Deep Betrayal

Deep Betrayal - By Anne Greenwood Brown

chapter 1

NO COWARD SOUL


Death finds us all. Yet I was impatient and had gone looking for it; now there was no going back. My toes curled over the edge of the rock. I welcomed the feeling. Hard and cold. Wet and rough. The wind whipped my dress around my legs, sucking it close to my body, then ripping it away like a flag unfurled—a white flag—because this was my surrender.

Somewhere out there in the black water, she was watching. If she doubted me now, she wouldn’t for long. This was nothing. One small step. Nothing. The fall would be over before I could be afraid. I didn’t look down. I’d made this fall before. I couldn’t let the rocks deter me. And if I saw her …

No, I couldn’t think about that. I could do this if I didn’t see my fate lashing at the water, cursing in my ear. If I could take this small step, I could save my dad, and with him, my whole family. If I could only be brave enough. Just enough.

My stomach turned, and I rocked back on my heels. I hoped Calder wouldn’t see. The mermaid said he was far away. She said he wouldn’t save me, even if he could. I hoped she was right.

A wave crashed against the rocks, sending a fine mist into the air. It settled on my cheeks and lips. The air had never smelled cleaner. The sky had never been so clear. I had never felt so huge. I was enormous. A giant. My mind buzzed over the roar of waves, the scream of gulls, the whisper of the trees.

No coward soul have I. No coward soul have I. No coward soul …

One small step. My toes dug into the rocky precipice, feeling its pockmarked surface. The shiny lacquer of my toenails reflected a bird overhead. We made eye contact—the bird and I—he with a questioning expression, raising a feathered eyebrow.

One small step. Tensing, I leaned forward.

One small step. I closed my eyes and inhaled the perfumed air.

One small step.

And I was falling.

A rush

of adrenaline

surged from

my stomach

to my heart.