As if the arrow had known exactly where to go, it landed before a dragon statue, illuminating it in the darkness.
Tall. Elegant. Carved with impossible detail.
Its wings partially unfurled, its eyes set with gems that shimmered even in the black water.
Nova drifted toward it, her hair floating like pale silk in the water, her hand outstretched. Her fingertips nearly made contact with the dragon's head when the darkness behind her moved.
A black, thick tentacle covered in jagged spikes shot out of the void and wrapped around her ankle with brutal force.
Before she could scream, she was yanked backward so hard bubbles exploded around her.
Rex reacted instantly, eyes glowing gold.
His tore his sword from his back and kicked towards her with vicious strength, closing the space between them.
The tentacle tightened and Rex slashed.
The blade tore through the spiked limb, severing it with a violent shockwave that rippled through the lake. Nova's ankle ripped free, pain shooting up her leg as the creature recoiled into the shadows.
The severed piece thrashed wildly before dissolving into black silt.
Rex grabbed Nova's waist, pulling her against him, sword raised, eyes scanning the dark water around them for whatever else was waiting.
The lakebed rumbled. Something enormous shifted in the abyss beyond the statue. Something with more than one tentacle.
Nova's fingers tightened on Rex's arm, the two of them illuminated only by the fading glow of her arrow and the golden shimmer of his skin.
And in the darkness, a second tentacle shot directly towards them.
Rex slashed just in time. The limb recoiled, dissolving into ink-black silt.
He didn't waste a second.
Arm still around Nova, he swam her back toward the golden statue. Her ankle was bleeding, a slow ribbon of red drifting through the water like smoke.
Nova reached out and her fingers brushed the dragon's head.
A burst of sapphire light erupted outward, flooding the lake with a steady, pulsing glow. Shadows fled and for the first time, they could truly see the lakebed.
In the distance, a token gold glimmered, resting in an identical dragon statue's mouth.
Nova's stomach dropped.
She looked at Rex, uncertain if they would have enough air.
He didn't let doubt settle long enough to grow.
Rex took her bow from her shoulder and lined up the shot. His eyes could barely make out the token's pedestal, but he trusted instinct more than sight.
He fired.
The arrow streaked through the water faster than any arrow had a right to travel.
A gold rope burst from it a moment later. Rex let go of Nova, grabbing the rope with one hand, sword in the other. She grabbed the rope with both hands, eyes scanning for predators.
When they landed, he slid the bow back into her quiver.
Nova quickly grabbed the token, wrapping the chain attached around her wrist.
Rex yanked Nova back against his chest and shot upward, kicking hard, swimming with all his alpha strength.
They needed air.
His lungs burned and hers were spasming against him.
The pressure squeezed them like fists.
They were halfway to the surface when the water ahead split open.
Something enormous barreled toward them—shark-like, but warped, mutated. Its jaw was far too wide and it had many rows of jagged teeth spiraling in it's mouth.
It tasted Nova's blood in the water. It lunged.
Rex swung his sword, slicing its snout. The creature reeled, shrieking through the water.
In that same second, tentacles rocketed towards them. Thick, black, spiked, and too fast to dodge.
One coiled around Nova's ankle. Another wrapped her thigh. A third slammed around her waist.
She was ripped from Rex's arms in an instant, dragged backward into the darkness so violently bubbles exploded between them.
Rex swam after her, feeling every ounce of her terror through their matebond.
Different tentacles erupted around him. These were thicker. Armored. Barbed.
One slammed around his torso, squeezing hard enough to knock the breath from him. Another wrapped his leg and yanked downward. A third coiled around his throat—tightening.
White spots burst in Rex's vision. His lungs screamed for air. His fingers numbed. The pressure around his neck pulsed like a vice.
He tried to slash but his arm jerked backward as another tentacle clamped around his wrist.
He couldn't move or see Nova anymore.
He fought to free himself, desperate to get back to her.
Another tentacle shot out of the darkness— fast, needle-sharp. It punched straight through his chest and his entire body seized. His vision exploded white.
A wet, choking sound escaped his throat as the monster dragged him downward, pressure crushing in from all sides.
