Call of Water (Madame Tan's Freakshow #1) - Marina Simcoe Page 0,51

I was dead or alive.

Through the cacophony of noise and confusion, one thing filtered through—the awareness of someone warm and solid here, with me, in this watery chaos.

Zeph.

I clung to his shoulders so hard my fingers turned numb with strain and cold. My legs bent, I squeezed his hips tight. And somehow, in this hell under water, I kept breathing.

The realization sent a spear of panic through my mind. This couldn’t be real, I needed to get up, back to the surface. I shoved at his shoulders, in desperation to swim up, even as I no longer had any idea where up was.

His arm around my middle flexed, holding tight.

Trapped!

I struggled harder.

“Calm.” The familiar warm sensation filtered through the water to me, bringing me comfort. I stopped struggling, trying to understand what was going on, instead.

Pinching my nose closed, Zeph kept his mouth sealed over mine, sending air to my lungs. Breathable air. I drew some in, feeling the tightness in my chest let go.

Somehow, Zeph was able not only to obtain the oxygen from the water, but he was also sharing it with me.

Breathing for me.

Instead of pushing him away, I held on tighter, snaking my arms around his shoulders. My fingers brushed by the base of the fin on his back. He had it open wide, hard spines with silky tissue in between.

“Don’t touch the spines.”

His warning made sense now. My mind flashed to the motionless bodies on the floor in the basement room, weird blue liquid oozing from the shallow cuts in their flesh, and I quickly withdrew my hands away from his fin.

Initially disoriented and confused in the turbulent water, I was slowly getting more aware of my surroundings.

The roaring, churning current of the Falls raged all around me, but I was not in it. The water next to me seemed to be completely still, suspending Zeph and me as if in a bubble that carried us down the Falls then through the crushing whirlpool at the bottom. It cushioned our fall, keeping us away from the hard rocks below.

Zeph had asked me to trust him, and I now understood why he had the confidence to demand I jump with him to what I thought would be certain death. He really could swim for both of us, breathe for me, and keep me safe in the environment where humans simply were not meant to survive unprotected.

Snuggling closer into the warmth of his body, I let it all happen. Anxiety and some fear still buzzed somewhere deep inside me. Being submerged in the cold water was far from comfortable at this time of the year, but I no longer panicked or dreaded dying.

I trusted him to keep me alive.

Carried by the stream under Zeph’s power, I couldn’t tell exactly how much time had passed. After a while, I sensed the actual movement of the water against my body, as the “bubble” protecting us slid away. A moment later, we broke through the surface, and he removed his mouth from mine.

“How are you?” Zeph leaned back, searching my face.

Still holding on tight to him, I drew in a breath on my own.

How was I?

Disoriented, still a little fearful, and unbelievably grateful to be alive.

“Good.” I nodded, briefly. “Thank you.”

“Your lips are blue. You’re too cold.” Zeph frowned. “We need to get out.”

The water was painfully freezing. My teeth chattered, and whole-body shakes started to rock through me.

“Where are we?”

“Just down the stream from the Falls.” His features tightened in concentration. “Are those Niagara Falls?”

“Yes. Have you been here before?”

“I’m not sure. I don’t recall. Maybe I’ve seen them in a picture somewhere.”

The tall banks on each side of the river suddenly appeared to sink downwards. Then I realized it was us moving up. The water around Zeph and me swelled, raising us higher, its darkness crested with a white lacy fringe of foam.

“What’s happening?” I grabbed Zeph’s shoulders tighter. “Why is it doing this?”

“Because I’m making it do it.” He remained calm. “The river bank is too steep. It would be hard to climb up on our own.”

The swell of water washed up the bank then retreated, gently setting us down on the high shore.

“This was...” I stepped foot to foot, happy to feel a solid ground under me once again. “It’s an unbelievable gift you have, Zeph.”

Water Fae from the magical kingdom of Nerifir.

He was obviously capable of manipulating the water somehow...

I still couldn’t fully wrap my mind around all of this. It didn’t help that everything