Staying as far away from her as he could under the circumstances was the best he could do to keep from slipping up. And since she seemed to want his company and was inclined to seek him out, he had to shove her away by being cruel. Even if it tore a hole in his heart to listen to her cry, it had to be this way.
Restlessly rolling from one side to another, Aidan finally gave up on sleep and got out of his sleeping bag. He settled down on top of it, hugging his legs and resting his head on top of his arms.
For a long time he just sat like that, listening to his surroundings. When Persephone’s sobs finally quieted down and it seemed she had fallen asleep, Aidan’s tense muscles relaxed a bit.
The tunnel around him was completely quiet … for about a minute. Suddenly Aidan could hear strange noises drifting toward him. They started out faint and became more intense as the seconds went by. At first, Aidan couldn’t place what he was hearing.
The noises almost sounded like … some kind of … cracking noises.
That’s it, Aidan thought excitedly, pleased he had actually figured out what he was hearing. A moment later that excitement turned into horror as he realized the cracking noises could only come from one thing: the stone walls of the tunnel they were in.
The tunnel that was underwater…
The tunnel that had tons upon tons of pressure attacking its integrity every second of every day…
Oh fuck, he thought as he jumped up and ran to Persephone’s side, grabbing a small glowing sphere along the way.
There was no time to be considerate or gentle. Throwing himself at her sleeping frame, he shook her shoulders and screamed at her to get up.
She was still drowsy and didn’t seem to grasp the precariousness of the situation. Aidan couldn’t wait for her to realize the danger they were in. He needed her to move.
He dragged her out of her sleeping bag even as she struggled and threw questions at him that he didn’t have time to answer. Grabbing her shoes off the floor, he unceremoniously shoved them on her and pulled her to her feet. Grasping her hand tightly, he started running, tugging her along behind him.
“The walls are collapsing,” he shouted at her, watching the terror in her eyes as she realized how much trouble they were actually in.
“How is that possible?” Persephone shot back at him while she sped up.
“I honestly don’t know!” Aidan replied in between labored breaths. They were sprinting so fast, he wasn’t sure how long they would be able to keep up the pace … or if they even had a chance in hell to make it to the manor. He had no idea how far it still was … and there was nowhere else to run to. They were in a death trap…
Even as they were running through the tunnel, the sounds of their thundering feet echoing loudly off the walls, Aidan could hear the cracking sounds all around him … and they were getting louder.
It seemed they didn’t have much time. And Aidan did not have the energy to magically enhance the walls to keep them stable. Neither was he able to open a portal to the manor.
When the walls collapsed, he would give his best shot to opening a doorway … he would try … but he already knew in his heart that it wouldn’t be enough.
Twenty minutes had passed when their feet suddenly started treading water. The cracks had become so large that huge amounts of sea water had already started to flood the tunnel. It was getting harder and harder to move.
Though Aidan was sure they couldn’t have kept up the pace they had started out with until they reached the manor, the tempo they were suddenly forced to run at, with the forever climbing water slowing them down, felt excruciatingly slow to him.
At this speed they were never going to make it! A few minutes later the water was already so high that it flowed over their knees as they tugged their legs through its cold dark depths.
For whatever reason, the walls of the tunnel hadn’t completely collapsed, so that there was no way out through any gaps. And the cracks were only large enough and far enough spread to let in a considerable amount of water, but not enough to break through to the surrounding ocean so that they might have swum to the surface.
And even if he used his power to make an opening they could swim through, he wasn’t sure how far below the surface or where exactly they were. If they managed to get to the surface they might find themselves in the middle of nowhere with no shore in safe swimming distance.
Aidan had to make a choice. If he could miraculously manage to scrape together enough energy to open a portal, that would be their best chance. If not, they were totally screwed.
“How far … to the manor?” Persephone huffed at his side.
“I don’t know, couple hours,” Aidan guessed.
“Hours?” Persephone cried, clearly shocked. Evidently she’d thought they were minutes away rather than hours … and that they actually stood a chance of making it out alive.
“Then … what’s the … point in … running?” she managed in between pants.
“Seemed like the thing to do,” Aidan simply replied. What had he been supposed to do? Sit down and wait to be drowned … without a fight? Never!
The water level was now so high that it reached their hips, it was climbing incredibly fast. How long did they have … minutes … half an hour?
Moving had become so difficult that they decided to swim for it. Tearing through the tunnel with long swift strides, they continued for a couple of minutes, until the water had suddenly become so high that their heads only just remained above water.
“Stop,” Aidan finally said, grabbing Persephone’s arm before she could swim out of reach. Persephone stopped swimming and turned toward him.
“It’s no use,” Aidan said.
“You want to just give up?” Persephone asked seemingly shocked.
“No, I’m not giving up. I’m going to try and open a portal to the manor,” he explained, handing Persephone the small glowing sphere, so that she could see what he was doing. The light might help calm her, he thought.
