Free fate of the alpha - episode 3 by Tasha Black Page B

eyes shot open and he screamed in agony.
    The gun fell to the stone floor with a clatter.
    Charley’s head seemed to melt and ooze into the fingers of the outstretched hand, followed by his neck and torso. He continued to be drawn in, bit by bit, until at last his legs swizzled up into the pulsating red beam of light, and he was gone.
    The light throbbed brighter than before, then pulled inward, darkening for a moment.
    Without warning, it exploded upward, piercing the stone ceiling, and disappeared, leaving them in complete blackness.
    The sound of rushing water poured in from the hole left in its wake.
    One moment, Ainsley was on the stone floor, holding Grace down. The next she was waist deep in frigid water, grasping Grace’s leather belt to pull her up for air. Within seconds the entire chamber was completely flooded.
    Ainsley swam with all her strength, in what she hoped was the direction of the hole left by the creature. She had bumped the domed ceiling, and begun to feel for the opening, when Grace wriggled out of her grasp.
    Determinedly, Ainsley kicked after her friend. Her arms closed on Grace again, but in the tumult, she lost her sense of up and down.
    A beam of light showed her the way, and she swam, dragging Grace after her.
    Despair set in when she saw it was only a broken shard of the key.
    Ainsley snagged it in the hand that wasn’t hooked on Grace’s belt. Her lungs burned with the need for breath as she held the bit of glowing key near her face and let out a tiny bit of precious air.
    In the soft illumination, she watched the bubbles move. They seemed to be going sideways, but she kicked off like mad in their direction.
    They led her back to the smooth, curved stone of the ceiling. She felt around frantically, but couldn’t find the hole.
    Again, she held up the bit of key to search, wondering how much longer she could hold her breath.
    Two strong hands grabbed her from behind, yanking her backwards.
    No, no, no.
    She turned and the light of the key reflected in a sequined eyepatch.
    Cressida.
    Ainsley followed Cressida and soon they had reached the hole. On the other side was more icy water.
    With the last of her strength, Ainsley swam. It grew impossible to hold in the air in her lungs, and she began to let it out, as slowly as she could, not knowing how much further she had to go in the icy blackness.
    Soon, all of her air was gone.
    Ainsley struggled to fight it, but her desperate body tried to breath in the water.
    Miraculously, she broke the surface a moment later, spluttering and coughing as she clawed her way to the mud of a familiar bank.
    She was too desperate for her next breath to appreciate the fact that the tomb of the moroi had been directly below her special place with Erik all along.
    Under the white bark of the sycamore where they’d played, she willed her body not to choke to death, on the water of her own creek.
    Cressida appeared beside her, loosening Ainsley’s death grip on Grace.
    “Get her untied,” Ainsley gasped.
    The air was cold enough that Ainsley could see her own labored breath as she stumbled up the rocky bank and fell to her knees.
    The water she vomited felt pleasantly warm as it flew out of her lungs. She retched a few more times, then turned to Cressida and Grace.
    Grace sat on the bank, staring blankly back into the water.
    “Any sign of that thing?” Ainsley asked Cressida.
    “No,” Cressida shook herself, sending droplets everywhere. “Where would it go?”
    “It’s looking for a quick power fix,” Ainsley hypothesized. “Who are the most powerful people in town?”
    “Ophelia,” Cressida said instantly.
    “Garret,” Ainsley added, the wheels of her mind turning furiously as her accelerated healing kicked in. “I’ll go to Ophelia, you guys go to Garrett. Put the pack on high alert. This thing cannot leave Tarker’s Hollow.”
    Grace still stared into the black water. Ainsley was nearly paralyzed looking at her. Imagining the trajectory of the