Her lungs screamed in her chest.
The cold, dark water buffeted her, dragging her toward a rocky mound with an opening in it like a vacant, staring eye. Fighting the force of the current, Keira spun, her hair and clothes tangling around her. She caught sight of Walker, standing on the Darkside ground, panicked and helpless, his arms outstretched.
His reaching hands shot through her memory. The feel of them, cupping her ribs as he helped her across the rocks, was stronger than the chill of the dark ocean, stronger than the press of the water against her.
She slid through the barrier into Darkside and lay gasping on the blissfully dry ground.
Her mouth tasted like the sea and Keira pushed the thought out of her mind. She wanted nothing to remind her of the world she knew—nothing to risk sending her back.
Walker dropped beside her.
“You are impossible! Impossible!” His voice was as rough as the mountain peaks above her. “We can’t keep the Reformers from killing you if you kill yourself first.”
“Sorry! I was just trying to see if any of the caves lined up with something on the other side—something only you and I would be able to see,” she said, sitting up. Her clothes and hair were nearly dry. The water was evaporating much too quickly. She should have been sodden.
“Where’s the water going?” she asked.
Walker shook his head. “It’s baryonic matter, like everything else over there. Remember? It only came over because it had a bit of your dark matter in it. Like your clothes. Only it’s even less stable, so it’s already fading—disintegrating.” He waved his hand like it didn’t matter. “Did you see anything, at least?” he asked.
Keira stood, turning to face the direction that the current had been dragging her. She gingerly put a bit of weight on her ankle and was stunned when it didn’t hurt anymore. She’d been so shocked over her near-drowning that it hadn’t occurred to her that she was no longer in pain. There was nothing but sweet, quiet relief.
Of course. She’d crossed over. Automatic genetic reset.
At least something good had come of her slipping back into her world.
Two good things, actually, she thought, facing the mountains. There was a small opening about a quarter of the way up the rock face. It was narrow and short, crammed between a ragged outcrop of stone and a smoother, sheared-off looking bit on the other side of the cave’s mouth.
But Keira was pretty sure it lined up perfectly with the opening she’d glimpsed in the sea stone.
“I think that cave up there is in the same spot as something I saw underwater.” She crossed her arms tight, shivering. “But I’d need to look at it again, to be sure.”
Walker wrapped his arms around her. “I don’t think we can both look, or we’re likely to slip over again. Do you want me to give it a shot? Or do you want to see while I try to hold you here?”
Keira knew that he was better at keeping himself in one world or another than she was. But if Walker crossed, she wasn’t sure she could pull him back. The thought of the dark water taking Walker made her quiver.
“Can you swim?” Keira asked.
A sheepish expression crept across Walker’s features. “Um, not exactly,” he admitted. “But I can hold my breath.”
Keira rubbed a hand across her eyes. It was her father they were looking for. It was her life they were trying to save.
“I’ll do it,” she said. She faced the cave, craning her neck so that she could see the opening.
Walker kept his arms around her and she looked for the looming rocks that lurked beneath the ocean. As the water shimmered into view, she felt the touch of Walker’s lips on her neck, reminding her where she was. Keeping her grounded. His mouth traced a path toward her shoulder, and Keira let her guard down the smallest bit, seeing the light of the rising sun bounce off the water. Walker reached up and tugged her shirt to one side. He hooked a finger beneath the straps of her bra and cami, sliding them down her arm, baring her skin to his mouth. Above her, the rock formation appeared, the round opening lining up exactly with the black slash in the side of the Darkside mountain.
“I see it,” she said, her voice breathy as Walker’s other hand slid beneath her cami, tracing the curve of her waist. “It’s right there.”
In spite of Walker’s touch, her internal balance wavered and Keira felt herself slip, hovering between the two realities for a horrifying moment. The weight of the sea crashed over her, yanking her away from Walker—carrying her out of Darkside.