Labyrinth: Acropolis Series Book II (18 page)

My eyes move down the line of hybrids. Deidra
has quit struggling and I watch as her eyes close, passing out
against the lack of oxygen. Gray is still slack and Fiona, Bruno,
and Lyre are struggling now for air. Gwenyth doesn't fight. She
just looks sleepy, relieved. Maybe she hopes for death.

I feel the pull of darkness, and my gaze
moves back to Deidra, her beautiful, curly black hair floating
behind her slack face. I've lost too much. If Deidra is gone, I
won't be able to go on. Darkness seems the better ally suddenly,
and I let it take me.

Oblivion.

Sweet oblivion.

Chapter 24

Conor

I feel Emma's hand go slack in mine, and I
turn to see her fading away. Beside her Deidra is gone. She hasn't
been without oxygen long enough to be dead, but I'm not sure it
will matter now. Gray is in even worse condition.

I scream into the wave, using every bit of
gargoyle magic I know to call to the water. My magic surges forth,
and I revel momentarily in the power before showing it all
forward.

"Go, seep into the stone, into crevices,
anywhere but here," I say, my mouth moving urgently.

The water seems to pause as if listening. I
keep moving forward, screaming. I am not struggling for air. The
water makes me stronger. Gargoyles don't breathe water, we absorb
it into our bodies. Our lungs expand, the air in it trapped for as
long as we need, protected. Any water I breathe in absorbs and then
releases through my skin. It comes nowhere near my lungs. I've
heard of gargoyles dying of a lot of things, but fluid build up in
the lungs is not one of them.

My magic hits a barrier, and I realize
someone else is controlling the water. Our powers collide, and I
recoil. A Demon? I reach out again, my power slicing through the
waves. When it hits the foreign magic, I don't withdraw, I force
myself forward. I won't let the hybrids die. I won't let Emma
die.

"Water, be gone!" I order.

My power surprises the user who controls the
wave, and I feel the water lowering, easing to the cavern floor. I
push upward, dragging the hybrids with me until my head breaks the
surface, the space between the cave's ceiling and the floor minimal
but doable. Fiona, Lyre, and Bruno break the surface
sputtering.

"Get the rest up!" I yell, and they weakly
obey.

Fiona pulls Deidra close as I gather Emma in
my arms. Neither one of them move. No breath escapes their
lips.

I scream furiously at the water, my anger too
powerful against the mysterious user in the cavern for him to
maintain his control. Gargoyles are barriers against evil, a friend
of stone and water. I use that because I know I will succeed if I
do.

The water obeys, lowering quickly this time,
seeping away in whirls as if a stopper has been jerked out of a
drain. We all slam into the floor, the breathing hybrids bracing
the ones who do not move.

"Damn it!" Bruno and I yell simultaneously,
and our eyes meet, both of our gazes full of determined
anguish.

It hits us both at the same time.

"Do it, Gargoyle!" Bruno orders, and I focus
my powers on Gray, Gwenyth, Deidra, and Emma, forcing the water
from their lungs as Bruno gathers his power over air.

Fiona and Lyre turn the hybrids over on their
sides as water seeps from their mouths, and Bruno forces oxygen
into their lungs.

Gwenyth coughs first, gasping as her body
arches off of the ground, and Lyre wraps her arms around her chest,
squeezing as Gwenyth vomits. It makes the corridor smell sour but
no one cares. It's the sound of life.

I kneel next to Emma.

"Come on, Em!" I urge desperately.

There is more vomiting but when I look up,
it's Deidra instead of Gwenyth, her small body curled in the fetal
position as Fiona rubs her back and encourages her to breathe.

I let my head hang.

"Emma," I whisper. "Please."

I can't lose her now. I can't lose her when
we haven't even had a decent start. I can't lose her.

"Pump his chest," Bruno says, and I glance at
him as he and Lyre begin CPR on Gray. The water is out of his
lungs, but he still isn't breathing.

"Come help me," I tell Fiona, and she nods,
settling next to Emma as I roll her onto her back. We're all
reverting to basic first aid. I was trained in it long ago, and the
hybrids were trained by Marion.

I breathe into Emma's mouth as Fiona pumps
her chest, counting. I wait and breathe again.

