Bianca scrambled up, energized by the threat of staying in the creepy world. Talon shoved her back into the valley with a snarled threat under his breath, and she hurried out of the trough again, breathing hard by the time she'd clambered twenty feet to the top. To her relief, the Black God stood in the center of the storm's eye, bathed in sunlight that touched nothing else. While Talon was breathing as hard as she was, the Black God was barely sweating.
"What do we do now?" Talon asked.
"We wait," the Black God replied. "I need to be at full strength to send us back through the portal." His eyes settled on her with a look that made her wonder why she hadn't just sat where she entered the world and waited for Darian to rescue her. He turned away, hands on hips as he surveyed the distant beaches. Talon threw himself on his back. She suspected the Black God thought her useful, or she'd be in pieces.
"We're not swimming back to shore, are we?" Talon asked the question she feared voicing.
"You both may want to get some rest," the Black God responded as he started towards the dark waters.
"Where-- "
"Shut up and stay here. None of us can leave without the others. If I could, you'd both be dead. Keep that in mind, shithead. You can't touch her. We entered this place together, and we must leave it together, or we can't leave at all," the Black God warned. "I'll be back."
Bianca moved away from Talon towards the violent waves and then sat with her back to a wave as high as her waist. Talon watched the Black God go. He didn't take his eyes off the god until he disappeared among the maze of waves. She watched him as well.
He ignored her. She wrapped her arms around her knees and closed her eyes for a brief rest. When she opened them, she lay on her side with her back to her protective wave. A form too slight to be the Black God stood beside Talon, speaking quietly. She wiped her eyes and started to sit, then froze.
It wasn't the Black God. It was a man too familiar to be a stranger, with beautiful purple eyes, a small frame, and a face without emotion. She closed her eyes, suddenly remembering where she'd seen the Watcher over fifteen years ago, in Jonny's hospital room.
"I can help him," a man said. She jumped. No one had come in through the door she faced. She twisted in her chair to see a man near the dark windows whose eyes were the color of her bright purple Easter dress.