked like. Nothingness. None of my preconceptions prepared me for this. The element of the unknown ramped up the terror trembling through my body. My teeth chattered. My legs locked in place. My bones iced.
“W-we ha-have to g-go in there?” I finally understood what it felt like to be a coward. Every single part of me screamed with fear. I didn’t even care that I stuttered. My legs twitched with the need to back far, far away. A cold chill shivered down my spine.
“Yes,” Tennessee whispered. He stepped forward, using his water magic to walk above the cavern opening like it was painted on cement.
My stomach flipped and twisted. Goose bumps spread across my skin. I looked away. I couldn’t watch him standing over the abyss. “The cavern you w-went in…w-was it l-like this?”
“No,” he said right beside me. “This is…”
“Terrifying? Horrifying? Petrifying?” I looked up at him, needing to lean on his strength and courage.
His lips were set in a straight line. His skin had the same little bumps mine did. Goose bumps.
“Yes.” Mismatched eyes met mine. His voice was low and rough, and maybe a little shaky, too. “But this is where the locket is, so we must go inside.”
“Are you scared too?” I wasn’t sure which answer I wanted. If he was afraid, I’d feel less cowardly. If he wasn’t, I’d take solace in his strength.
He licked his lips and stared back out at the black hole of a cavern we had to go down in. If I looked at the abyss any longer, I might’ve had a full-on nervous breakdown. I distracted myself by enjoying the way his tan skin glistened in the distant setting sun above . I watched his wavy hair sway in the ocean’s current. I memorized the way he looked, because I had a feeling I wouldn’t be able to see a thing once we went inside.
Without looking at me, he reached out and took my hand. “Let’s go together.”
I squeezed his hand, taking comfort in the feel of his fingers entwined with mine. “Okay.”
“On three… One…”
“Two…”
“Three,” we said together and stepped off the edge of the cavern.
It was probably a good thing my magic was depleted. Otherwise, I might not have been able to resist keeping myself afloat. We fell into nothingness. Everything around us turned jet-black. I tightened my hold on Tennessee’s hand and focused on the warmth of his skin. We dropped faster, and faster. Water rushed by my ears, drowning out any other sounds there might’ve been.
What if there is no bottom? What if we fall forever? No, there has to be. Otherwise the locket wouldn’t be here. I can do this. I can. I’m a powerful witch. We have to find the locket. I pulled myself closer to Tennessee and buried my face in his shoulder. His other arm wrapped around my body and held me tight. The cold meta
l of his sword hilt tingled against my back. Knowing his weapon was ready and in his hand took the edge off my fear, though only a little.
A rush of water surged into us from underneath. Tennessee cursed and my fear spiked. His sword hand left my back and disappeared within the blackness. We rolled through the water, still falling. I wrapped my legs around his. There was no way I was losing him in this nothingness.
The water turned warm a split second before we slammed into something hard. The force of our impact jostled all of my bones. When I finally stopped rolling, I lifted my face off whatever we’d hit and coughed. My head throbbed. My body screamed in protest. I flipped onto my back and tried to breathe, but each breath sent sharp pain shooting into my ribs. I tried to open my eyes but they refused. With trembling fingers, I reached up to my face and rubbed at my eyes, looking for a reason why they wouldn’t open. Except I found nothing. They were open.
My heart skipped and sent my pulse into overdrive. Either the ground was shaking or it was just me. No matter how many times I blinked, all I saw was the color black. The complete void of any color.
I patted the hard surface under me. Wait. Where is he? “Tennessee?”
Silence.
I sat up and cleared my throat. “TENNESSEE!!”
“I’m here, I’m here.” His voice was the sweetest sound I’d ever heard. He coughed. His sword banged against something hard. “Where are you?”
“I have no idea!” I cried, and it echoed through the cavern. “You sound too far away.”
“Hold on,” he grumbled. His breathing was ragged and hitched. I knew he had to be in worse shape than me since he’d taken the brunt of the hit.
I tried to hold on. But I couldn’t see my own hands. I looked up, thinking I’d at least see the blue ocean above, except it was just black. A violent shiver ripped through me. Then I remembered something. Back at the beach, when I’d fought off those sand monsters, my body had glowed just like Tennessee’s had. How do I do that? “Tennessee?”
The Lost Witch Page 16
