Page 66 of A Dark and Drowning Tide

“My apologies!” Sylvia snatched Lorelei’s hand with her unbloodied one and dragged her to her feet. “Run. You can’t kill alps, but you can slow them down.”

Together, they ran. There was nowhere to go but up the rock face alongside the waterfall. She didn’t dare look down, but when it came to pitting one fear against the other, she would take the solidity of the mountain over the murderous rage of an alp any day. She climbed, knocking loose stones and icicles on her way up.

As soon as she pulled herself over the ledge, she curled into a heap to catch her breath. Her bruised throat burned with every pull of air and her stomach threatened to revolt against her, but what lay before her made her panicked mind go quiet.

The plunge pool of a second waterfall stretched out before them. This one, however, burbled gently from its source—thesource.

The Ursprung.

Ribbons of light danced in the depths of the pool: pure aether, glowing like an aurora against the night sky. Its beauty terrified her.

Sylvia grabbed her elbow and tugged urgently. “We have to go.”

Lorelei chanced a look over her shoulder. The alp had recovered enough to pursue them, its eyes blazing with cold fury. Snow swirled around them. There was nowhere left to run.

Before she could think better of it, she dropped her backpack and dove into the pool. The cold punched the air from her lungs immediately and seized every muscle in her body. Twin splashes sounded behind her. She whirled around to see Sylvia swimming toward her.

And then Sylvia was jerked backward. Her eyes flung wide with terror.

The alp had ensnared her by the ankle. Sylvia kicked wildly against it, but the alp held her fast. In an instant, it sank its fangs into the juncture of her neck and shoulder. The air escaped from Sylvia’s mouth in a rush of bubbles, and red bloomed in the water. For a moment, Lorelei swore she sawAaron—hisvacant eyes, blood unfurling around his broken skull like acorona—staringback at her.

Her vision blurred with terror. She needed to go up for air. She needed to flee. It would be so simple to let her rival slip beneath the surface. She had imagined this. She had dreamed of this a thousand times before.

She felt Death’s presence, spreading his wings above her. The light of the moon filtering from the surface seemed to waver.

No, she thought.You will not take another from me.

Lorelei called on her magic, allowing her awareness to unfurl through the pool. She clenched her fists, imagining the molecules compressing. Ice encased the alp’s arm first, then spread along its body in jagged crystals. Panicked, it let Sylvia go.

Sylvia drifted limply from its grasp and began to sink toward the bottom. With the last of her strength, Lorelei grabbed her by the elbow and pulled.

The weight of her sodden clothing threatened to drag them both under. Lorelei’s head pounded from the strain of her power. At her command, the water guided them upward and toward the shore.

They broke the surface. Lorelei gasped, sucking in a frigid gulp of air. By sheer force of will, she dragged them both out of the water. The bitter cold felt like thousands of needles driven into bones. Her teeth chattered violently, and somewhere in the back of her mind, she knew that they were both going to die from hypothermia, sooner rather than later.

Worry about that later, she decided. For now, she had to get them to the Ursprung.

As best she could, Lorelei hooked her elbows underneath Sylvia’s arms and lifted her. She was tiny, but she was dense withmuscle—andcompletely dead weight. Step by step, Lorelei hauled her up the last slope and crumpled at the edge of a spring. At the sight of steam wafting from its surface, Lorelei nearly wept. They would survive this yet.

God. She had almost watched Sylvia die.

She couldn’t lose her. If she did nothing, she could still lose her.

Lorelei cradled her jaw and carefully turned her head. The wound at her neck was horrific, but mercifully that vindictive beast had missed her carotid. Her lips were blue with cold, but by some divine mercy, her chest rose and fell.

Alive.

With no fear keeping her afloat, Lorelei lowered herself onto her back. The moon loomed close enough that she swore she could reach out and brush her fingers against its face. By the time she glanced back at Sylvia, her eyelashes had fluttered open. This time, she did not dart her gaze away. They lay forehead to forehead, the cold making delicate plumes of their breath.

In the moonlight, Sylvia was luminous. It hurt to look at her, but it hurt far more to be looked at like this. As though she were a dream come to life. It made her hope too much. Right now, she almost believed that she was something a woman like Sylvia could admire.

Something beautiful.

“You saved me.” Sylvia’s voice was full of moony wonder. And then, as if remembering the last five years all at once, she said,“You...yousavedme?”

“Ugh.” Lorelei draped her elbow over her face. “Must you act so shocked about it?”

“Not twelve hours ago, you told me how much you despised me!”