Descent (Kissed by Death) - Tara Fuller Page 0,35
it would feel like silk.
My throat worked with an unfamiliar emotion, thick and achy. I swallowed the feeling down and picked the paddle back up.
“I have to get us out of here,” I said. “Don’t go near the edge again, okay?”
She didn’t answer, but I took the slight bob of her head to mean she understood. I dug into the sea of bodies, working as hard and fast as I could to get us to dry ground. What lay ahead wasn’t going to be any better, but once we reached the other side, the city wouldn’t be far off.
“Easton?” Her voice cracked, and when I turned back to her, her knees were drawn up to her chest, her eyes red and puffy.
“Yeah?”
“Thank you.”
I turned back to the water, focusing on the shore growing closer with each paddle. “Thank me when we make it out of here in one piece.”
Chapter 13
Gwen
I woke to the sound of thunder. Heat blanketed me almost to the point of pain, but even with my skin screaming, I didn’t want relief. Instead I burrowed further into it, wanting it to consume me.
“Hey.” It was Easton who pulled me into consciousness. “You’re awake. I was starting to wonder if you were ever going to come back to me.”
He sounded hoarse, and I detected a note of relief in his voice. When I tried to sit up, he adjusted in the cramped space we were in to give me room.
“Where are we?” I patted the rough walls around me.
“A hollowed-out tree,” he said. “I had to get us somewhere safe before the rain started up.”
“You carried me?” I turned my head and gasped when I realized just how close we were. His breath fanned across my lips and our noses bumped together. My face felt hot, my stomach fluttery and strange. I backed up a couple of inches to give him some space, and Easton’s smoldering gaze dropped to my mouth.
“You passed out by the time I got us to shore. It wasn’t safe to stay there. You caused quite a frenzy.”
“You saved me,” I said, unable to distract myself from the way he was looking at my mouth, the riot of strange sensations it stirred up inside me.
“I’ll always save you, Gwen,” he said, without hesitation. “As long as I have you, I mean.”
He cleared his throat and looked away, leaving me feeling slightly bereft without his violet gaze on me. I bit my lip and stared down at our knees, which were pressed together.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean for that to happen,” I said. “You shouldn’t have had to put yourself in danger for me.”
“Want to tell me why you did that?” He dug into a backpack wedged under our legs and handed me a metal canteen. I turned it over in my hands, not quite sure what to do with it.
“I didn’t mean to,” I said, turning the metal container upside down, listening to the liquid swish around inside. “It started with just one. A woman. She was so sad, searching for her husband. I just wanted to give her a little peace.”
Easton grabbed the canteen from me, twisted the lid open, and handed it back. “Well, you gave it to a lot more than just her. I thought I’d lost you. I’ve never seen anything like that. Didn’t even know it was possible. Not down here, anyway.”
“There’s always the pull to fix them…the ones that are lost, hurting. It’s the same pull that drew me to Tyler,” I said, staring into the dark, shuddering at the memory of a thousand souls, filling me up with their misery, draining me of my joy. “I’ve just never been around so many at once. I guess I got overwhelmed. And then they pulled me over and—”
“And the rest is something I don’t care to revisit,” Easton interrupted, dropping his gaze.
I tilted the canteen, trying to see inside.
Easton raised a brow. “You do know what to do with that, don’t you?”
I shook my head. I’d seen humans drink, but never had to do it myself. Though the dry, scorched feeling in my throat told me I probably needed it. I’d heard humans talk about feeling weak before, but I’d never known it until now. It was taking everything in me just to keep a firm grip on the canteen.
“It’s water,” he said, scooting closer. He took it from me and placed the rim to my lips. “Open.”
I parted my lips and he tipped the canteen up. Cool, crisp