His bracelet ignited.
A blinding flash slammed outward from the thin band around his wrist, magic snapping like a whip. The lake and tentacles vanished.
He hit the stone on his knees, exactly where Nova had carved the rune in Redmoon. He coughed hard, blood spattering the ground. His hand flew to the puncture wound in his chest.
"Fuck!" he roared, voice raw, thick, furious—and terrified. He was gasping for air, lungs not working.
Fin and Redmoon snapped their heads towards him.
"Rex—where is she?! What happened?!" Fin asked. He had been down there for hours, waiting, pacing, and imagining every possible horror.
Rex tried to answer, but choked on the words. He coughed again, hand pressed to his chest.
He couldn't get enough air. Couldn't see straight.
"Don't move!" Alpha Redmoon barked, sprinting toward his son who was bleeding out. His voice cracked with a depth of fear Rex had only heard once before in his life.
"Rex—stay still!"
Rex tried to push himself up anyway—pure instinct, pure panic for Nova—but his arm buckled beneath him, and he dropped with a ragged gasp.
A portal rippled open beside them. Hyran and Alejandro stepped through immediately.
Alejandro didn't waste time. He dropped to his knees, grabbed the zipper of Rex's thermal weave suit, and yanked it down.
His face blanched the moment he saw the damage beneath. Blood pooled too fast and there were several jagged spikes lodged deep near his ribs.
"Gods…" Alejandro muttered under his breath.
Hyran wrapped his hand in a strip of cloth, braced one palm over Rex's shoulder, and gripped the first spike.
"Hold him," Hyran ordered.
Redmoon and Alejandro held him down.
Hyran pulled. Rex screamed.
A raw, guttural sound tore out of him—one no seasoned warrior, no alpha, no hardened fighter ever made unless something truly, viciously hurt. The sound cracked straight through Fin's spine.
Rex's breathing hitched as Hyran pulled another spike free.
"In… danger," he rasped. "I need… to get back to her."
He tried to sit up.
Hyran shoved him down with a palm to the chest. "Stop moving. You're bleeding out."
Red magic curled from Hyran's hands—thin wisps tugging at the wound pulling out dark magic like threads being drawn from fabric. It peeled away slowly, in agonizing pulls.
Alejandro pressed both palms over Rex's chest. Gold magic spilled from him. It was warm, steady, drying the blood, stabilizing the pulse, pushing heat back into Rex's limbs.
Hyran pushed deeper with the red magic next—stronger, hotter—his hands glowing like embers as he sealed what he could. Alejandro wrapped Rex's torso with quick, efficient movements, his healer's instinct sharp and measured.
No one spoke for several seconds. Then Alejandro and Hyran exchanged a glance.
A loaded one.
A silent one.
Because as they worked, they felt something inside Rex. Something humming beneath his skin, something expanding, glowing, shifting.
A power that hadn't been there when he left.
A power that now matched the undercurrent they'd only ever sensed in Fin and Jax.
Neither healer said it aloud.
And Hyran didn't dare to mindlink with Rex.
With the cuffs they had on, he wasn't sure of the privacy available and did not with the risk of exposing what might not be theirs to know.
Fin sank to his knees beside Rex, voice breaking.
"We'll get back to her," he said, gripping Rex's shoulder. "We will. But you're not dying on us today."
Rex closed his eyes, jaw tight, breath shaking.
"What day is it?" Rex gritted out, sweat beading along his hairline as Hyran pushed more magic into his chest.
Hyran didn't pause. "Same day you left. Afternoon now. How much time passed for you?"
Rex's breath hitched. "At least thirty-six hours… if I had to guess."
Fin's jaw tightened so hard the muscle jumped.
It'd been over a full day for Nova fighting gods-know-what.
Alejandro and Hyran finished binding the last wrap and each hooked an arm under Rex's, hauling him carefully to his feet. Rex's legs nearly gave out, but he forced them to lock.
"I'm not leaving here," Rex said, voice firm despite the tremor.
Meaning one thing, clear as a war horn:
I'm not leaving her.