Descent (Kissed by Death) - Tara Fuller Page 0,29

floating hair, and cold black eyes peered up at me from the bottom of the pool.

Dietrich.

Chapter 11

Gwen

“Easton!”

My hair, wet and heavy, slapped the water as I dived back into the pool and grasped for any part of Easton I could get my hands on. My body shook so hard it felt as if my bones were rattling under my skin. What had I done? I’d brought him here. Forced him to face this for me. Leaving him wasn’t an option. I grabbed hold of his shirt, fighting the pale, knobby fingers holding him under. Easton’s hand clutched mine and pulled until he was free. He kicked to the surface, gasping for air, choking on water that had turned murky.

I crawled back onto the scorching-hot stone floor, giving him room to escape the water. Water that was all over me, making my clothes stick to my body. My skin prickly and cold. I pressed my palms against my chest, trying to right the uneven pounding there as I watched Easton scramble onto dry ground, sputtering and choking. Bracing his palms on the ground, he sucked in lungful after lungful of hot, rancid air. His wet hair hung just long enough to hide his eyes, but I didn’t have to see them to know what they held. The way his shoulders shook said it all.

“Are you okay?” I crawled closer. His pain was a tangible thing in the air between us. Joy made my fingertips pulse with the need to take it all away. To give him the comfort he deserved. He might see himself as unworthy, but beneath his brutal confession, there was more. If he were that heartless, he wouldn’t be putting himself through such torment to help me. Slowly, I lifted my hand and laid it on his shoulder. The instant I made contact, a consuming darkness bled into my vision. He tensed under my touch.

“Don’t…” he growled. “Just…don’t.”

I pulled away and wrapped my arms around my knees, hugging them to my chest, blinking away the darkness. My heart beat against my ribs, tapping out an unsteady rhythm against my legs. Something sharp and fiery was racing through my veins. Fear, maybe? I didn’t like it. I didn’t know what to do with this body. I didn’t know what to do with this reaper. I just knew I couldn’t give up. I gave him time to catch his breath and pull himself back together. Finally, he sat back on his heels and his violet eyes scanned the room. His gaze caught on something behind me and he squeezed his lids shut, intent on blocking it out.

“What is it?” I asked.

“I have a feeling you’re about to find out.” He climbed unsteadily to his feet and grabbed my arm to haul me up with him. The dim blue light in the room faded, and the floor vibrated beneath us. The room around us began to crumble, and a new world took its place. Black vines crawled along the walls and floor, weaving into an impenetrable barricade.

At my feet something squeaked. I stepped back to find a small white mouse staring back at me. When he was done inspecting my boot, he skittered away after a trail of bread crumbs. A little girl with a dark, heavy braid draped over her shoulder peeked up at me as she tossed bread crumbs out of her pocket. She was so thin, too thin, her cheeks too sharp, her eyes dark and hollow.

“Ich bin hungrig, Bruder,” she whispered. The bread crumbs in her hands turned to ash, and a pained sob ripped free from her throat. Her hunger, her desperation, they were like thorns pricking me from the inside out.

“Seline…” Easton shook his head hard as if he were trying to clear it. “No. Not real. She’s not real.”

She looked up at him with tears in her eyes, offering a handful of ash. He stumbled back, refusing to see.

The scene began to change. The girl faded back into the dark, and the ground began to rumble again. Trees burst through the floor, creating a forest to close us in, and I latched onto Easton’s arm, dizzy from confusion, from fear. Between the skeletal branches, shapes took form, the flickering of torches lighting their path as they moved forward. People. All around us, their chanting began, low and terrifying.

Witch! Witch! Witch!

The anger and hungry need to hurt and destroy whistled around the room like a cyclone.

“No…” Easton stumbled back, jerking the blade from his belt.