Part 33 (1/2)

The howls get louder. Closer.

Micah walks up behind me. ”So that's it? We're all going to die in here anyway?”

I run my hand along the wall looking for any opening even though I know I won't find one. ”There's another way out.”

Dr. McKay looks around the vast wasteland. There's nothing but rocks and cliffs, and water and waterfalls. Nothing alive but us.

A growl echoes in the wind. Us and a trio of very angry h.e.l.lhounds.

”We don't have much time.” I make my way to the edge of the ravine. I take a breath, afraid to look down. I know there won't be anything down there but water. The current should've dragged Austin halfway to the underworld by now. I force myself to look. Just water. Water and giant boulders I don't remember seeing before. The water is at least fifty feet below where I stand. Jagged rocks line the walls of the ravine, like teeth ready to rip and tear me up on the way down.

The last time I did this it was easy. It wasn't by choice. Austin pushed me. Plus, the water had been rising then, so the fall was only half as far. Still, I remember the way the water grabbed and spun me, nearly choking me as it spat me to the beach. And that was in the comparatively calm surf at Del Mar. This coastline is far less forgiving to a human body.

Austin isn't here to push me now. He isn't here to get me out of the currents at the beach. Why was it so important to keep me alive then? So someone will be here to mourn for him?

I look over my shoulder at the five remaining Sons and Portia. ”The river will dump you into the ocean on the other side. As soon as you hit the waves look for the beach. You'll have a better chance if you can dematerialize out and get to the sh.o.r.e.”

I'm just going to have to take my chances.

The howls turn to barking as the three dogs lumber around a boulder. We're out of time. I back up a few steps, then run as fast as I can to the edge of the ravine and jump.

FIFTY-SEVEN.

I close my eyes as I fall, concentrating on leading with my feet. The air rushes by so quickly that the sky feels like a part of me again. My stomach floats into my throat, but I force myself to breathe, sucking in the oxygen I'll need once I'm underwater.

My left foot hits the water first, slapping against it with enough force that I'm thrown to my side. The impact on my hip is hard, but the shock of the cold water as I plunge downward is worse. I have to fight to keep from opening my mouth to scream. It's several seconds before I feel the current move around me. It pushes me and drags me deeper, spinning me around until I'm no longer certain which way is up. I resist the urge to kick. I could just as easily be kicking myself deeper instead of moving to the surface.

My lungs start to protest, searching for their next hit of oxygen. A rock appears out of nowhere. My knee slams against it. My mouth opens before I can stop it. Water rushes in. I close my mouth, but it's too late, the water pushes down my throat. I can't stop the cough, which only causes more water to come in.

My body fights to breathe. To live. But all I can do is panic.

I reach out and my hand finds something soft. Not rock. I can't make out anything more than the color white in the blue darkness, but I grab hold of a handful of coa.r.s.e white hair, and cling to it with all the strength I have left.

One.

Two.

Another cough bubbles up in my lungs. I fight it even as water starts to fill my lungs.

Then I break the surface. I open my mouth and cough. Water comes out even faster than it went in, in one ma.s.sive retch. I gulp the air, taking it in in giant watery breaths as a weight below me keeps my head above water.

I collapse on the beach, lying on my stomach in the sand. When I'm convinced I am going to keep breathing, I push myself up on my elbows.

Braden kneels beside me, his hand tapping between my shoulder blades. ”That was a dangerous stunt, even for you.”

”You are such a smart a.s.s.” Another coughing fit keeps me from thanking him. I don't need to tell him what I'm feeling. He already knows.

”Who's winning?” He gets right to the point.

I turn over onto my back, sitting up to face him. ”I should've known you didn't save me out of the goodness of your heart.”

”What can I say?” Braden grins. ”I'm a multi-tasker.”

There's a silver light on the beach behind us. Blake lands in a heap on sh.o.r.e. He kneels in the sand, retching until all he takes in is the cold night air.

”I guess that answers my question.” Braden raises his eyebrows. He holds out his hand, like he wants to shake. I place my palm in his. He presses something into my hand. ”If anyone asks, you didn't get this from me.” Then Braden turns and leaps into the water, disappearing into the waves.

”Who was that?” Blake's hands are buried in the sand, his arms bracing himself as he recovers from the near drowning.

”A friend,” I say. Braden risked enough by coming here. I don't feel guilty for keeping his secrets. I have my own. I keep my fist closed tight, but I know exactly what Braden gave me. I can already feel the ocean water flowing in my veins. My body is no longer fighting it, but embracing it, calling to it. ”Where are the others?”

”They thought you were crazy.” Blake pushes himself into a sitting position.

”Didn't you?” I ask.

”No.” Blake shakes water and sand out of his hair. When he glances at me, I see a hint of the old Blake, a dimple, appear on his cheek. ”I always knew you were.”

A scream breaks through the darkness. Then it's gone, swallowed by the waves.

Blake is on his feet and running back into the water. Before I realize what I'm doing, I'm calling the water, feeling it, pulling it. The silence is the first thing that tells me that it's working. The waves no longer crash against the rocks. They no longer crash against the beach. The water is smooth. Calm. Like a lake with giant rock islands.

Jonah breaks the surface.

My enemy. My enemies are out there. The people who ostracized me, who wanted me dead. I could turn around, walk back up the hill, and leave them to fight the ocean and the rocks as the tide comes in. Some may survive. Some may not. But none of it, none, would be my fault.

Or I could end it all. Make the current stronger, the waves more powerful as they bash against the rocks. Prevent the Sons from ever catching sight of the sh.o.r.e.

The thought scares me so much I drop the silver wolfsbane charm onto the beach. The waves start to churn again just as Blake reaches Micah, who struggles against the current. I drop to my knees. I run my hands along the rocky sh.o.r.e, becoming increasingly or frantic as I hear the yells from the water.

My fingers close around a rock, then another. No. I have to find it. I won't let them die. At last, I grasp cold silver. I hold the charm tight and stop the waves once more.

Three, four, five heads pop out of the water. All the Sons. No Portia. Blake pulls Micah the rest of the way to sh.o.r.e. Jonah and Levi follow. Dr. McKay comes in next.

Still no Portia.

”Where is she?” I ask Blake, as he helps Micah lay on the beach.

Blake shakes his head. ”I guess she didn't want to jump.”

”She has to jump. The dogs-”

Blake looks back out at the ocean. It's eerie in its calmness. ”I still feel her.”

Then, as if he's called her to him, Portia's head bursts though the water. Blake dives back in, while I keep the waves at bay.

And I wonder, not for the first time, if I'm doing the right thing.

FIFTY-EIGHT.

The three giolla still stand at the top of the trail. Joe nods at me, a hint of a smile on his lips. I want to hit him. People are dead. Jeremy.