[Isolde]
I lay sprawled across Nikolai’s chest, my lungs burning as I dragged in ragged breaths. My whole body trembled—whether from cold, fear, or the aftershock of whatever had just happened, I couldn’t tell which. Maybe it was all of it.
“What did you just say?” Nikolai’s voice came through the sound of my gasping. His hand was still on my back, steadying me, but there was an edge to his tone now. Confusion. Maybe even concern.
I tried to form words, but my throat felt raw, like I’d been screaming underwater. And maybe I had been. I didn’t know anymore.
What I did know was what I’d felt down there.
Something—no, someone—had grabbed hold of me beneath the lake. Not just brushed past me or bumped into me. Grabbed! And with the intent of pulling me down, deeper into the lake, toward s
