Ancient Magic (Dragon's Gift: The Huntress #1)(25)

I grabbed a rock near the tunnel entrance and pulled myself toward it. There was only blackness beyond. It led into the mountain. This was it.

Aidan swam beside me, but he let me go in first. I kicked forward, my lungs burning and my boots making me slow. I really needed to practice my breath-holding. For a treasure hunter, this was pathetic. Lara Croft would be ashamed of me.

The tunnel was only about four feet in diameter. Don’t think about the size. Tight spaces had never gotten me before. I hated them but I always won. I kicked and pulled myself along the rocks—anything to reach the end.

But the end wouldn’t come. It was still dark and closed in. My lungs were on fire. If I wasn’t halfway there by now, I was dead.

I scrambled around, ready to retreat. My number one rule in cave swimming—if you only have half your breath left but can’t see the end, abort. It’s your only chance at living.

I pushed at Aidan, expecting him to turn and swim back out. He didn’t move. Fear surged in my chest. I wanted to scream at him. Though I knew I could make him hear me through the water, I couldn’t let go of my air like that. I kicked myself forward, pushing. I couldn’t get around him—there wasn’t enough space. Didn’t he know my lungs were smaller than his?

Suddenly, he pushed me forward. Panic clawed at me. I fought him, but he pushed me faster. I was flying through the water, completely disoriented.

Was I going up? What was—?

I broke the surface and sucked air into my burning lungs. It was dark all around me. My heartbeat thundered in my ears, deafening in the dark. Where was Aidan? I fumbled in an inner pocket of my jacket and pulled out a charmed lightstone. I shoved the ring onto my finger. It was too clunky to wear as jewelry, but the addition of the ring band made it easy to carry in situations like this.

I relied a lot on charmed objects like these. When I held it up, its glow illuminated the giant cave. An underground lake with a domed ceiling of stone soared above.

I spun, then jerked back, splashing. A creature with a smooth head and narrow snout looked at me.

Holy crap, a sea lion. A haze of gray light obscured the sea lion’s head. When it faded, Aidan treaded water in its place.

“Seriously? A sea lion?” My voice echoed in the cavern.

“I don’t like becoming a fish.” He shuddered. “The gills.”

“For magic’s sake!” I shouted. “You weirdo. You scared the crap out of me!”

“We didn’t exactly have a chance to talk about our plan back there.”

“Yeah, I thought I was going to drown!” I splashed him, then kicked off for the ledge of rock at one side of the pool.

“There were trolls at the other end.”

“I’d rather fight a couple trolls than drown,” I wheezed as I pulled myself out of the water. “Then I could have gone and rented scuba tanks like a normal person. How did you even know there was an exit?”

“Once I changed, I could sense it.” He heaved himself gracefully out of the water and stood beside me. I ignored him as I stomped my feet and shook myself off. I patted the knives at my thighs, grateful to find them still there. Though I collected loads of weapons, these were my favorites. The others were more like art to me. These were my workhorses.

“I’m sorry I scared you,” he said.

I scowled at him. But he did look genuinely contrite. And we had made it down here.

“Fine. Just next time you’re going to push me deeper into an underwater cave, warn me first.” I shivered. “Freaking freezing in here.”

“I know how to warm you up,” he said. His gaze was hot enough to heat me to my core.

“If you’re going to say body heat, don’t even think it.” But he’d made me think it.

“The offer’s there.”

Yes. I really wanted to take him up on it. No, idiot. I shook the tempting thought away. No matter how good he looked—and with his shirt plastered to his muscled chest, he looked really good—that was a bad idea. He was a powerful mage. He was the freaking Origin. If he hung out with me too long, he’d eventually sense what I was.

I’d have to ditch him as soon as this job was over. More than likely, I’d have to destroy the scroll as well. How I was going to do that without him noticing, I wasn’t sure. But I’d figure it out when I got to it.

I dragged my mind away from that miserable thought and looked around the cavernous space. Shivers wracked me, but as with everything that scared me, I tried to ignore it.

“If you’re not going to take advantage of my kind offer of body heat, let me at least dry you off the boring way,” Aidan said.

My gaze darted to his. “The boring way?”

He held out a hand, and a flame burst to life in his palm.

“A Fire Mage,” I said. They were strong. Suspicion hit me. “All four?”

“Yes.”

Whew. Figured he could control earth, wind, fire, and water. That was super rare. Someone who could control all four was called an Elemental Mage. There were probably only a few in the world.

Was there anything average about this guy?

“But not all are equally strong,” he added. “Fire and water are my strengths.”

“Yeah, yeah. You’re a freaking weakling. Thank god I’m not in a cursed temple with you as backup.” I edged closer to the flame he held in his hand. It was warmer than a normal flame, and I could feel it drying my clothes.