“How?” Persephone asked.
“I let my power take me over and concentrate very hard on what I need. I’ll focus on opening a door to the manor we’re headed for, visualize us walking through to the other side. That’s how it works,” Aidan pointed out. He wasn’t sure why he was explaining it in so much detail; he just couldn’t seem to stop babbling.
“No, I meant … I thought you said … you couldn’t,” Persephone replied.
“I didn’t say … I could … I said I’d try. Because … I have to try, but … chances are, I won’t succeed,” Aidan told her outright. He felt she deserved the truth.
It was the least he could do for her. Why give her false hope? Who was going to swoop in and rescue them? No one.
He could see the frightened expression on Persephone’s face. But also a strange resolve that stole over her features. Whatever would happen, she seemed to be accepting the fact that she wouldn’t be able to change it and was getting ready for the inevitable.
“Thank you,” Persephone suddenly said, her hand gently touching his arm, “for being honest and … for everything.”
Aidan didn’t know what to say to her. There was so much he would have liked to say, so much she didn’t know about the way he felt about her.
That he really could have fallen in love with her … or had started to already. That he was so incredibly grateful to have met her … before he died.
He had never felt this way about anyone before. And no matter what she might think of herself … he could see her true inner strength … her beautiful soul.
He would have liked to have told her all of this and more. But try as he might, he couldn’t do it.
Now, when it mattered most, when they most likely would not survive this terrible dark and cold fate! And, still, no words would come. And he was wasting valuable time when he could at least try to get them out.
She deserved better than this. Instead of using words to convey what was in his heart, Aidan pulled her close and passionately
kissed her trembling lips for the last time.
Then he turned toward the tunnel wall and concentrated on accomplishing a miracle. Even as he closed his eyes and withdrew to the powerful place within, he could sense the water climbing up his face to touch the bottom of his lower lip.
Time was up, it was now or never. Channeling every last ounce of power and energy he possessed, Aidan visualized the portal … the door to salvation.
As his fingers fumbled along the wall drawing an outline in an attempt to help visualize its exact shape, Aidan could already feel his energy ebbing and the water climbing higher, until it reached past his mouth and finally past his nose.
Moments later, the water had completely surrounded them, leaving no air to breathe. Persephone was floating opposite him, her long hair serenely drifting around her, her wide eyes glistening from the rays of luminescence emitted by the light sphere she held between them.
Through the cold eerily beautiful expanse of the luminescent water, their eyes locked and held. They seemed to be suspended in space … and time … as they gazed into each other’s souls.
He couldn’t let her die. Turning toward the outline he had drawn with his finger, he tried with all his might to get the portal to open up and save them, sacrificing the last tiny spark of power he had left.
But even as he surrendered it, he could feel it wouldn’t be enough. As his body floated toward her and his eyes took her in for the last time, his last thought went out to her.
I’m sorry I failed you. Forgive me.
Then he was gone.
I watched in horror as Aidan’s lifeless body floated past me. This couldn’t be happening … he couldn’t be dead!
Frantically, I groped around in the semi-darkness around me until I had a firm grip on his body and held him tight to mine. While my panicked mind fought to think of a way out of this mess, my lungs started screaming in protest as second after precious second passed without the relief of air to fill them.
Unbidden the memory of a favorite song came to me, and I could hear the beautiful haunting melody of Ellie Goulding’s ‘Dead in the Water’ fill my whole being.
No!
No, I wasn’t ready to die! What a meaningless death this would be … it wasn’t heroic … it wasn’t peaceful … I wasn’t surrounded by people who loved and comforted me.
I was alone in the cold and dark, buried in an underwater coffin, holding the lifeless body of someone I … cared about. This was about as sad as the end could get. I wasn’t going to let that happen! I wasn’t going to let this be my last memory!
Gritting my teeth against the pain in my burning lungs, I tugged Aidan’s body behind me and approached the expanse of wall he had stood at. I had watched him trace outlines along the intended portal.
If I ever get to use my power, I thought, let it be now!
Letting go of the light sphere so that I had a hand free to touch the stone wall, I approached the expanse.
I felt a moment of regret, having let go of the only light to keep the dark at bay during these last moments. But what did it really matter? Either way, I wouldn’t need it for much longer.
Closing my eyes and touching the wall, I concentrated on the power within … on the only salvation I had left.
Putting all I had into the desperate need and single thought of making it out of there alive and helping Aidan, I let my power take me over completely, and bid it to do my will.
Suddenly the outline of the portal started to shine brightly as the light from the other side filtered into the dark tunnel. The outlined section of wall swung away from us and I got pulled through the opening on a wave of rushing water, just managing to hold on to Aidan and drag him through with me.
A moment later the wall closed again, leaving two outstretched bodies face-down on the stone floor of the manor in a pool of salty sea water.
