Page 94 of Shadows of Light
His lungs didn’t burn, and his legs weren’t growing tired, but he felt a sense of time slipping away. He’d been underwater for too long; the darkness around him was growing as more creatures filled the lake, and while shadows danced across the rocky bottom, there wasn’t a whole lot of them to draw on.
And the creatures were increasingly choking out the sun and causing those shadows to dwindle.
When his fingers wrapped around the crudue vine, he avoided the thorns. He was certain the creatures guarding this lake already knew he was here, but his blood in the water would entice and excite them further.
Once he succeeded in ripping a section of vine free, he turned to discover blood choking the water as the shadows continued to slaughter. Between the blood and the increasing presence of the creatures, the sun was rapidly fading.
And without the sun, the shadows couldn’t thrive.
Cole twisted the vine around his bicep. He stopped caring about the thorns; they didn’t matter anymore. They bit into his flesh, dug into his muscle, and embedded there, but he didn’t feel their prick as he studied the monsters swirling above him.
There was no pathway through them, and even if there was, they’d close it before he made it to the surface. He’d have to go through them, and he had no problem with that.
Smiling grimly, and with the vine locked securely around his arm, he planted his feet on the rocky bottom and shoved upward through the blood and water. He still wasn’t tired, and his lungs didn’t burn, but the trip up wouldn’t be as easy as the one down.
He only made it ten feet when the monsters confirmed this. From out of the increasing darkness of the water, a tentacle the size of a tree unfolded.
He darted to the side in time to avoid one of the suction cups attached to the tentacle. The razor-sharp teeth within the cup clacked loudly as it missed his waist, but just when he believed he was out of its reach, it swung to the side and snagged his ankle.
Cole inwardly cursed and swung down as claws erupted from his fingers, and those teeth bit into his flesh. With a pull he felt to the center of his heart, those things started feasting on his blood.
With one, two, three hacking slices, he succeeded in slicing off the end of the thick appendage. He had no idea where the monster that belonged to it was in the water, but the tip of its tentacle remained embedded in his ankle as Cole kicked again.
He didn’t see the shark that crashed into him a second later. The tip of its rough nose abraded the skin on his chest a second before its multiple layers of teeth sank into his flesh.
Unprepared for the searing pain accompanying the crunch of his ribs and the crushing of his lungs, Cole grunted out a shout that released what air he still had inside him. Bubbles erupted before his eyes as the shark propelled him into the side of the lake and bashed him into the rocks.
Cole waved his hand at the water and drew enough to slam it into the shark’s face, but it did little good. The massive beast’s tail swung back and forth in the water as it opened its jaws a little before biting down again.
Cole suppressed a scream as he plunged his claws into the shark’s nose. He ripped through its cartilage and down toward its nose. Its black eyes were too far away to get at them, but he shredded the creature’s nostrils as he hacked into them.
The shark’s tail waved faster as it smashed him repeatedly into the rocks until blood erupted from Cole’s mouth. The darkness of the creatures spreading through the lake and the blood had choked out most of the shadows, but there were enough left to encircle the beast.
He gathered his dark fae abilities to shove more water at the creature as he pushed it back. The lycan half of him continued to batter the monster while the shadows worked to pry it away.
For once, he could feel all the parts of himself working together. Their strength flowed through him as all the pieces of who he was, finally clicked together while they worked as one to keep him alive. They’dfinallyfound common ground as they came together inside him.
The shadows pried open the shark’s mouth as he continued to carve into the beast. Finally, the shadows succeeded in tearing its mouth open. Cole swam out of the creature’s mouth as the shadows tore off its bottom jaw.
Desperate for air and finally able to feel a little relief in his crushed chest, Cole couldn’t control his instinct to breathe anymore. As soon as he did, water flooded him.
His lungs contracted and tried to expel the liquid filling them, but it was impossible. His heart lurched, and his entire body spasmed. He was drowning, and it hurt like a motherfucker, but it wouldn’t kill him.
He’d survive, but it would weaken him. And without oxygen to fill his muscles and brain, his strength waned as disorientation crept in.
Stars burst before his eyes, and his head spun as he tried to recall where he was and why. His head bobbed as unconsciousness briefly pulled him into its oblivious depths, but the shadows jerked him awake again.
Shaking his head, Cole stopped feeling the burn in his lungs and the jabbing stab of his ribs digging into his body. Trying to orient himself, he rested his hand against the crudue vine on his arm.
Though little compared to what the rest of his battered body felt, the thorn’s prick reminded him why he was there.Lexi!
He required both hands but pressed his finger onto that thorn in the hopes it would keep him grounded and focused on saving his mate. He had to get the vine to her.
He clawed at the water with one hand as he kicked and struggled to the surface. The weight of the liquid in his lungs tried to drag him back to the bottom. It was slow going, but he refused to give in to the agony and confusion trying to destroy him.
Shadows wrapped around his arm, drawing him upward, but he felt the weakness in their grasp. When a mammoth creature passed overhead, the shadows dissipated as darkness reined in the lake.
When another tentacle slithered toward him, Cole realized the creature, still partially twisted around his leg, had come for its revenge. And without the shadows, it was just him and the monster above.
