A Promise of Fire (Kingmaker Chronicles, #1)(120)

The satisfaction I ought to feel is absent. I feel…bleak. And light-headed. Panting, I struggle toward the shallow end of the pool. I shouldn’t stay in the water, but it dilutes the blood.

A chill seeps into me, and I start shivering. My heart is heavy, my skin cold. It’s getting harder to breathe. I didn’t want to be right about dying young, and I never thought it would happen like this. The pool is turning pink with my blood, and that’s all I can see.

That, and Griffin’s face when he finds me.

Just hours ago, I was sure I’d never use compulsion on a person, but I start calling for Griffin in my head. I don’t know what else to do, and summoning help isn’t exactly altering minds. But it’s always been those small, seemingly innocuous steps that terrified me, along with Mother’s voice in my head.

He doesn’t come. Maybe he’s too far away. Maybe I’m too weak. More likely he’s immune to compulsion, or maybe I’m just no good at it. The glacial shard around my neck starts turning the water around it to ice. It feels me fading and is working for me.

I’m not ready to give up yet. I never give up. Shadows creep into the edges of my vision, but I push Griffin from my mind and concentrate on sunny blond hair and cobalt eyes.

Kato! Kato! I need you!

I shout for him and picture myself in the bathhouse until everything goes distant and numb. No large, sturdy, dependable man bursts through the doors like I think he will, and I realize I’ve been incredibly stupid. I should have gotten out of the water while I still had the strength to find help.

Slowly, too slowly, I move toward the stairs, water still up to my breasts and my hand gripping the edge of the pool. Blood pounds in my ears, and the steps never seem to get any closer. My legs give out, my hand slides off the edge, and my head slips underwater. Silence engulfs me. I’m going to drown. How utterly ironic.

In this soundless place, my eyes close, and I stop breathing until my body chooses for me. The first liquid lungful burns my chest, choking me. The second rushes in, filling me up. My neck suddenly stings, like someone’s taken a blade and slashed the skin below my ears. The last bubbles of air leave my lungs just as strong hands grip my upper arms and drag me out of the water.

Someone lays me flat on the marble floor. “Don’t be dead. Don’t be dead.”

Kato’s voice shatters the darkness enfolding me.

“Breathe!” he bellows, slamming his hands down on either side of my head.

My chest convulses, and water spews from my throat, gagging me. I choke and cough and breathe, tearing at my wound. The stinging pain in my neck disappears as quickly as it came.

“Get Griffin!” Kato shouts.

Someone sprints out of the bathhouse, the heavy gait ringing like Flynn’s.

“The blood…” I mumble, my lips numb.

“To the Underworld with the blood!” Kato presses his hand to my stomach. I gasp, my body jerking in response.

A few minutes must pass. It feels like seconds. Maybe I black out. Griffin’s voice reaches me next, rough with panic. “Cat! My Gods, Cat!”

Griffin never panics. He’s always infuriatingly calm. I raise my hand, groping for him, and he catches my fingers, squeezing them so hard it hurts.

“I’m sorry,” I whisper, forcing my eyes to open. When he comes into focus, I wish I hadn’t tried so hard to see. The look on his face terrifies me. I see my death in his harrowed gaze, in the stark lines and stricken planes.

“Don’t die,” he orders gruffly. “Don’t you dare die.”

Tears spill from my eyes and slide hotly down the sides of my face.

“Gods damn it!” Griffin explodes. He turns to his brothers. They must have arrived with him. “Piers! Get that healer.”

There’s only one healer among the guests, a solitary man who kept shooting Griffin and me dirty looks during dinner.

“I don’t know which room he’s in.” Piers hesitates. “He didn’t seem friendly.”

“I don’t care!” Griffin snarls. “Get him! Carver, go to the circus grounds. They’re back. Bring Selena here.”

They both leave immediately. If the circus is outside of Sinta City again, I know where Selena is. It’ll take an hour to get there and back. I don’t have that long. I’m surprisingly resistant to death, so I might have made it if I hadn’t been so worried about the blood and Andromeda tracing me to here. I never thought it would take so long for someone to find me. It was stupid to stay in the water. I hate Mother more than ever. She’s cost me everything. Again.

I shiver, my teeth rattling. “I’m cold.”

Griffin visibly pales. He picks me up and cradles me against his chest. His heat feels like a balm, but it’s not enough to warm me. Kato doesn’t take his hand off my wound. He’s up to his elbow in my blood and as white-faced as Griffin.

Flynn paces frantically before taking off at a run. “I think I know where a healer is!”

“Walk with me,” Griffin orders Kato. They leave the bathhouse with me sheltered between them, taking the side entrance to the castle and climbing the stairs. “How did you find her?”

“She was shouting in my head. I thought it was a dream, but it didn’t feel right, so I got Flynn up, and we went searching.”

Griffin’s arms tense around me. “You should have called me.”