Blood of the Fey (Morgana Trilogy) Read Online Free Page B

again.
    I take another look toward the shore. Nobody seems to care about what’s happening, just Dean waving frantically at me. But I can’t go back, not until I find that brother of mine. A lump as fat as two years’ worth of cat hair balls forms in my throat.
    Before I can let myself truly panic, I take a deep breath and plunge down into the cold water again. I concentrate on my strokes, keeping my movements regular. Down here, where I can’t hear or see anything, I lose track of time and distance. The only thing present in my mind is that I have to save Arthur.
    I try not to think about Agnès as I continue swimming down, deeper and deeper. I don’t know how much longer I can hold my breath. My lungs are burning. Something grazes my arm, going from my wrist to my elbow, then back. I jerk away and open my eyes out of reflex.
    It’s all I can do not to gasp and breathe in water. I see two white-blue orbs head in my direction, followed by an elongated jaw the size of my hand and filled with sharp teeth. I make to swim away, but something grabs my ankle and yanks me farther down into the lake’s aphotic depths. I try to kick at whatever’s holding me, but my head feels heavy, and my limbs are barely responding to my fuzzy brain’s commands. If only I could get some air…
    More of those strange glowing orbs appear, like the antennae of anglerfish I’ve seen in biology class. And there’s a lot of them. Fancy meeting so many down here…
    I giggle, and water rushes into me. I want to cough, but only manage to swallow more water. I make one last attempt to free myself. I reach for my feet, feel around my ankle…Something slick and bony is wrapped around it. If this is one of Arthur’s jokes, he’s so going to pay…for…it…
    Something then grabs me around the middle, and I give up. I let go and let it take me away. I’m weightless, free. Soon, all my worries will melt away as well. No more deaths, no more accusations…no more rejection…just…peace.

     
    A punch to the sternum wakes me up, and I cough out water. The coughing doesn’t stop as I gasp in air. I roll onto my stomach, a loud roaring sound in my ears, or is that heavy purring? More water spews out of me, and I shudder. I feel like I’ve just been pulled out of a washing machine and wrung out to dry. I hear someone laugh.
    “Morgan!”
    I groan as someone pushes me over and I roll onto my back, my drenched clothes squishing beneath me.
    “Morgan!”
    Someone slaps my cheeks.
    “Ssstooooooop,” I croak.
    I blink through thick strands of hair stuck to my face and find myself staring into a pair of ever more familiar hazel eyes. I slap the face away. Definitely not the first thing I wanted to see upon dying.
    That laugh comes back. “Well, she’s alive an’ kickin’ at least.”
    Alive? My hand falls back onto my chest, and, despite my labored breathing, I can feel the quick thump-thumping of my heart. By all that’s holy on this earth, I
am
alive!
    For a moment, all I can do is look up at the inky sky above, where a few stars manage to wink at me before disappearing again.
    “Probably should get her to the infirmary,” Arthur says.
    I shift my gaze to the four people around me, their profiles lit up by a lantern hanging somewhere behind them—Arthur, a couple of other boys, and a girl, are all staring down at me. I really, really hate always finding myself being looked down upon. I push myself up into a sitting position and immediately regret that decision, as my head feels like it’s about to split in two.
    “Whoa there,” says the laughing boy, reaching for me before I can crumple to the ground again. “Take it easy now. You just had one hell of a swim!”
    Swim. Right. I glare up at Arthur. “I almost drowned because of you!”
    “Who is this, Arthur?” asks the girl. Her voice would’ve sounded divine if it hadn’t been filled with disgust.
    “Morgan,” Arthur finally says after a long pause. “My sister.”
    “You had