Raven dismounted and joined her. “We have to. There aren’t any bridges for miles.”
“It’s too deep.”
“Don’t be silly,” he said with exaggerated patience. “You’ll barely get your feet wet.”
He cinched the saddlebags higher on Hades’s back, stowed his pistols inside, then plucked off her hat and placed that in the saddlebag, too. He caught the reins of both horses in one hand and started forward. “Let’s go.”
Heloise scuffed the toe of her boot against a stone and sent it skittering into the water.
He leaned closer. “What’s that? You’re mumbling.”
Humiliation engulfed her. She hated having to admit a weakness. “I said, I can’t swim.”
Raven frowned. “Of course you can. You’re the one who saved Tony from that pond, remember?”
“Of course I remember,” she snapped. “I still have nightmares about it.” She bit her lip. She hadn’t meant to reveal that. She hurried on, hoping he hadn’t noticed the slip. “But I didn’t need to swim to rescue him. The water was frozen. I ran out over the ice. Well, slid, actually. And then I crawled forward on my belly and pulled him out.”
She lifted her hand to her forehead automatically, as if to confirm her scar was still there. She’d been helping Tony up the frozen bank, both of them sopping wet, their labored breaths forming icy clouds in front of them. He’d been so heavy. They’d slipped; she recalled the bright, stinging pain as her head hit a snow-covered rock, the festive brightness of her blood against the snow.
Raven’s brow creased as he clearly tried to recall a time when he’d witnessed her swimming. He’d fail. She’d always been banned from their naked lake swims and she hadn’t dared to try to teach herself. Her injury was a permanent reminder that she’d cheated Death of his chosen victim. It would have been tempting fate to go near water again.
He dropped his chin to his chest, closed his eyes, and swore under his breath. “Let me get this straight. You went out on that ice when youcouldn’t bloody swim?”
Hades stepped nervously sideways, reacting to his increasing volume, but Raven controlled the animal with an impatient tug on the reins.
Heloise stood and faced him, her own temper rising at his accusatory tone. “I didn’t stop to think about it. Tony was drowning.”
He glared at her. “You could have been killed! What if the ice had given way beneath you, too? You’d both have ended up in the water.”
She placed her fists on her waist. “What would you have done? Stood on the bank and watched him drown?”
Her anger seemed to diffuse some of his own. He ran a hand through his hair and sighed. “Of course not. I’d have gone after him, too.” He glanced down with a frown. “God, I wish Ihadbeen there. You wouldn’t have been hurt.”
The idea that he would have spared her pain, if he could, warmed her and she gentled her tone. “If you’d been there, no doubt you’d have been doing something even more dangerous than ice fishing. I’d have had to rescue both of you.”
He bent his head in wry acknowledgment. “You’re probably right.” He glared at the opposite bank. “There really isn’t another way across, you know. I can’t just leave you here.”
Her knees threatened to buckle. “Can’t we ride across?”
“No. I have no idea how the horses will react to the water. I can’t risk them throwing you.” He stepped closer and gave her a devilish smile. “I won’t let you drown, Hellcat. I’m reserving the pleasure of killing you for myself.” He held his free hand out toward her. “Come on. Just think of it as another item on your list: ‘Cross raging mountain torrent, gain Ravenwood’s eternal respect.’ ”
She couldn’t smile at his joke. The idea of going into that water was terrifying, but what choice did she have? She doubted she could find her way back to Santander on her own, even if he’d let her go, and she wasn’t ready for her adventure to end. Not yet. And when he looked at her like that, with such utter confidence, she’d follow him to hell itself.
She took his hand.
Heloise started to panic almost as soon as they started. The water was clear and icy-cold. It seeped into her boots with unpleasant speed then crept its way up her legs, getting colder and darker the deeper they waded. By the time it was knee-high, the current was so strong it threatened to pull her legs out from under her and she could barely feel her toes. Her fingers hurt; she was holding Raven’s hand so tightly she had to be crushing his knuckles but he didn’t seem to mind.
He wasn’t having nearly as much difficulty, the swine, being taller and heavier. He simply edged along, sideways to the current, feeling his way across the rocky streambed with his feet.
Her breathing became shallow pants as the water reached her waist. The opposite bank was miles away, and they weren’t even at the deepest part. To make matters worse, the horses were splashing and tossing their heads in agitation. Heloise flinched away from the plunging hooves, certain they were going to push her under.
Wonderful. If she didn’t drown she’d be trampled to death.
She didn’t want to die. She hadn’t finished all the items on her list.
She fixed her eyes on the far side. She could do this. She began reciting Shakespeare’s Sonnet 18 in her head, the words all running together in her fright.Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day thou art more lovely and more temperate rough winds do shake the darling buds of May and summer’s lease hath all too short a date—
Her foot slipped. She opened her mouth to scream but the current swept her legs out from beneath her and she went under. She lost hold of Raven’s hand and inhaled a mouthful of water. Blind panic descended. She thrashed her arms but the flow was so strong it pulled her down and tumbled her over so she didn’t even know which way was up. A blurry confusion of light and darkness churned around her and a great rushing filled her ears.