hit water hard, the impact like falling onto rock. My body aching, I sink below the cool surface, my soaked fur cloak dragging me to the depths below as my mind reels.
Beth. Her name is a drumbeat in my blood.
I can’t let go, can’t keep sinking. My body wakes from the shock of the water, and I kick toward the surface, toward her. With a rough pull, I rip the cloak from my shoulders. It falls beneath me as I struggle upward through the weight of the water. My lungs burn, but I keep swimming, keep pushing. I can’t give up. Not now that the Ancestors have rewarded me with my mate.
When I break the surface, I take in a huge gulp of air, then another. The bright sun is high above and glitters on the turquoise waters that surround me. The summer realm.
Spinning, I peer across the low waves for any sign of Beth. But there’s nothing. I can’t feel her through the bond, but the link isn’t broken. She’s far away, but alive. Hopefully somewhere on land.
Shielding my eyes, I spin again, slowly this time, and spot solid ground in the distance. Barely. But I don’t recognize it. I must be in the Ocean of Storms, perhaps off the coast of Byrn Varyndr. That’s a stroke of luck. The Catcher would be trying to return Beth to Granthos, a summer realm noble. All I’ll have to do is kill both the Catcher and Granthos, then take Beth back to the winter realm. It’s not reasonable, and definitely not level-headed, but I can’t deny the demand in my veins. I must protect her at all costs.
With a hard stroke, I push across the waves toward the small spit of land that appears as a gray slash in the distance. Swimming isn’t my forte, but I will push myself as hard as I must to get dry land under my feet. From there, I can plan my next move. I only hope Beth is safe.
My teeth grind as I ponder what her former master might do to her. His blood will run. I don’t care if he’s a summer realm noble. I will happily fight a war for my mate.
I shake my head a little, trying to clear the mating haze. But I can’t. That rashness that I chided Leander for is alive inside me now. I understand why he risked everything for Taylor. I would do the same for Beth. And I will.
The sea glitters ahead of me as I power through each wave, land becoming more than just a wisp of color on the horizon. Hours pass, and I keep going, my muscles burning. The shore is within view, the dark green vegetation twining away inland.
I take a break and float on my back for a few minutes, breathing in deeply as my body gets a much-needed respite. When I turn over and begin kicking again, my foot connects with something in the water, but I’m not close enough to shore for it to be sand. A rock?
I whirl and peer behind me, the clear water giving me a decent view. No rock there. Treading water, I turn and search for what it could have been. Something slides past my leg, and I push back. Green scales flicker beneath the waves, and a long tail, the end spiked with bone, whips around in front of me.
My blood goes cold, and I strike out even harder toward shore. A kelpie. Venomous monsters of the sea that look like horses except for the long tails and vicious mouths full of teeth. Beautiful and terrifying, they’ve killed many a fae.
I power toward the shore, each kick a burst of energy as I use my arms to pull me through the water, and I swim faster than I ever have in my life.
But when the kelpie clamps down on my leg and pulls me under, I realize it’s not fast enough.
5
Beth
With a hard shove, the Catcher throws me to the ground and whirls, his sword at the ready. The portal flickers. I hold my breath and wish for Gareth to come through, to kill the Catcher, to take me back. Please. I stare as the doorway fizzles, the last of the alchemy fading in a wisp of smoke as the way back disappears. No Gareth. He didn’t come after me, wouldn’t leave his realm to aid me.
I go limp, my breath rushing out of me in a wheeze. It shouldn’t hurt this