The Water Queens (Keeper of the Water) Read Free

ask breathlessly.
    John Leon wipes aside his hair and smiles, though it’s not long before he grimaces. This is the second time he’s seemingly raised from the dead but he looks much worse than last time. In fact, he appears just as close to death as Amelia and my mother. His blood swirls in the water around him.
    “Not as many as a cat, that I can promise,” John says.
    The sound of his voice is like music to my ears and provides the faintest glimmer of hope in my heart.
    “But how?” I wonder. “The arrow? The gator?”
    “I saw it coming at me when I hit the water,” John says. “So I yanked out the arrow and stabbed the bastard with it. I held onto him tight, jabbing him with it over and over as he dragged me halfway across the swamp. He put up quite a fight but I got him in the end. Unfortunately, I think I’m down to my last life.”
    He’s talking while in the swamp this whole time; it’s a miracle he made it back here without running into other gators.
    “Give me your hand,” I say. “Get aboard before another one shows up.”
    I try pulling him in but my shoulder explodes in pain and I almost fall over again.
    “Don’t waste your energy,” he says, releasing my hand. He shifts a few feet behind the broken airfan and leans against the back of the airboat. The swamp is shallow enough so his feet touch the bottom while his head still breaks the surface. “The boat will be too heavy with me inside. We have to do this together if we’re going to reach the special water.”
    John looks as hurt and exhausted as the rest of us but he puts his arms straight out and pushes against the boat, nudging us a few inches forward. His face contorts in pain but he barely lets out the slightest groan as he continues pushing. We pick up a little speed but John is fading fast and we’ll never make it with him pushing by himself. I start paddling again, a worthless action the first few times I tried though now it seems to help.
    I look back as John’s eyes roll in the back of his head. Though the boat still inches forward, he stops moving and sinks beneath the surface.
    “John!” I yell, ignoring Jack’s weak laughter.
    I rush to the back of the boat, ready to jump overboard though I have no idea how I’ll climb back in. But before I leap, John bursts through the surface, a surprised expression on his face as he shakes away the water. He hurries to catch up and nearly collapses again as he grabs hold of the boat.
    “I’m okay,” he whispers. “I must’ve lost my grip.”
    “No you didn’t,” I say. “I saw you pass out.”
    “I’m okay,” he repeats, more firmly this time. “We’re almost there.”
    I wish that were the case. We haven’t even cut the distance to the brighter water in half. Its healing abilities beckon us but it still seems so far. The trail of blood floating in John’s wake becomes heavier but that doesn’t stop him, despite my pleas.
    “Please stop pushing yourself,” I say. “You’re losing too much blood. I can’t lose you again.”
    “I may die whether I push myself too hard or not,” John says. “I at least have to make sure you survive.”
    We pass a thicket of reeds that suddenly begin to shake; I wish I could blame it on wind but the night air is completely still. My heart leaps at the thought of Celeste being alive but I spot a ripple near the water’s surface, moving slowly back and forth, back and forth. If there’s any doubt in my mind about what’s approaching, spiny scales suddenly pop out of the water, speeding through the red wake following John.
    “There’s one coming,” I say in a panic. “You have to get in.”
    “Not while you’re still in danger,” John says. “ None of us will survive if the boat stops again. I’m going to get you to that water if it’s the last thing I do.”
    I grab John’s arm again and try to pull him in but I’m too weak and he only gives me resistance. I fall to my knees on the airboat’s floor and begin to