Page 98 of Shadows of Light
From out of the opaque water, a tentacle snaked toward him. Before he could stop it, the thing slithered around his chest in a vicelike grip. His bones ground together as it further battered his broken ribs into his punctured lungs.
No air or water remained in his lungs; it was all crushed from him. He didn’t think any water remained either as the kraken squeezed it from him.
The teeth inside the suckers sank into his flesh, and with a big pull, the kraken drank his blood, further weakening him. Despite his determination to get to Lexi andsaveher, his strength waned as the monster feasted on him.
The water muted the sound, but he heard the suck of the kraken draining him. And with each of those pulls, its teeth dug deeper into his flesh. But that wasn’t the worst of his problems as, with each draw, the monster maneuvered him closer to its mouth.
Through the bloody water, he saw the gaping orifice filled with teeth taller than him and sharper than the honed edge of a sword.Lexi!
He couldnotdie down here. Not when he was this close to saving her; he had the crudue vine wrapped around his bicep!
More white stars blurred his vision, and visions of his dad and mom flashed through his head as his brain misfired from lack of oxygen and blood. He clung to her name and repeated it to keep himself focused on the reason for this fight.
Herefusedto let this thing win.
Cole turned his attention to hacking off the tentacle embracing him. So far, he’d cut away three of these things, but as soon as one fell, another came out of the darkness to ensnare him. And it was no different this time. As the tentacle fell away, a new one coiled around him.
He’d hoped by punching and slicing into the kraken, it would relinquish its hold on him and consider him not worth the effort. He’d been mistaken.
Then, as the new tentacle fell away and he drifted back into the bloody sea, the creature reeled back. A strange, music-like screaming vibrated through the water as its tentacles lashed around him.
Dredging his last remnants of strength from the depths of his soul, Cole avoided the tentacle that would have broken his back. He gritted his teeth against the agonizing grind of his bones digging into his flesh as he kicked backward.
Though his body instinctively sought breath, his lungs were so brutalized, he couldn’t even inhale the water clogging his nose and mouth. The inescapable liquid was everywhere, yet he had to escape it.
As the kraken continued to make that sound while pulling back, a sliver of sunlight hit the water. His disoriented mind clicked into place when he saw he was closer to the surface than he’d realized.
That slice of sunlight also allowed the shadows to break free again. They screamed for blood and vengeance as some grasped his arms and pulled him toward the surface while others went for the kraken.
Cole kicked harder as some of the shadows sliced into the tentacles. The kraken screamed louder as blood poured from its missing appendages. That blood blocked out the sun once more.
The shadows unraveling from his arms took away his momentum toward the surface, but he refused to give in. He’d glimpsed freedom, was nearly to it, and wouldnotbe denied it.
Lexi!An image of her, so still and unmoving as she remained frozen in that awful state, formed in his mind. He couldn’t let her down.
Every movement sent stabbing pains throughout his body. Everything inside him scraped and dug and grated, but he shoved his discomfort aside as he pushed past his dwindling strength from blood and oxygen loss.
His father’s hand floated to him out of the water. A golden glow behind him highlighted his face.
Forgetting what he was here to do, Cole stretched his hand toward his father and sighed when his father’s hand gripped his. It wasn’t until the teeth bit into his fingers and his blood was sucked from him that his vision cleared and he saw the tentacle encircling him to his wrist.
A scream reverberated through his head, but no sound issued as he sliced the tentacle away. When the kraken’s head came down again, Cole kicked back and flattened himself against the wall to avoid it.
Through the blood and the white stars obscuring his blurred and nearly pinpoint vision, he watched the beast sink lower into the lake. Tentacles whipped around its head; it seemed to be trying to protect or wipe at its eyes, but Cole couldn’t be certain.
But it was no longer above him, which meant…freedom!
He pushed away from the wall and swam toward the surface. While his fingers clawed at the water, he ignored the hands stretching toward him and his mother’s laughter ringing in his head as he strained to break free.
The shadows returned to pull him toward the surface when sunlight streamed over him again. As the sun grew brighter through the water, he could almost feel the air on his face and its warmth.
He was nearly there when something tore a chunk of flesh from his calf. The first blast of agony was followed by more as small teeth ripped into him.
Cole refused to look back as more blood flowed into the water. He knew what was feasting on him; he didn’t have to see it.
While the silver fish ate, the shadows spread out and laughed as they encompassed the silver creatures, tearing them in two. More shadows grasped his arms and lifted him faster as his dark fae abilities pushed forward to help part the water.
CHAPTERSEVENTY-FIVE
