Defying Destiny (Afterword Academy #3) - Katie May Page 0,33

much to Brax’s annoyance. Karston flashes me a soft, supportive smile, and I nod once to show him I’m okay.

Famous last words.

Like in The Maze, the ground around my feet begins to crumble, the dirt caving in on itself like a massive mudslide.

“Oh, fuck!” I curse as Auston lunges for me, wrapping a hulking arm around my waist.

And then, we fall.

Somewhere in the distance, I can hear Preston’s startled scream and Karston’s muffled curse. There’s the familiar sound of beating Demon wings before Caius’s voice cuts through it all.

“My connection is leading us here!” he assures us as we fall, fall, fall. Wind picks up my hair as I squeeze my eyelids shut, twisting until my face is against Auston’s neck. “We’re traveling to the next level of Hell.”

First layer of Hell…The Maze.

Second…creepy bugs and enormous spiders.

And the third…

I land with an “oomf” as the wind is knocked from my body. Auston shifts as we roll, cradling my head against his massive chest until we finally stop tumbling.

“What…” I murmur groggily.

The first thing I notice is the cold.

Even with my eyes still squeezed shut, I can feel the biting wind against my cheek as it steadily turns my hands and face numb.

When I blink open my eyes, it’s to see Auston overtop of me, his white hair covered in a fine white powder. His cheeks are a rosy red, something I didn’t think was possible, considering he’s dead, and there are two icicles forming in his eyelashes.

Gasping, I twist my head to the side to see we’re lying in a blanket of snow, with more pelting us from above.

There’s snow everywhere. Snow and ice. The rolling hills are covered in a distinct, glistening sheen of the latter.

There are no trees, no plants…nothing but an endless frozen tundra.

“They weren’t kidding when they talked about Hell freezing over,” Karston murmurs, his teeth clattering as he wraps his arms around his stomach.

Auston gracefully jumps to his feet and extends a hand to me, which I accept gratefully.

“We’re in the third layer of Hell,” Auston whispers in wonderment as he stares around the tundra. “And it’s fucking freezing.”

“How is this possible?” Brax demands, whirling on Caius, who is hovering beside a shocked Preston. “We’re dead. The temperature shouldn’t be affecting us this badly.”

“It’s Hell,” Caius says dryly. “Things are a little different here.”

“I’ll show you—” Braxton takes a menacing step forward, practically bristling like a peacock, and despite knowing that neither of them can actually hurt one another, I take a step forward.

“Don’t fight!” I warn just as a loud cracking noise reverberates from below me. With wide, terrified eyes, I stare at the ice under my feet where a turbulent ocean dances beneath its translucent cage. Lines begin to expand around my feet like the strands of a gossamer spider web.

Before I can scream, the ice shatters, and I drop into the icy ocean below.

Chapter 14

Braxton

Two times, my life has flashed before my eyes, and this is one of them. Watching Hadley sink under the ice has a ball of lead sinking into my gut. I don’t have time to think, only to react.

Before anyone else can stop me, I dive in after her. The cold is enough to make a human immobile immediately, a feeding ground for hypothermia. I’ve never felt something this cold before, when I was alive or dead.

My limbs instantly begin to freeze, making moving increasingly difficult. My lungs feel restricted; any air I might have inhaled before diving already squeezed out as if a vise was wrapped around my torso.

But I can’t think about that. All that matters is finding Hadley. Finding her and saving her.

Questions race through my mind as I will my eyes not to freeze, darting around the arctic water.

Can souls die from drowning?

What if I never find her?

Can I survive that?

Would I want to?

Time is running out. My body begins to tremble from the cold and lack of air. I need to find her, now. I’m becoming frantic, the desperation to save her warring with my body’s need to survive. I will my legs to kick, my arms to move, even try flapping my wings to propel me through the water. Everywhere I look is nothing but the deepest blue except right above me. Light still filters down from the icy ceiling over my head.

Hadley must know how to swim, right? So maybe she’s closer to the ice than I’ve been looking. Gathering all my remaining strength, my body seizing up, I kick back