“No!” Declan bellowed when Willow teetered on the edge.
Shoving aside the Savages between him and her, he sprinted forward as she plunged over the side. A sound that reminded him he was part demon erupted when another Savage stepped in his way.
Declan swung out and grasped the side of the creature’s head. He squeezed until its skull caved beneath his palm, but he didn’t stop to finish the job as he took three more strides and followed Willow over the edge.
The air buffeting Willow tore at her hair and clothes; the water blurred her vision as she plunged toward the river, but she didn’t close her eyes. She desperately did not want to see the water and rocks rushing toward her, but she couldn’t look away.
The Savage who’d fallen over before her stared at her with wide, horrified eyes. Its mouth was parted in a perfect O as it seemed to fall in slow motion while everything sped past her. She was flying, and it was terrifying and exhilarating and everything she’d never wanted in her life.
She was giving herself over to fate when arms enveloped her, and she turned her head to meet Declan’s silvery eyes. Oh no. Why?
But she saw the why in his steely gaze. He was not going to let her go through this alone anymore. For the first time since all this started, she almost sobbed.
She wasn’t alone; he was here, and they would get through this together. She shouldn’t be so sure of that given all the turmoil of the past three days, but he would be with her from now on.
The wind and thunderous crash of the water tore Declan’s words away when he shouted something at her. Willow strained to hear him as the Savage vanished into the thicker spray closest to the river. It was almost over. This was going to hurt.
Declan was pulling up on her, twisting her into an upright position, so they were headed feet first into whatever awaited them below. Willow held her breath, and her hands clenched on Declan’s arms as the plume swallowed them. His muscles bunched around her as he braced for impact, but she couldn’t see him anymore.
Then her feet crashed into the water, and the impact jarred her body, but her bones didn’t splinter apart, and they somehow managed to avoid landing on any rocks. Having already experienced the cold of the river, she’d believed the frigid temperature wouldn’t shock her. However, the icy chill locked her breath in her lungs, stole the feeling from her body, and encased her bones like a parasite creeping in to take over her system.
Declan’s legs kicking against hers jarred her out of her paralysis. When she kicked her feet in time with his, Willow discovered her newly healed ankle wasn’t thrilled about hitting the water. She might have fractured it again, but that was something to deal with when she was free of the water. Until then, she had to suck up the shooting pain stabbing her foot with every kick.
They were sucked under as the waterfall pounded down on them, pushing them deeper into the water. Her lungs burned; she was desperate for air, but the second her mouth opened, it would be over.
Declan kept his arms locked around Willow as he kicked against the waterfall trapping them beneath its powerful assault. When he opened his eyes, all he saw was white water. He couldn’t even see Willow pinned against his chest. Her kicking became more frantic as fire worked its way through his lungs.
He closed his eyes against the water as a twinge of pain emanated from her before she buried it and kicked again. His fingers tightened on her when he realized she was injured, but he couldn’t do anything about it while they were trapped underwater.
The punishing assault of the waterfall eased as they made their way out from beneath it. He opened his eyes again to reveal sun filtering through the surface of the rushing water. The allure of air just inches above propelled him faster. He was about to break through the surface when something crashed onto him.
The powerful blow ripped him backward and tore his arms away from Willow. Her fingers scrabbled over his flesh as she tried to keep hold of him, but the current pulled her away. Whatever had hit him was gone. However, the damage was done as the waterfall sucked him under it once more.
Like a cork exploding out of a bottle of champagne, Willow broke through the surface. When she gasped in air, she got a mouthful of water and hair with it, but the burning in her lungs eased as oxygen once again filled them.
She spun and kicked against the current as she searched for Declan through the spray and the white water. She was so focused on getting back to him that she didn’t see the boulder until she crashed into it. At first, she tried to push herself off the rock, but then she realized it was an oasis in the chaos.
Blood trickled from her broken flesh as she clawed her way up its surface to collapse across the top. Cleaving to it, she inhaled as tremors shook her frozen body, and her eyes ran over the churning, white water in search of Declan. She realized her tremors weren’t entirely from the cold when she still didn’t see him anywhere.
Where was he?
A body, with a stake jutting out of its heart, floated past her, and she realized that must have been what hit her and Declan and tore them apart. Tipping her head back, she gazed at the cliffs high above her and the four figures standing at the edge of them—Vicky and the others.
