Pure Destiny (PureDark Ones #12) - Aja James Page 0,103
coffin with a hand.
“What’s in here?”
“My creation,” she hissed. “My masterpiece.”
Benji felt a fiery pang in his chest as his heart gave a frantic leap. He wanted desperately to see what was inside the sarcophagus. Absently, he smoothed his hand over the surface of the container, as if trying to soothe whatever it held inside.
There was a faint heartbeat, but Benji felt it. It throbbed painfully beneath his fingertips and palm. Whatever was inside the thing was alive. It was alive and it wanted to be free.
Whatever Lilith was, the fact that she held something prisoner against its will wasn’t good. It was very, very bad.
Though he felt a familiar yet strange sense of comfort and nostalgia in her presence, Benji now felt the sharp edge of anger and betrayal. He didn’t understand it. These were not the sort of feelings he usually had. Even when he sometimes felt sadness, he couldn’t recall the last time he was ever so angry.
He faced the she-demon with his small fists clenched at his sides and asked the question that had been waiting on the tip of his tongue.
“Why did you bring me here?”
“My darling boy,” she whispered as she rose from the bed, slinking closer to where he stood stalwartly, as if guarding the coffin behind him.
“I thought you’d never ask.”
*** *** *** ***
It was a good thing Immortals could hold their breath underwater much longer than the most aquatically inclined human.
Even so, Dalair could feel his lungs burning from lack of oxygen as he finally found the lever in the rock facing of the underwater cavern that pried open the boulder blocking the entrance.
The sliver was just wide enough to allow one person to swim through at a time. As the last of their group made it to the other side, the boulder slid shut again, trapping them in a water-filled tunnel.
Or tomb, if they didn’t find their way out soon.
Goddess, he needed air!
At least they wouldn’t encounter many guards here, for only the Master’s successful snake-based experiments could thrive underwater. And to Dalair’s knowledge, barely any of those test subjects survived her machinations.
He’d landed the helicopter as close to the tree line as possible, in case battle-induced eruptions from the lake flooded the surrounding banks. The distance would make their getaway ride farther to reach, but that was better than the alternative if a Hydra-sized tsunami swept the aircraft away entirely. From there, he led the other warriors deep beneath the lake, tuning his hyper senses to pinpoint the exact location of the Hydra’s lair.
Presently, Dalair swam toward a faint fluttering of light some distance over his head, as the tunnel curved upwards.
Just a few more strokes, he told himself, his head dizzy from suffocation, his lungs struggling to function, his heart tightening with pressure.
In the process of defending Sophia and the boy in the forest, he’d sustained quite a few new injuries. Nothing his amped up body couldn’t power through, but now that his mind was his own again, he couldn’t ignore the pain as effectively as he used to.
Briefly, he considered doffing the half-moon blades from his back holster. They added at least twenty pounds of weight. But he immediately dismissed the notion. If enemies met him on the other side, he’d be a lot less equipped to dispatch them without his weapons. He’d only be delaying death, in that case.
And he had zero intention of dying this day.
Sophia needed him. The boy who meant so much to her needed him.
He’d never felt such intense determination to live. For himself and for her.
He kicked his powerful legs one more time toward the light, propelling him the last few feet to break the surface of the water in a violent surge.
Uncaring of his loud gulp of breath and coughing fit, Dalair sucked in all the air he could, as the others did the same.
Grimly, they swam toward the stone bank of the pool and heaved themselves on shore with heavy, trembling limbs.
“Bloody hell, that was close,” Rhys said as he flopped onto his back, chest heaving, breath wheezing.
“I live for the skies. Deep sea diving is definitely not my forte. Somebody should have warned me.”
But before Dalair could empathize, Tal rolled to his feet in one smooth motion, unsheathing a short sword and dagger strapped to his back and thigh.
“Take heed,” he growled low. “We have company.”
The Hydra’s welcoming committee had arrived.
*** *** *** ***
There was something about this surprising little boy that she couldn’t quite put her finger