Page 107 of A Dark and Drowning Tide

Or perhaps it was something simpler.

Lorelei could not help smiling. “You’ve been found wanting.”

Adelheid’s face contorted with a cold, quiet rage. “How can that be? My cause is just.”

“Yourcause?” Understanding seemed to dawn slowly on Heike. “They’re not lying?Youdid this? All of this?”

Adelheid squeezed her eyes shut. When she reopened them, her cold mask was back in place. “I did this to protect us.”

“Us?” Heike echoed. “You dare say this was forus? Johann is dead,Adelheid—andLudwig is well on his way! You won’t stop until you’ve done away with usall—untilyou kill the one person in this godforsaken kingdom who can save me!”

“Who am I, then? I would have kept you safe,” Adelheid pleaded. “Wilhelm would have eaten you alive.”

Lorelei averted her eyes. “As touching as this is . . .”

They ignored her. Heike raked her hands through her hair. “God, you’re delusional. It’s just like all the stories promised. The Ursprung brings nothing but misfortune to those who don’t deserve it. All you’ve wrought isdeath—allfor nothing.”

Adelheid bowed her head. “No. Not for nothing. There’s still another way.”

There was. She could still seize itspower—inexchange for a horrible price.

“Don’t do it,” Lorelei shouted. “It will kill you, you fool!”

Adelheid did not hesitate. She dove, plunging under the water’s surface with a splash.

The three of them crowded at the edge of the spring. It was far deeper than it looked. Adelheid sank lower and lower, her hair like a bright vein of gold. The light shimmering on the Ursprung’s surface pulsed like a heartbeat. Then, it began to bubble and hiss. Aether crackled through the air like lightning poised to strike.

After what felt like an eternity, thewater—andAdelheid—wentperfectly still. She settled on the bottom of the spring, her lungs filling up with water like stones in her pockets. Her eyes stared unseeingly up at them, then floated shut. Her lips were parted in something like a smile.

“Help me get her out,” Lorelei snapped at Heike. “Now.”

For once, Heike did not complain.

Together, with aether buoying her, they brought Adelheid to the surface. Water streaked her face, leaving her cheeks dewy and her lips shining. Her hair clung to her face and floated atop the surface like a halosplayed around her. She almost looked like she was sleeping, like a girl who’d bitten into a poisoned apple.

Heike looked away with a choked sob.

Sylvia paled. “Sheisn’t...?”

As carefully as she could, Lorelei dragged her onto the shore. No breath stirred her body. “Ithink—”

Adelheid’s eyes snapped open.

Lorelei reeled back. Adelheid’s eyes were a strange shade of blue, as deep as the ocean at dusk. They glowed faintly, with sparks that mirrored the motes of aether glinting in the air. She looked only halfalive—andonly half human.

Adelheid coughed and rolled onto her side. Water poured from hermouth—morethan Lorelei would have thought possible. As soon as she finished, she collapsed in a heap again, curling in on herself with a soft groan. Her lips parted weakly, slick with water and bloodied spittle. But her eyes were overbright and glassy, drinking in the cavern with a ravenous wonder. She looked as if she were seeing the world for the very first time.

“Adelheid,” Sylvia said uncertainly. “Areyou...allright?”

Adelheid eased herself upright, shuddering. “Yes. I feel . . .”

She lifted her hand in front of her face. She admired the flex of her fingers, the roll of her wrist, as though her own body was some perfect machine. Slowly, the water lifted off her skin in fat droplets. They floated skyward as though gravity had been reversed, each one gleaming like a pearl. The air thickened oppressively with moisture. The ferns dripping from the cavern’s slick stone walls curled toward Adelheid as though she were the sun.

Lorelei felt suddenlyflushed—andwhen she looked at her own quickly reddening hands, she realized with horror that her blood was pushing toward the surface of her skin.

“I feel everything.”

Adelheid’s golden hair lifted from the back of her neck. Water gathered in a cloud above her, thick and angry. Rain began to fall through the cavern’s opening, slowly atfirst—andthen in squalls. A hailstone struckLorelei across the forehead, and she flung up an arm to protect her face. They were standing in the middle of a storm with Adelheid at its center.