She was all around me, her spirit weeping with words I couldn’t understand. I flew upright, the barren cell around me unfamiliar and cold. Where am I?
Another wave of need hit me hard in the chest, sending me to the floor on a groan. It felt as if my heart were splitting in two.
No. My spirit.
My eyes flew open. Something had happened to Claire. Her death slithered around me, her need for my energy clawing at my insides and begging me to save her.
Only, another was there instead of me.
Water.
The hot spring scented the air, a new bond falling into place.
Cyrus.
I would recognize that power anywhere. He’d taken his rightful place in the Water Kingdom. And it seemed Claire was his chosen queen.
Fuck.
My throat refused to work. My body stiff from disuse.
What’s happening?
I felt it then, the fraying link to Claire, unraveling from being without one another too long. A tear fell from my eye, a foreign concept, one I’d never experienced, not even at my parents’ funeral.
But for Claire…
I collapsed in anguish, my spirit withering at the erosion between us. Claire… I needed to find her, to rekindle our bond.
I’d waited too long to escape. Hid from that dark essence for far more time than I’d anticipated.
Where is it? I wondered, searching the shadowy recesses of my cell, noting the low lighting in the dingy corridor. No one spoke. Nothing moved. I’m alone down here.
I stood, my legs protesting beneath me, and shook the iron bars. They didn’t move. But I’m awake, I realized. That gives me an advantage.
All I had to do was wait. Someone would come by soon, and I’d manipulate that person into releasing me.
Don’t forget me, Claire, I whispered. I’m coming for you. Because I had to warn her. I just couldn’t remember about who or what. But someone, something, was down here with me. Who?
I shook my head, dazed from several weeks—over a month—of shutting everything down.
Why had I done that? Better yet, why can’t I remember anything of import?
I swallowed, my throat parched from disuse. I just had to escape, then everything would be fine. It had to be.
Another ache settled over me, Claire’s essence drawing on mine, and I allowed it. Whatever had happened, she needed it more, and I had enough left to fight.
Whoever put me down here was going to die. Horribly.
And I couldn’t fucking wait.
Claire
Several Days Later…
Exos stroked my cheek, his breath warm against my neck. I snuggled closer, adoring his strength and the crisp scent of water clinging to his skin. Mmm, that’s new. He usually smelled of sunshine and man, but today he held a cleaner scent, reminding me of the rain forest.
“How are you feeling?” he asked, his voice huskier than usual.