Then came the splash. She flung the locket into the pool.
"No!"
The fury that erupted gave me a strength I didn't know I had. I tore free of the guards, grabbed Mabel by the collar, and hauled her into the water. "Who gave you permission to throw that? Since you did, you're going to find it for me!"
Water exploded around us. I fought through the pain and shoved Mabel beneath the surface, searching frantically for the locket at the same time.
My arms swept blindly through the water. My fingertips scraped the tile at the bottom, but there was no cold metal.
Where... where was it...
The allergic reaction was tearing through me. My whole body shook. Each breath came harder than the last.
The water's surface warped and blurred before my eyes. My throat had swollen so tight I could barely draw air.
Mabel's thrashing and sputtering filled my ears, broken fragments of a scream. "Help... help me... Guy..."
Then a large hand clamped around my wrist and wrenched me off her.
A searing pain ripped through my stomach as Guy's foot slammed into me, sending me flying.
Water erupted around me. My consciousness began to sink. I thrashed, slapping the surface with everything I had, screaming with the last of my strength: "Guy!"
But he only held the woman in his arms tighter. He didn't look back.
My body drifted downward into the pool. I thought of three months ago, when I'd gone skiing and been caught in an avalanche, trapped in the mountains. Guy had charged in without hesitation, pulling my hypothermic body from the snow.
"Amber, I'll always protect you. Whenever you call my name, I'll be right there."
All lies.
Every last word.
Soon, they would pay for everything they'd done.
When I opened my eyes again, a hospital ceiling stared back at me. I'd barely twitched my fingers when that grating voice slithered into my ears.
"You're finally awake. So you're pregnant." Mabel looked me up and down, a loaded smile curling at the corner of her lips. "You should take good care of that baby, sis."
I wrapped my arms around my stomach on instinct and turned my head. Mabel's contemptuous gaze met mine. She stood there like a victor claiming her spoils, then reached out and seized my chin, fingers digging in hard. "Looks like your husband cares about me more after all, doesn't he, sis?"