I tossed my bag at Jason. If Nimue was going to make me swim across the lake, then I didn’t want anything extra weighing me down.
Before I could change my mind or lose my nerve, I placed my hand in Nimue’s and stepped into the water with her. I expected to wade through the shallow water until it was deep enough to swim, so I was utterly shocked when the water sucked me under.
Chapter 16
Anna
I was pulled beneath the calm surface and sucked down into depths that I hadn’t thought were possible in this small lake. I didn’t have a chance to take a deep breath before I was drawn underwater, so it wasn’t long before my lungs were burning for air. I desperately tried to keep calm, but I was moving quickly and completely disoriented. I had no idea which way was up.
I frantically looked around, but there was only darkness. There was not one speck of light to show me to the surface. Just when I thought my time on this earth was over, I fell out of the water and onto land.
Yeah. Fell down. Out of the water. And onto ground.
I heaved in deep breaths of sweet air as I tried to make sense of what happened. I was in a rocky cave that was cold and damp. I looked up to see how I could have fallen out of the water, but the cave ceiling was too high and too dark for me to see.
“Nimue?” I called out.
Her voice floated around me as she answered. “This trial will test your mental capacity. You’ll need intelligence to figure a way out, strength of character to overcome your worst fears, and determination to keep going when it seems that all is lost.”
Nimue never appeared in the cave with me, and her voice trailed off at the end, as if she were speaking to me from a distance. I was alone.
I glanced up at the ceiling of the cave again. I definitely wasn’t getting out of here the same way I came in. A shiver went down my spine as I remembered the last time I was in a cave. That was the day Justin dragged me to the dark fae’s prison, Fallon used me to open the seal, and the Morrigan came out into the world. Caves and I didn’t have a good history together.
Standing here wouldn’t do me any good, so I took a deep breath. What would James do right now? A smile quirked at the corner of my mouth. He’d curse, check the area for any threats, then decide which direction to go. I decided to skip the cursing and just use my regular wolf senses to decide where to go. My magic was still shut down and useless, which was probably part of the trial. I spun slowly in a circle, listening for any sounds that would give me a hint.
I brightened up when I felt a slight movement of air on my face from the left. The air had to be coming from somewhere, so that’s where I’d start.
I cautiously walked through the cave, my only light coming from the softly glowing walls. I couldn’t see far ahead of me, but it was enough to prevent me from walking into a wall or tripping over rocks.
The sounds of my footsteps echoed around me, giving me a creepy feeling. My head snapped to the right when I heard a whisper, and I stopped to listen closer.
“Anna,” the voice called.
A second voice whispered from the tunnel ahead of me, and then the voices quickly multiplied until I was surrounded. I picked up my pace to a jog and kept looking around me for the source of the whispers, but it was like they were from invisible ghosts.
A figure stepped out in front of me, her features taking shape right before my eyes. I took a cautious step back, but I wasn’t willing to take my eyes off her. Was she a friend or foe?
I frowned when I noticed her blond hair was the exact shade of mine, and we were the same height. When her features sharpened from a blurry mess, it was like I was looking into a mirror. She smiled, but there was menace in the green eyes that were so similar to mine.
“Anna,” she said mockingly. “Meet the new and improved version of yourself.”
My first instinct was to reach for my magic, but I came up empty. My heart