was meant as a snarky bite, but his nearness sucked the air out of my lungs, leaving my voice breathy and hoarse.
Standing this close to Grim was like being in the presence of a glacier large enough to have its own gravitational pull, and his grip on my arm raised goosebumps along my skin and made my bared nipples harden into points.
I hadn’t worried about stripping down in front of him—he’d been so abjectly uninterested in my body it seemed ludicrous to be bashful—but this close to him, his dark stare boring into me, I felt so utterly bared for him, so completely stripped of any and all protection. Despite the chill of his touch, something warm curled in my abdomen. I couldn’t tell if it was arousal or embarrassment.
Quite probably it was fear.
“Don’t think it will be a fast, easy death,” he sneered. Before I could think of a response, he released me and took a step back, leaving me to stagger as my body readjusted to the absence of his magnetic pull.
I didn’t look at him again; I was too tired to deal with the enigma that was Grim. That would have to wait until we were back among the living and I’d had my energy restored.
Unbidden, images of the last time my mates restored my energy came rushing back, and I bit my lip as the heat in my abdomen turned a lot less confusing. The aching sear that made my heart stutter as I remembered every kiss and caress was wholly less pleasant.
I missed them so much it felt like I was one gust of wind away from shattering. All that held me together was sheer determination and the knowledge that come tomorrow morning, I would finally have the means to return to them.
I sucked in a deep breath, forcing the memories back into the hollow pit in my chest before I refocused on the water. All I could do now was have a swim—so that was what I was going to do.
The water felt odd as it crawled up my legs with every step I took into the pond, like some unnatural mixture of silk and oil wrapping around my skin. It lacked the refreshment that usually came with being submerged, but it was still a soothing sensation.
I walked out until the water lapped at my navel, then sucked in a deep breath and dove fully under.
The gurgling sound of water rushing in my ears was more familiar, and the movement of it against my skin made it feel less alien. I opened my eyes—keeping my lips firmly shut—and took a couple of strokes out, following the silty bottom of the pond.
The greyness of Hel seemed less disturbing underwater. It was more like swimming at night under the moon. I reached out and touched the leaves of a trailing plant reaching toward the surface. It moved gently under my fingertips, its surface soft and pleasant, if a bit slimy.
I kicked, moving farther along the lake floor, and picked up a gleaming stone to inspect it. It too was smooth under my fingers, but the shell I picked up next had some texture. A crustacean poked out from the shell, probably in response to being hauled free of the sand, and clacked its miniscule claws threateningly at me.
I let out a bubble of surprised laughter, and it dawned on me that as scary as Hel was, it also had its beautiful sides, if you took the time to search for them—an odd thing for a realm that seemed so tightly twined with terror and misery.
The air in my lungs turned heavy, so I put the creature back on the bottom of the lake and kicked against the sand. The water caressed me as I shot up through it, parting as I broke the surface and gasped in a few deep breaths.
I swirled around to reorient myself, my eyes landing on the shore where we’d made camp. Mimir was still on the stone where I’d placed him, overlooking the lake, and Grim…
My heart skipped a beat as my gaze locked with his.
He was crouching on the shore by the water where I’d left him, staring at me. Even from this distance I could see the darkness in his eyes. Hate? Was it hate he felt when he looked at me like that?
Goosebumps crawled up my arms and down my back, and I turned my attention away from him, swimming farther out to the center of the pond.