I hastily pushed myself up, my hands and feet slipping slightly from the wetness around me, and rushed to Aidan’s side. Somehow I managed to turn his heavy body around so that he was lying on his back.
He couldn’t have drowned, could he? He hadn’t been underwater for more than one or two minutes. But he had lost consciousness shortly after being underwater.
Had there been another reason for that? Had he used up every last ounce of his life’s energy to save me? Was that even possible?
I swiftly lowered my head to his, trying to discern a breathing sound.
― Nothing ―
I held my fore- and middle finger to his neck, checking for a pulse.
― None ―
I tilted his head back slightly and started mouth-to-mouth resuscitation and cardiac massage.
― No change ―
One minute…
― No heartbeat ―
Two minutes…
― No breath―
Three minutes…
― Nothing ―
I let go of him, sat back on my haunches and closed my eyes, trying to find him with my other sense … our bond.
― No spark ―
Noooooo!
His crumpled body lay broken before me, a sad parody of what it had once been. His strength, his light … gone. The beautiful soul I felt so honored to have been allowed to glimpse … no longer there. His body was nothing but a shell … a hollow, empty, echoing place!
Tears streamed down my cheeks, my vision blurred … my heart breaking. He had been too weak to open the portal. He had been too weak because I hadn’t been strong.
Because I hadn’t learned how to use my ability. I could have helped him … I could have spared him. He had to die because of the energy he had wasted on me.
Because I had gotten lost in the dark…
Because I had been about to be killed…
Because I had been cold…
Because I had been scared…
Because I was accustomed to comfort…
Every single time he had used magic to save me or make me more comfortable … it had cost him his life!
I take it all back, I sobbed, I don’t care if it’s dark, I don’t care if I’m cold … I … I don’t care if I die! How can I live when he died … for me?
I tried to swipe the tears out of my eyes while my chest rocked from crying, constricting painfully from the grief rolling over me … eating away at me.
It consumed me.
Through my tears, I gazed down at the man I had only come to know mere days ago.
But it didn’t feel that way to me.
Perhaps it was because I had ― literally ― seen into his soul. For whatever reason … it felt like I had known him a lifetime.
And though he had been mean to me for the past couple of hours, I thought I understood why he had done it. The thoughts I had been able to read had told me everything I needed to know.
He had done all of it to push me away. Not because he wanted to, but because he had no choice. I knew how he really felt … because I felt the same way.
And now he was gone … forever … and he would never know … how special he had been to me. How grateful I was for the kindness and gentleness he had shown me when I least expected it … for believing in the good inside of me … for letting me believe it was possible that I was pure … and … worth loving. He would never know!
My hand cupped his face … his cold, clammy skin. His raven-black hair lay wet against his brow, making his deathly pale face seem even whiter.
His full sensual lips … the lips that had been able to smile … the lips that had touched my own … that had been soft and warm and full of life … were blue and still now. Death in all its ugliness had taken hold of this beautiful creature, and I couldn’t take it.
My anguished mind ran around in circles, refusing to believe that this was it, that this was the end of all we had been to each other … were supposed to mean to each other.
My hands moved to my scalp taking hold of strands of my hair and pulling in anger and despair without my even noticing; my mouth was distorted … silent
ly screaming in pain.
This could not be real! I had to do something! What could I do? What …?
As my gaze roamed around in search of a miracle, I suddenly caught something in my peripheral vision that I hadn’t noticed before. It was a hovering sphere of brightly shining light. So beautiful … so … familiar.
I gasped as the realization hit me. I knew what I was looking at. It was Aidan … his soul. His soul had not left me … it had remained by my side, by his body’s side. Maybe there was hope, maybe it could return to his body … maybe.
“Aidan …,” I said desperately, “… return to your body.”
But the sphere did not react in any way. It just hovered there in mid-air. Maybe he couldn’t return by himself. Maybe he needed help. Maybe only I could do it.
I closed my eyes…
I rushed to the place within me that held my power…
I stepped into the sphere of light…
I let it take me over…
I told it to return Aidan’s soul to his body…
I told it to resurrect him…
I hoped … and I prayed … and I begged … and I waited.
I opened my eyes … but there was no change whatsoever.
My eyes slammed shut again…
I went back to that place…
I stepped back into the light…
I felt the anger and hopelessness rise inside me…
Step into the dark, the inky blackness inside my soul called out.
Only Darkness can save him now, it urged me.
Will it change him? I asked, already considering doing anything Darkness asked of me if it only meant I could save his life.
No, it will not. He will remain good and pure, Darkness answered.
What about me? I couldn’t help but ask, dreading I already knew the answer. The universe did not give anything without asking for something in return. That’s just not the way it worked. Everything in life had a price … and I was going to pay.
You will have been touched, Darkness said, you will be mine…
Souls of Fire Page 31
