𝙒𝙝𝙤 𝙠𝙣𝙚𝙬 𝙛𝙞𝙣𝙙𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙡𝙤𝙫𝙚 𝙘𝙤𝙪𝙡𝙙 𝙗𝙚 𝙨𝙤 𝙙𝙖𝙣𝙜𝙚𝙧𝙤𝙪𝙨?
Newly graduated accountant Cordelia Ashling has come to terms with the fact that her life is destined to be absolutely uneventful. That is until her parents gift her wi...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
I have lived through some of the most horrific events in both human and supe history—death, injustice, pure evil. But not one of them has sent me into a panic like watching Cordelia disappear under the water. The fear in her eyes and the scream ripped from her throat was my worst nightmare come to life.
I dive under the water. Her blurry figure thrashes as it is dragged into the deep end. She kicks and claws for the surface but remains locked in place at the bottom of the pool. I swim to her and wrap my arm around her torso. With the other, I stroke toward the surface but am met with resistance. No matter how hard I try, Cordelia doesn't budge.
Bubbles float from her mouth and her movements turn sluggish. She is desperate to take a breath; that much is clear. She curls in on herself, her hands fumbling with something around her ankle. A rope. Someone has tethered her to the bottom of the pool.
I push her hands away and set to work loosening the knot. Cordelia tries to remain still, but as the seconds pass, her need to take a breath has her reaching for the surface. My attention is divided between her face and the damn knot. The rope slips through my fingers, and I can't seem to get any give from it. With time running out, I lean in close to her foot and take the cord between my teeth. It snaps in two when I sink my fangs into it.
Cordelia's head pops out of the water, and I'm close behind her. She gasps for air as I guide her to the side of the pool. Something in my peripheral catches my attention, and I catch a dark figure darting toward the back of the property. Part of me wants to chase after it, but I have a stronger desire to stay with Cordelia.
"Are you alright?" I ask, scanning her face for any indication that she needs more help than I can offer. Humans are so delicate, and I forget just how easily their lives can be snuffed out.
"My...inhaler..." she gasps, pointing toward the purse she brought with her, now hanging on the back of her chair.
Fuck, her asthma. "Oh, shit, yes, I'll get it," I say as I plant my palms on the side of the pool and launch myself out in one motion, sprinting to her purse and grabbing the inhaler from where it sits on top of everything inside.
When I get back to where she's now sitting on the concrete step, her head buried in her hands, hair tangled between her fingertips.
"Here, Cordelia," I murmur, tipping her chin up with two fingers and pressing the inhaler to her lips. She takes it from me and presses down until she is taking the medication into her lungs, and after a few seconds, she's breathing normally again, and the color is coming back into her cheeks.
"Shit," she mutters, laying the inhaler on the side of the pool, her shoulders deflating until she's leaning against my side. "What the fuck was that?"
"I don't know," I say, my gaze falling on something white stuck in the strap of her bikini top. Paper. A folded piece of paper. I gently pull it out and unfold the soggy note.
