House of Earth and Blood (Crescent City #1) - Sarah J. Maas Page 0,270

Tharion murmured back. “To get more air into her lungs.”

“Bryce,” Lehabah pleaded. “It’s a—”

But then Bryce sucked in one last, mighty breath, and plunged beneath the surface.

Into the n?kk’s lair. The feeding platform dropped with her, chain unraveling into the gloom, and as it raced past Bryce, she gripped the iron links, swimming down, down, down—

Bryce had no magic. No strength nor immortality to shield her. Not against the n?kk in the tank with her; not against the Archangel likely only a minute away from breaking through that bathroom door. Not against the synth that would destroy her if the rest didn’t.

His sister, his brash, wild sister—knew all that and still went to save her friend.

“It’s her Ordeal,” Flynn murmured. “This is her fucking Ordeal.”

79

The frigid water threatened to snatch the precious little breath from her lungs.

Bryce refused to think of the cold, of the lingering pain in her healed leg, of the two monsters in this library with her. One, at least, had been contained behind the bathroom door.

The other …

Bryce kept her focus upon Syrinx, refusing to let her terror take over, to let it rob her of breath as she reached the chimera’s limp body.

She would not accept this. Not for a moment.

Her lungs began burning, a growing tightness that she fought against as she bore Syrinx back toward the feeding platform, her lifeline out of the water, away from the n?kk. Her fingers latched into the chain links as the dock rose back toward the surface.

Lungs constricting, Bryce held Syrinx on the platform, letting it propel them up, up—

From the shadows of the rocks at the bottom, the n?kk burst forth. It was already smiling.

The n?kk knew she’d come for Syrinx. It had been watching her in the library for weeks now.

But the feeding platform broke the surface, Bryce with it, and she gasped down sweet, life-saving air as she heaved Syrinx over the edge and gasped to Lehabah, “Chest compressions—”

Clawed hands wrapped around her ankles, slicing her skin as they yanked her back. Her brow smashed into the metal rim of the platform before the cold water swallowed her once more.

Hunt couldn’t breathe as the n?kk slammed Bryce into the glass of the tank so hard it cracked.

The impact shook her from her stunned stupor, just as the n?kk snapped for her face.

She dodged left, but it still had its talons on her shoulders, cutting into her skin. She reached for the knife she’d tied to her thigh—

The n?kk grabbed the knife from her hands, tossing it into the watery gloom.

This was it. This was how she’d die. Not at Micah’s hand, not from the synth in her body, but by being ripped to shreds by the n?kk.

Hunt could do nothing, nothing, nothing as it again snapped for her face—

Bryce moved again. Lunging not for a hidden weapon, but another sort of attack.

She punched her right hand low into the n?kk’s abdomen—and dug inside the nearly invisible front fold. It happened so fast Hunt wasn’t sure what she’d done. Until she twisted her wrist, and the n?kk arched in pain.

Bubbles leaked from Bryce’s mouth as she wrenched its balls harder—

Every male in the pit flinched.

The n?kk let go, falling to the bottom. It was the opening Bryce needed. She drifted back against the cracked glass, braced her legs, and pushed.

It launched her into the open water. Blood from her head wound streamed in her wake, even as the synth healed the gash and prevented the blow from rendering her unconscious.

The platform dropped into the water again. Lehabah had sent it down. A final lifeline. Bryce dolphin-kicked for it, her arms pointed in front of her. Blood swirled with each undulating kick.

At the rocky bottom of the tank, the n?kk had recovered—and now bared its teeth up at the fleeing woman. Molten rage gleamed in its milky eyes.

“Swim, Bryce,” Tharion growled. “Don’t look back.”

The platform hit its lowest level. Bryce swam, her teeth gritted. The instinct to take a breath had to be horrendous.

Come on, Hunt prayed. Come on.

Bryce’s fingers wrapped around the bottom of the platform. Then the rim. The n?kk charged up from the depths, fury and death blazing in its monstrous face.

“Don’t stop, Bryce,” Fury Axtar warned the screen.

Bryce didn’t. Hand by hand by hand, she climbed the ascending chain, fighting for each foot gained toward the surface.

Ten feet from the top. The n?kk reached the platform base.

Five. The n?kk shot up the chain, closing in on her heels.

Bryce broke the surface with