This is what it feels like to die.
Pain shattered through her body as the sea slammed her against steel, then pulled her back, only to throw her forward again.
This is it. My battle is over.
Darkness filled her vision, then she felt a hand close around hers, fighting the sea as it tried to draw her back. Her shoulder screamed as she was pulled upward, then her face broke the surface, and Lara gasped in a breath of air.
Only to have the water close over her head again, pummeling her body.
But that one breath was enough.
Whoever it was gripping her arms helped her climb, the barnacle-crusted steel cutting into her feet as she eased upward. The waves were no longer washing over her head. Coughing and sucking in air, she opened her eyes.
And found herself face-to-face with Aren.
“I’ve got you.” He tugged her higher until their heads were just beneath the ceiling of the cave. “I won’t let you go.”
Vaguely she was aware that there were others behind him, but all she saw was him. And all she felt was the most profound sense of gratitude to God or fate or luck for allowing her to see him one last time before the Tempest Seas took her.
“You need to hold on!” As he spoke, the water surged again, only Aren’s strength keeping it from pulling her from her perch. “They’re getting tools. We’ll cut the bars. You just need to hold on until then.”
She nodded, but it was a lie. Because there was no hope of her surviving this. With every surge, the water went higher, and once the storm hit with all its ferocity, not even Aren would be able to keep it from taking her. And it would be a miracle if he wasn’t drowned himself.
“You need to let me go.” She was so exhausted. So tired of fighting. “You need to get somewhere safe.”
“No! I’m not leaving you.” He slid an arm through the bars, wrapping it around her waist. She flinched as fingers pressed against the wound on her side, saw the way his face tightened as he realized how deep it was. Turning his head, he shouted, “Where the hell are those tools?”
But Lara knew they’d never make it in time.
Reaching through the bars, she caught hold of his face. “Look at me. Listen to me.”
He resisted. Like he knew what she was going to say. But then he met her gaze.
“I’m sorry.” A wave hammered her in the back, forcing her to pause while she fought the current. “I’m so sorry for all the hurt that I caused you. All the hurt I caused Ithicana. And I need you to know that I’d die a thousand times over if there were a way to undo it.”
“Lara—”
She shook her head violently, because she didn’t want his forgiveness. She didn’t deserve it. “My father is dead. He’s dead, and he can’t hurt you or Ithicana anymore. Keris will be king, and there will be a chance for Maridrina and Ithicana to be allies in truth. For the first time, Ithicana has a chance at a better future. But it needs you to make it happen. Don’t sacrifice that for me.”
“But I need you.” He pulled her tight against the metal, his forehead pressing against hers through the bars. “I love you, and I’ve never stopped. Not once, not even when I should have.”
He kissed her then, his mouth hot against her chilled skin, his tongue tasting of the sea. And she leaned into him, the tears running down her face washed away as the waves hammered them.
“Since the day we met, there has never been anyone but you. And there never will be anyone but you. You are my queen, and I need you.”
She wept. Even if she made it through this, there was no future for them. Not with Aren as king. And she refused to make him choose between her and Ithicana. “Aren—”
“I’m not letting you die.” His eyes were searching the ceiling of the cave, and she watched as he let go of her long enough to brace his feet against the wall, muscles straining as he tried to heave the portcullis backward.
But it was stuck, wedged into place by the strength of a ship and sails.
Giving up, he pressed close to her again. “Do not let go. Promise me you won’t let go.”
He stared into her eyes until she nodded, wrapping her arms through the bars and holding tight as the water surged.
And Aren dived down into its depths.
She couldn’t see him through the foam and the darkness, and fear overwhelmed the haze of blood loss and pain when he didn’t emerge. “No. No. No,” she sobbed. “You don’t get to have him.”
The Ithicanians in the boats tried to move closer, but the waves kept pushing them back. Farther and farther until the only one who remained was Lia, perched on a narrow ledge. The other woman started to set down her torch, clearly meaning to dive in.
Then Aren broke the surface.
He caught hold of the metal, climbing swiftly until he was face-to-face with Lara, blood running down his cheek from a cut on his brow.
“There’s a space at the bottom,” he said between gasps. “It’s too small for me to fit through, but your shoulders are narrow. I’ll be able to pull you through, you just need to hold your breath.”
But to reach it she’d have to go down.
Down into the darkness and the depths of the water, and a familiar terror rose in her chest, tearing through her veins. “I can’t.”
“You can.” He kissed her hard. “I’ve never once seen fear make a decision for you.”
Lara shook her head. This was too much.
“I need you.” His breath was hot against her lips. “And I need you to keep fighting.”
Closing her eyes, Lara struggled against her terror of the water—the terror that had haunted her steps from the moment she’d stepped foot in Ithicana. You are a princess, she told herself. A queen.
But above all, she was the little cockroach.
Lara nodded once, sucking in a deep breath.
And then Aren pulled her down beneath the surface.
She could not see. Had no sense of up or down as the ocean ripped at her body, only Aren’s grip on her keeping the water from tearing her out to sea.
Deeper. She knew he must be taking her deeper, because the pressure in her ears grew, and it took all of her strength to catch hold of the bars and drag herself down when instinct demanded she go up. Back to the surface and to air.
Down and down.
Panic raced through her veins, the need to breathe growing with each passing second, the only thing keeping her sane the knowledge that Aren was with her. That to save him, she needed to save herself.
Then her hands hit rock.
They were at the bottom of the cave.
Holding tight to her wrists, Aren pulled her sideways, and she felt the opening where the bars had been forced apart.
But the gap was small. So terribly small.
Her chest spasmed with the need to take a breath, but she didn’t fight as he tugged on her arms, twisting her shoulders until she slid through.
Only to feel her belt snag.
Aren pulled, his feet braced against the bottom, but it wouldn’t give. Desperately, Lara tore her hand from his grip, trying to reach between her body and the rocky floor to unfasten the buckle, but there was no space.
And she needed to breathe.
Needed to breathe.
Needed to breathe.
Lara inhaled.
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