The water wasn’t cold; it was a silent, forgiving embrace after a world of betrayal. Then his hands found me.
The shock of the gunshot was nothing compared to the shock of the icy black water closing over my head. The world above — a stage of lies, monsters, and gunfire—vanished into a muffled, suffocating silence. My heavy coat wrapped around my legs like a shroud, pulling me down into the dark. For a second, it was peaceful. An end to the chaos.
Then, strong hands clamped around my arms, shattering the false peace.
Lysander.
He hauled me upward, our bodies breaking the surface in a gasp of frigid air and shared panic. I choked, my lungs burning, my hands scrambling for purchase on the slick leather of his jacket.
“I’ve got you,” he rasped, his voice raw against my ear, a stark contr