"Come on, Emma! Dammit! Gray needs you!
Hell,
I
need you!"

I know how she is about helping others, and I
use that. No response.

I look up at Fiona.

"Again!"

She nods, and I breathe. Fiona pumps.

I am just about to breathe again when Emma
coughs, and I move aside just quick enough to miss her vomiting on
the cavern floor, the exact spot where I had been sitting. I smile
because I know it would mortify her to know that.

"Emma?" I say.

Her water-reddened eyes open, and I place a
hand against her head.

"Emma, are you okay?"

She nods against my palm, rolling to the side
with her hand against her chest. I lean over her, my hand running
down her body. Emma. Beautiful, practical, caring Emma. She is the
total opposite of me. I run from emotion, she stays and embraces it
the best she can. I need her. In many ways, I love her.

Bruno swears from behind me, and I look over
my shoulder before turning back to Emma.

"You've gotta get up, Em. We need your
help."

She moans just as Bruno walks over, his head
shaking.

"Gray's breathing, but his head injury is
bad, and I think there may be some damage to his lungs. His
breathing is not normal."

I look back down at Emma. "We're all alive.
Do you hear me, Em? We're all alive, but Gray needs you.
Please."

She rolls back over, gasping, and I support
her back so she can sit up, my lips pressing against her forehead,
my eyes meeting hers. We can do this. Together we can do this.

"Deidra?" she asks.

"Fine," I answer, and I move her head to the
side so she can see the young imp curled on the floor, her
breathing steady. Lyre is next to Deidra now, and her gaze meets
Emma's.

"She's fine," Lyre says, but then she moves
aside and Gray is suddenly in view, his face pale, his breathing
too deep, hollowing out with each gasp, to be normal. His head is a
swollen mess. "But he's not."

Emma struggles to stand, and I pull her to me
as she stumbles.

"Let me," I say, and she doesn't argue.

I half carry her to Gray's side, and she
falls to her knees, her hands coming to rest gently against his
head.

"Can you help him?" Bruno asks.

Emma looks at him.

"I honestly don't know. It might help if we
pool our powers."

All of the hybrids, even a crawling Gwenyth
and Deidra, move to Emma, their hands coming to rest on her back
and shoulders.

"Do it," Bruno says.

He speaks for all of them and Emma leans over
Gray, her eyes closed. I see nothing other than Emma's hands
against Gray's brows, but I know she's doing something.

She pulls away suddenly and dry heaves, but
the other hybrids don't remove their hands, and she quickly returns
hers to Gray. The swelling in his head seems to be going down, and
I near the group slowly, hopefully.

"Come on, Gray!"

Emma's words are high, frantic.

Gwenyth slumps, her hand falling, too weak to
hold on to Emma, her sobs obvious.

"No more," she says. "We can't lose any
more."

I kneel beside Gwenyth, taking her beneath
the armpits to prop her up against my side. I lift her hand and
place it back on Emma.

"No more," I agree.

The tears she cries are steady, and I feel
the way Emma stiffens as my hand covers Gwenyth's on her back.

Emma looks over her shoulder, her eyes
bright.

"Can you place your other hand on me too?"
she asks.

I want to make a lurid joke about hands and
bodies, but I don't have anymore humor left in me. I nod instead,
shifting Gwenyth so that she leans against my chest, my arms on
each side of her. I keep one hand over Gwenyth's, but I place the
other fully against Emma's back.

Emma's eyes redden.

"I can feel your power," she says hoarsely.
"It can help. Don't block any emotions from me."

I nod again, and she turns away, her hands on
Gray as she peers closely at his face. Her eyes close once more. I
don't block my emotions, and I send the confusing whirl of feelings
at Emma. After a moment, Bruno relaxes.

"It's working. He's breathing easier."

Gwenyth's crying has stopped now, her eyes on
Gray. His breathing is more even, less labored, and the swelling on
his face is almost gone.

"But is it helping?" I ask.

Emma doesn't answer. She simply continues to
lean over Gray. Her eyes are open now, red and determined.

"You can do it, Gray," she whispers.

The words seem to be enough. One moment Gray
is unconscious, the next he's staring at us all, his eyes wide and
full of fear.

