Descent - Tara Fuller Page 0,34

I sucked in a breath, and with it came a mouth full of fetid water.

All around me bodies thrashed and kicked, drowning over and over again. I grabbed an arm and used it as leverage to push myself to the surface. I gasped when I broke through, coughing and choking on the water in my lungs, then inhaled a deep gulp of air and dived back down.

Shoving through the layers of souls, I swam down, down until I spotted the flickering flame of Gwen’s hair. It was a beacon in the darkness, drawing me in. The fact that I’d found her at all was a miracle. It would have taken an army to stop me from getting to her. I pulled my scythe from my belt. Even under water, it smoked, the swirling plume of black snaking its way through the bodies toward the sky.

I cut my way through the crowd, staining the water with blood. It was brutal, but I didn’t care. Not when their hands were pulling her deeper, shoving, clawing to get every last ounce of the light that poured through her. When I got close enough, I reached through the only opening I saw, grabbed her arm, and kicked for the surface. My lungs burned. My muscles ached. What I would have given to be numb again, to leave behind this body and the foolish addiction to the girl in my arms.

I broke the surface next to the boat and heaved Gwen up over the side before pulling myself in after her. Souls screamed beneath us. The currents swirled, rocking the tiny boat and tossing it on a restless sea.

I crawled across the deck to Gwen. She was wet and limp and pale. She wasn’t breathing. I knew she’d reanimate. You always did, just in time for another round of torture, but still fear slammed into me, jolting me into motion.

I pulled her into my lap, away from the edge, and smoothed my thumbs over her cheeks. Bloody tears smeared across her soft, flawless skin.

“Wake up, Red,” I urged, tapping the side of her face. “I know how much you enjoy torturing me, and I promise later you can do it all you want. But right now, I need you to wake up. Wake up!”

Her eyelids fluttered before she choked on a cough. I jerked her forward and patted her back, watching her heave, spitting water over the deck. Once her lungs were clear, a sob ripped free of her throat and she shook with the force of it. When she clutched her heart, some rusty, unused part of my chest ground into motion, twisting until I couldn’t breathe.

I didn’t want to lose her. Not like this.

“Gwen…” I pulled her into my arms, not knowing what else to do. I’d never held anyone other than my little sisters, but having Gwen with me in that moment felt as necessary as breathing. “What the hell were you trying to do back there? Do you have any idea—”

“Too much,” she whispered. “I didn’t mean to take so much.”

She’d taken their sadness and given them her joy. Souls that had done nothing to deserve it and had offered her nothing but torment in return. And those greedy bastards had nearly sucked her dry. I closed my eyes, fighting the urge to dive back into the water to give them a lesson in what torture really was. She gripped my T-shirt in her fists and buried her face against my neck. Her tears turned to steam against my skin. I knew I was the one burning her, but it was only fair. She was the one branding me. Her lips brushed my cheek, leaving a bittersweet imprint. I shut my eyes and gritted my teeth, forcing myself not to hold her too tight.

“Red…I have to let you go. I’m burning you,” I said, hating the constant heat of Hell that radiated from my skin.

The boat rocked, the souls around us becoming stronger with the relief she’d given them. I pulled my T-shirt up and wiped the blood and tears from Gwen’s face. She stared back at me blankly. I was certain if you looked hard enough you’d be able to see the heavens hidden in those eyes. She’d stopped crying, but the effects of what she’d endured still lingered. I gave in and did the one thing I’d been thinking about since I’d laid eyes on her. I smoothed the stray hair back from her face.

It felt like silk.

I knew