When she lifted her hand to wave, they waved back. She suppressed a sob as joy, exhaustion, fear, and hunger warred within her. At least something had gone right lately.
They were okay, but where was Declan? Was he trapped beneath the waterfall with countless gallons of water falling onto him and keeping him trapped?
Whatever happened to him, and wherever he was, clinging to a rock in the middle of the river wasn’t going to help her find the answers she sought. She would find him; she wasn’t leaving here without him. She wasn’t ready to throw her fate back into the rapid current, but she didn’t have a choice.
Taking a deep breath, she pulled herself over the rock and down the other side of it. The current propelled her away from the safety of the rock, dropped her down a couple of feet, and then pushed her up again. She ignored the discomfort in her ankle as she kicked toward the rocky shoreline.
After another couple hundred feet, she finally made it to shore and pulled herself onto the rocky riverbank. Her muscles shook as, with most of her energy sapped by the river, she dragged herself further onto the shore. Collapsing onto the rocks, she pressed her cheek onto the cool ground as she inhaled a shaky breath.
The idea of lying here and going to sleep was entirely too enticing, but she pushed herself up. Her arms almost gave out when she got onto her hands and knees. The hunger that had been building these past three days was turning into a fiery inferno burning through her veins with every beat of her heart.
She needed to feed, but first, she had to find Declan and get out of here. Shoving herself to her feet, she bit back a snarl when she swayed and nearly went down, but she managed to catch herself before falling.
She was sick of these things, sick of being scared, and sick of not knowing where Declan was. If he were dead, she’d make every one of these things pay for it. She’d tear them apart piece by tiny piece.
She couldn’t recall a time she’d ever been so angry, but it helped fuel her as she limped her way back toward the waterfall. She scanned the river as she walked but didn’t see Declan anywhere. Refusing to give in to her rising panic for him, Willow made it back to the cliff before tearing her eyes away from the water.
Her gaze ran up the rocky cliff face to the edge, but her sister and the others were gone. The cliffs stretched on for a few hundred feet before vanishing into the trees. She didn’t know what lay beyond there, but she hoped the others didn’t try to come down. By the time they found a way down here, she and Declan would be gone.
Or at least she hoped they would. He had to be here somewhere. Her attention returned to the water pounding into the river. Was he trapped under there?
Willow gulped at the possibility and turned to search the shoreline again, but it remained empty. There was only one way to learn if he was trapped or not, but she had to make sure he hadn’t washed up on shore on the other side of the river or further downstream first. If she couldn’t find him, she’d dive back into the water to search for him, but she couldn’t risk getting trapped too if he was somewhere else and required help.
The idea of him somewhere in danger propelled her faster down the river. She wanted to call out for him, to shout his name to the sky and back, but she didn’t dare open her mouth. There were still too many Savages out there for her to risk it.
A crunch sounded behind her, and she whirled to find the Savage who pulled her off the cliff barreling toward her. She didn’t know where he’d come from, but he was almost on top of her. Willow pulled a stake free and prepared herself to fight, but he only made it two more feet before his head disappeared.
Willow felt as if she’d tumbled into a bizarro land as the body continued to run at her. She jumped to the side to avoid the body and the blood it pumped before it hit the ground.
Turning her attention away from the still twitching Savage, she discovered Declan standing five feet away. His shoulders were rigid, and his fiery red eyes burned so hotly they looked like they could torch the earth.
The Savage’s head thudded on the rocks when it fell limply from his grasp. He ran a hand through his drenched hair, pushing it away from the chiseled planes of his handsome face. The unexpected urge to throw herself into his arms hit her, but she restrained herself as she regained control of her volatile emotions.
“Are you okay?” Declan’s voice came out rougher than he intended, but between her emotions and the sight of that thing charging at her, he wasn’t in complete control of himself.
“Yes. Thank you. I was looking for you.”
“I just got to shore.”
“Yeah,” she muttered, unsure of what else to say.
“We have to go.”
She would have given her left hand for a hot shower and a bed, but as much as every aching muscle in her body begged for a break, her brain propelled her into motion. More Savages would come; they couldn’t stay here.
She didn’t realize Declan held his hand out to her until her fingers slid into his like it was the most natural thing in the world.