He starts to thrash, and we all quickly move
to restrain him. Out of all of the hybrids who've suffered most
from our under water jaunt, Gray vomits the most, his body wracked
with heaving spasms even after there is nothing to throw up.

"Gray?" Emma says gently.

He looks up, his wild eyes meeting
Emma's.

"Do you know where you are?" she asks.

He nods. "Labyrinth . . .
gasp
. . . water . . .
gasp
. . . dreams . . . "

His head rolls to the side, and Emma sits up,
her eyes skirting the group. Gray is alive. Traumatized, his mind
probably seeing things the rest of are missing, but he's alive.
Gray starts dry heaving again, and Emma rubs his back.

I settle Gwenyth against Fiona as I stand up,
rubbing the back of my head irritably. There's a nagging pain just
above my neck, and I walk away from the group, moving to the cavern
wall so I can touch the stone.

"Are you alright?" Emma asks, and I look up
to see her standing not far from me, her own hand on the stone to
keep from falling. We are all weak, tired.

"I'm fine," I say just as another wave of
pain hits me. It almost forces me to my knees, but I fight it,
standing straight, my narrowed eyes on the tunnel in front of
me.

"Who are you?" I ask, the question loud
enough to echo.

The hybrids stiffen, the strongest ones among
them supporting the weakest as they all fight to stand. Only Gray
remains on the cavern floor, the hybrids standing in front of him
defensively. Emma scoots closer to me, and I hold an arm out to
her. She takes it without hesitation and steps into my embrace.

"You foil me, Gargoyle. Honestly, it was a
little surprising."

The man that follows the voice isn't
intimidating in the least. He is only a little taller than Deidra,
maybe five foot even, with a rotund belly and a round face. When he
smiles, he even reminds me of a beardless Santa Claus, the same one
on the Coca-Cola cans at Christmas, but I'd felt his power under
the waves. He is the antithesis of Santa.

"How's the head?" the man asks.

I grimace as another sharp pain slides
through my neck and travels up the back of my head. I feel Emma put
her arm around my waist, and I realize I must have faltered some
with the pain.

"Kunopaston," I say through gritted
teeth.

This Demon I know. I know him because
gargoyles are required to learn the Demons who may effect them the
most. Kunopaston has as much of an affinity with water as
gargoyles. He's a powerful Demon with a mischievous nature. He
plays games with men at sea, capsizing ships even in the midst of
calm waters. The gargoyles even suspect he has something to do with
most of the disappearances over the Bermuda Triangle.

The Demon's eyes widen.

"Ho, but you know me, Gargoyle? Call me Kunos
then. A shorter name among friends."

Another pain hits me, and Emma almost falls
as she braces us both against the wall. I place a hand against my
forehead. There is sweat there now as I try to fight his power. We
are in Hell. This is Kunos' domain.

"We are
not
friends," I spit.

The short man shrugs.

"So be it."

The pain that comes next is disabling, and I
fall to my knees, taking Emma with me. She doesn't falter even as
her knees hit the stone below.

"You banter with the gargoyle, Demon, when
the labyrinth's real test is for the hybrids."

Emma's voice is strong when she faces Kunos
while pulling herself up onto one knee, and I fight to push myself
up as well. Under water I had beaten Kunos. He is angry, and I know
it. Weakness is a tool he will use.

Kunos eyes Emma, his gaze stealthy. "You
defend him easily, daughter of Enepsigos."

I manage to get one knee up even as the pain
rips through me again. I fight it.

"
Our
fight, Kunos," I manage, and his gaze swings back to
me.

He grins. "So it is. You gargoyles plague me,
you know. So much more I could do in the sea if it wasn't for your
kind."

I'm almost standing now despite the pain, and
I try to focus on the man before me even as my vision blurs.
Headaches are the worst kind of weapon. They are crippling,
draining. Nausea sweeps me, and it becomes a chore keeping my head
up. The muscles in my neck tense against the pain, and a dull pain
forms between my shoulder blades.

"You only hate us because we're stronger," I
say.

My words are weak, forced, but they are
effective. Kunos' face falls, his image the blurred mirage of a man
and a seahorse. I blink, and he's a man again. Pain explodes behind
my eyes, and I put the heels of my hands against them, pressing
hard.