Instead, I put the sheath of the knife in between my teeth and turned to grab the rock with my other arm, rising just long enough to fill my lungs. When I went back under, the creature was swimming past. I grabbed the knife and slashed at the last stumpy leg, slicing it clean off. Salandrin writhed in agony, and dark blood filled the water instantly, blinding me.

When it cleared, the monster was gone.

Most likely it had gone back to its lair. I didn’t want to play its cat-and-mouse game; waiting was just making me colder, and I was risking hypothermia the longer I stayed in the water. If I was going to die, far better to get it over with quickly. So I took another breath, propelled myself off the rocks, and swam directly toward the crevice.

The head emerged when I was still only halfway across the lake. I dived toward the bottom, where a crop of stalagmites thrust up into the water like an underground forest. I pulled myself down between them just as the monster swam past, using its strong forelegs to reach for me. The claws met stone and Salandrin shot forward, circling back around for another pass.

Now my choices were greatly diminished. I had only three or four minutes of air with my adrenaline pumping this much, and the moment I went to the surface, the beast would come. In open water, I was as good as dead.

Go for the eyes, Talin had said. He was right. It didn’t matter that the creature wasn’t using its eyes to hunt me. The eyes were the gateway to the brain, and if I stabbed deep enough, the monster would die.

As it passed overhead again, I reached up and took hold of one of the clawed feet on the second pair of legs. The talons dug into my flesh, but I held on with all my strength as the creature writhed in the water. It turned to snap at me, but I was too far back for it to reach me. I stabbed the knife into the thick flesh of its side and let go of the talon, my own blood mingling with the monster’s. Wedging my fingers into the soft flesh, I withdrew the knife and stabbed again. Hand over hand, I made my way toward its head.

Salandrin thrashed harder, and I nearly lost my grip on the knife. There was blood everywhere from the multiple stab wounds, and my air supply was getting too low. I fought the pain in my lungs as I made my slow progress along the creature’s back. When it stopped wriggling, I briefly wondered if I’d managed to draw enough blood to kill it, but then it shot forward so suddenly I would have been ripped off had I not grabbed hold of its spiny dorsal fin just in time.

I looked up and realized it was heading back toward its lair. I didn’t want to end up in the crevice with the beast, where I would be blind in the dark. It could be much deeper than it looked, and if I got myself trapped in there, I’d drown.

I was almost at the neck—I had to make my move now. With all my strength, I surged forward and drove the knife deep into the soft spot where the neck met the head. The pain disoriented the creature for a moment, and it slammed into the wall next to the crevice, pinning me against the rock. The monster’s body tensed and I involuntarily screamed as its ribs burst through its flesh, narrowly missing me. It was a horrifying defense mechanism, but it was undeniably effective.

I was out of air. I was trapped between two of Salandrin’s ribs, which were as sharp as daggers and three times as long. And I’d dropped the knife.

The ribs retracted suddenly, and before I could think, the monster shot into its lair. I didn’t know how long I had, so I pushed up toward the surface, gasping for breath to fill my burning lungs.

My frantic eyes found Talin’s, just a few feet away. He reached out for me. Then searing pain shot through my leg as Salandrin grabbed me and pulled me back below the surface. I was caught in the monster’s jaws, its teeth clamped tight around my right leg. I expected it to open its mouth and suck me in right there, but instead it circled the lake until I was again out of air and faint from blood loss.

It came close enough to the surface once that I was able to take a breath before it went back down. It was toying with me, torturing me—killing me slowly instead of eating me right away.

As it passed in front of the crowd gathered on the shore, I lifted myself up enough for what I was sure was my last breath. And then I saw Talin’s hand, reaching out for me once again. I reached for him, too, but instead of flesh, my hand met metal, and as the creature dived, I realized I had a knife in my hand.

Without thinking, I twisted around until my torso was lined up with the beast’s eye, and then I plunged the knife into the eyeball with all my strength, elbow-deep in blood and mush, too numb to even feel what I was doing. The jaws released instantly, and my hands slipped free of the knife. I kicked toward the surface with my uninjured leg and felt a strong arm gripping mine before my terror exploded into blackness.

      24

   I woke in my chambers. I had no idea how much time had passed or who had tended to me, but my injured hand and leg were bound in soft white bandages. There was no pain, and I suspected I had probably healed already.

I sat up and reached for the pitcher of water on my nightstand. Ceren was asleep in a chair that must have been brought in while I was unconscious, but when I set the pitcher back down, his gray eyes flashed open, immediately finding me.

“You’re awake.” He rose and came to the edge of my bed.

I recoiled when he reached for my hand, hurrying to cover myself with the blankets. “What are you doing here, my lord? Where’s Ebb?”

“Your maid was exhausted from keeping watch over you all night and day. I told her to go get some rest.”

I knew my injuries were extensive, but I hadn’t realized the damage was that serious. “I’ve been unconscious an entire day?”

“A little more. I’ll send for the doctor to change your bandages.”

I shook my head and tried to keep the panic out of my voice. “Please, don’t.”

His brows knitted together. “Why not?”

Because I don’t want you to see that I’m already healed. “I just want to know what happened.”

He settled farther onto my bed. “Talin pulled you out of the water. Your leg wasn’t torn as badly as we’d feared. The royal physician dressed your wounds. I fed you some broth with ground-up pearls. I believe that’s why you have so little pain.”

I didn’t correct his mistake. Let him think it was the pearls that had healed me. “Where is Prince Talin now?”

The worry on his face evaporated. “He’s back at Old Castle. Where he belongs.”

“Of course. I only wanted to thank him. Without the knife—both knives—I would have died.”

“I’m sure you’ll see him soon enough.” He was quiet for a moment, and then he huffed out a soft laugh. “It’s funny—you escaped the rumors that you’d saved me from a water spirit at Lake Elwin, only to then face one yourself here in Mount Ayris. The nobles are calling you a witch.”