“She will be.” I held her in my arms as she slept in DS, Deep Sleep. “The Bond? What are the chances this will break it? Is there any other way? She doesn’t want to be a Scar.”
Waleron stood at the stream’s edge, his eyes staring into the blackness. “Genevieve is responsible for the Bond and she refuses to break it.”
“Fuck.” Stupid Wraith had no idea the shit-storm she’d caused.
“My theory is that it will break once Danni makes the transformation. The spell is with a female human, not a female Scar.” Waleron crouched and dragged his fingers through the water and then rose again. “I’ll assist on keeping her calm when she wakes from DS. The Wraiths have followed me, unfortunately, and I suspect aren’t too far behind.”
“And if she doesn’t want this?”
“Then she dies. You can’t be taken to the realm with the Bond in place,” Waleron said matter-of-factly. “There is no option.”
This was bullshit. Why the hell would Genevieve screw with us like this? But whether Danni wanted to be a Scar or not, I wouldn’t let her die. “Let’s do this.”
Waleron placed his hand on her forehead and spoke words of waking.
Danni jerked upright and I immediately saw the confusion on her face as she looked around. “What happened?” Danni’s heart raced, but she was no longer shaking and she addressed Waleron in a steady voice.
I felt the energy shift as Waleron filled her with calmness before he spoke, but it was to me. “She must drown. You will bring her back with your breath and your blood.”
“What?” I shouted. “Are you fuckin’ kidding me?”
Waleron raised his brows. “I don’t joke. Ever. It’s the only way. Once she dies, you have minutes to bring her back. Give her your breath and your blood.”
“Drown?” Danni asked, her hand clutched in mine.
“I’ll be as weak as a wilted piece of lettuce if I touch that water. How the hell will I be able to bring her back? What if I can’t bring her back?”
Waleron shrugged. “Then she dies.”
“No.” My hand curled into fist. “I won’t take the risk.”
“Then she dies anyway.” Waleron walked over to a notch in the cavern wall that was about eight by eight and five feet high. “Bring her here.”
“Balen?” Her voice quivered and my chest tightened at the sound.
“Fuck.” Die. I never expected this, and maybe that was why Waleron never said anything. Maybe this was why I’d never heard of any human changing into a Scar.
Die.
She had to die.
I looked at Danni and saw the alarm in her eyes. She heard what we said, knew what was about to happen, and I could do nothing to ease her fear because I was just as fuckin’ terrified.
Waleron had calmed her panic with his mind, but still I sensed her anxiety, the shivers coursing through her body, her heart pumping frantically.
I cupped her head in my hands. “Danni, if there was any other way . . . I promise, I’ll bring you back. I swear to you.”
“I don’t want to drown,” she whispered. “I don’t want to drown, Balen.”
Jesus. I looked to Waleron. “How many others have done this?”
“None.”
“Damn it, promise us it will work.”
“I don’t decide who lives or dies.”
“For Christ’s sake.” Did we have a choice? My tracking ability was already picking up on the Wraiths nearing. Could I force her if she refused in order to save her life? Or was I killing her by doing this?
I pulled her up against my chest. “I can’t let you die, little one. I can’t.” Wasn’t that a fucked up statement. Because no matter what happened—she had to die.
I wanted to run for my life. Unfortunately, running would cost me my life. But then again, so would staying.
Drown. Die. Balen had to bring me back. Holy crap, this was not what I had expected. Maybe chanting some spells, a special drink maybe. But dying? And if I didn’t . . . I’d die anyway.
I knew the Waleron guy was trying to ease the fear, but he had no idea the magnitude of my terror at having to drown. I’d have to force myself to stay under the water against every survival instinct.
“That is why Balen will help you,” Waleron said.
I jerked my gaze to the Taldeburu.
“He’ll keep you from surfacing if that instinct arises. Which it will.”
When I looked up at Balen; he was deathly pale.
Waleron raised his head and looked to the mouth of the cave. “Do it now.”
I wanted to live. I’d survived my mother’s slow, agonizing death, my father’s suicide, and then Ryszard’s torture.
Balen wanted me to fight. His words repeated over and over in my head until I eased out of his embrace and walked to what looked like a stagnant pool of water that sat in the notch of the cave; the blackness ready to suck me under.
“Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.” Could I willingly climb into that water and force myself to drown? No. That was why Balen would keep my head under.
I put my hand on the rocky surface of the edge and climbed into the water. I glanced over at Balen who was tense, eyes hard and brows drawn together.
“Bring me back.” I took a deep breath, maybe my last one and said, “I’m fighting here.”
“Jesus, Danni.”
Cold rushed over my body as I slipped beneath the surface. I held my breath, unable to end this quick and suck the water into my lungs. No, I’d take the long way and hold my breath until nothing was left.