After a time, though, Em felt she’d had rather enough. The water was rising fast and it was already up to her knees. Also, she felt quite clean enough, so she decided to stop the shower. But which of the other buttons would stop the deluge? Taking a chance, she pressed the orange button.
But instead of stopping the downpour, the water pouring down simply turned to bubbles. Soon, Em was up to her waist in fluffy white foam, which would have been more fun if she was a better swimmer. As it was, though, she was beginning to feel nervous. The room was big enough that there were actually currents in the water—as though she was in the middle of a swimming pool in which the water was sloshing all around.
It reminded her of one of those wave pools they had in places with warm climates. One summer when the girls had been younger, she and Nigel had taken them to Florida and had visited one of the many theme parks there. One of the attractions had been a wave pool, where the currents were artificially generated. They washed rhythmically in and out, swaying the swimmers—who were all required to wear life jackets—to and fro in an alarming manner.
Nigel and the girls had loved it but Em, who was a poor swimmer even in the most placid pool, hadn’t liked it at all. She’d only stayed in the wretched wave pool to keep an eye on her daughters—since Nigel had been too busy flirting with some pretty American girls to bother.
The sweeping, swaying motion she felt as she stood waist-deep in the foamy water reminded her of the wave pool now. And Em found that she still didn’t like it—not one little bit.
“All right, enough of this!” she muttered to herself. Reaching up, she pressed another button—the green one this time. Surely that would stop the constant flow of foamy water!
Unfortunately, it didn’t. The water came clear again, instead of bubbly, but then something else which was rather alarming started to happen—the floor started dropping.
At first Em thought she was imagining it. But when she looked up, squinting to keep the water out of her eyes, it looked as though the ceiling was getting farther away. And then she noticed that the crystal mirror wall seemed to be growing or lengthening somehow. The corner where the buttons were located was also getting farther away. And, most concerning of all, the water was now up to her shoulders and creeping up her neck.
Hurriedly, Em made her way back to the buttons—the strong currents in the water had washed her away from them. But by then, she found she could no longer reach them. They were high above her head—far out of reach of her fingers no matter how she stretched and reached.
Then the water reached her chin and began to splash over her face.
Em gave up on trying to get to the buttons and began to tread water instead—she could do that at least. But how long would she have to do it? How long before the water stopped flowing and the floor stopped dropping? She could no longer reach the bottom—even with her tiptoes—and the currents in the water were becoming huge waves that sloshed her back and forth in a frightening rhythm.
All thoughts of her dignity deserted her and Em opened her mouth to scream for help. But water sloshed between her lips, choking her and turning the scream to a gurgle. She tried again with the same result. Oh God, was she going to drown in here?
Em didn’t know but it was beginning to feel frighteningly likely!
26
Rarev paced back and forth beside the large, round bed, eyeing the crystal panel that Emilia had disappeared behind. She had been in there a long time and he was getting worried.
But surely he was just being overprotective, he told himself. Emilia was a grown woman—she could take care of herself. And she had given every indication of wanting to be alone. There were sounds like water flowing coming from behind the crystal panel—surely she was just bathing herself. She wouldn’t thank him if he came bursting in on her, invading her privacy. She—
“Warrior—your female is in danger!”
The powerful feminine voice shocked Rarev to his core. He had never heard the Goddess—the Mother of All Life—speak directly to him before. Yet he knew at once it was she who was calling to him.
“Goddess, what must I do?” he asked, looking at the ceiling, though in truth, her presence was all around him.
“Enter the room and save her—she is near to drowning!” the Goddess commanded. “Go now if you wish to save her life!”
Rarev wasted no more time. With a low roar, he charged at the panel, pushing it open and running into the short hallway beyond.