Chapter 174

Inez walked out of the changing room. Mindful of the slipping tiles, she was quite careful while she was walking. The water was rippling gently and lapping around the edges. Thankfully, it was still empty with no one swimming in it.
She plunged into the pool. As a part-siren, she didn’t need to hold her breath and could swim deep in the water without any trouble. However, Inez still swam to the surface for mouthfuls of air just in case someone came inside the swimming area and saw her plunged deep in the water.
Shoving the wet tendrils of her hair out of her eyes, she swam to the edge of the swimming pool and picked up the can of juice that she had brought with her. Taking a swig of the juice and letting the water clash against her body, there was something really peaceful about the entire thing.
There was no bombardment, no fuss. No one was telling her what was wrong and what was right for her. It was just peaceful.
Just her and the water. It enabled her to switch off for a while, which was nice.
Once she was finished drinking the juice, Inez closed her eyes and then lapped back to the water, where she just let her body float around. The water sliding over her skin as she soaked it all up was helping her by easing the tension that was rolling within her body. She rested for a while before she started swimming again, and this time around, she pushed herself as hard as she could.
Her muscles were screaming at her for her to rest, and yet Inez felt more and more calm. Her head was no longer filled with needless worries, and she didn’t have to waste her time worrying about anything.
However, just as she was about to turn around for another lap, she heard a plop and turned to look behind her. No one. She couldn’t even see any ripples in the water from where the sound came from. Frowning, she turned her head to the front, about to take another dive under the water. When–
Something tightened around her neck and yanked her under the water. The shock of it almost stole her breath, and Inez glanced at the thick coil that was tied around her throat. It looked like a rope, but it wasn’t; it was a snake. Completely black on the upper side with hues of yellow under.
Tiger snake.
And from the size of it, she was sure that it was a shifter.
Panic clawed at her insides. Though Inez could breathe underwater, this damn thing seemed to have realised that she was one good swimmer and could hold her breath for a long time; thus, it went for her throat. A perfect plan: if she drowned here and died, everyone would think that she died due to drowning.
Her heart was pounding wildly, and she kicked her legs as hard as she could. She clawed and scratched the motherfucker but it didn’t move.
She tried to call Nia, hoping that the wolf would respond to her, but there was no response.
“Damn, how long are you going to sulk over that jerk!?” Inez shrieked. Angry and upset at her wolf for not acting when she was about to die. Was Dominic and his wolf even worth their deaths? She didn’t think so! Thıs text ıs hosted at.net
However, her wolf apparently did think that dying was better than staying without their mates.
Inez cursed as she started punching and pulling the thing off her neck. When nothing worked, she summoned her siren and allowed her nails to elongate like a witch. She used them to scratch the scales of the snakes and, at the same time, bit the end of the tail of the snake.
The thing loosened its hold on her, and Inez immediately took gulps of air before swimming upwards. However, she didn’t even break through the surface when the tiger snake reached out and bit her on the side of the waist.
Damn!
Adrenaline shot through her system, and she started to swim faster, almost there… she was just about to break through the surface of the water—
The tiger snake shot out again, and this time it tied itself around her ankle and pulled her down, its teeth biting down on her skin as it infused more venom into her body. If Inez were a human, then she would have died then and there. The snake must have thought so, too, but sirens had much more powerful healing abilities than others gave them credit for.
Thus, even though the thing continued to twist and turn as it injected shots of venom inside of her, Inez was able to break through the surface even if it tried to pull her down.
Her swimming skills were coming in handy.
However, Inez knew that it was just a matter of time; she would sink down, and so would the tiger snake. It hissed and tried to reach for her chest, trying to crush her ribs.
Oh no, no, no.
Oh fuck no. She stabbed her nails hard in the body of the snake, making another ripple of blood form in the water. The snake jerked away from her body, releasing her completely, and Inez kicked it away. She gasped for air — spluttering and coughing as she haphazardly reached for the metal ladder.
Her triumph, however, was short-lived as she could feel her vision getting blurred. Managing to climb up a few steps, she dragged herself over the edge of the swimming pool. She could feel the venom burning in her body and knew that she wouldn’t be able to run; even getting to the door was a feat in her condition.
Frantically, she started to look around because she wanted to find something to use… to defend herself.
Finally, her eyes fell on the alarm that was right next to the kickboard and water toys area. If only she could get there before the shifter attacked her again —
But something shackled her legs again and this time around it was a pair of hands.