I winced as Nipper Will tugged at my leg.
Dominic squeezed my hand, and I watched the dark water flow over our clasped fingers. I imagined my hand opening underwater, pale fingers twitching like the tentacles of an anemone. Or like the gills of a mud crab—dead man’s fingers.
“We’re getting you out of here,” Dominic said again.
My lungs lost the battle with my fear—I couldn’t get enough air. My chest ached and my heart raced, and the water was creeping higher with every wave and?—
“Breathe,” Dominic said. He curled his free hand gently around my throat, thumb rubbing my pulse point. “Slow and steady. Breathe in for four, hold for seven, and out for eight. That’s it. Two, three, four. Now hold for seven.”
My panic receded.
“And out for eight,” he said, and counted it out for me as Nipper Will came up for a breath. “Again.”
“We can shift it,” Nipper Will said. “We only have to move it an inch or so and he’ll be able to get his foot out. With both of us, we can manage it. I reckon I can brace my feet against the wall, get some leverage that way. I’ll pull it up, and you can shove it over.”
“Sounds simple,” Dominic said.
“Piece of fucking cake,” Nipper Will said, but even the darkness couldn’t hide the worry in his gaze as he looked at me.
I closed my eyes and concentrated on breathing in and out slowly, the way Dominic had told me to. I only opened them again when he pulled his hand from mine.
“Let’s do it,” Nipper Will said.
They both pushed their way under the water, and it churned around me like someone had thrown chum to a bunch of sharks. I braced my hand on the rough cave wall. A rock would be easier to lift underwater, right? If you only had something to brace against. Someone kicked me hard in the back of my left knee, and I stumbled—I had no idea how that would have ended up if I hadn’t caught myself. As it was, I overbalanced enough to get a face full of water.
Just breathe. In for four, out for—I can’t remember. Doesn’t matter. Just breathe.
Just breathe for as long as you can.
The swell of the water caressed my throat. Underneath it, rock scraped against rock, reverberating in my bones, and I tugged my foot. It shifted, but not far enough. A moment later, both Dominic and Nipper Will resurfaced.
“Almost got it,” Nipper Will said, and down they went again.
And again.
And again.
And again, until I stopped counting and the water lapped at my chin.
“Wait,” I said, reaching out and gripping Dominic’s shirt. “Wait, both of you. Can I say something, just in case?—”
“Shut up,” Nipper Will said. “It’s not going to happen.”
“Can you stop treating me like a little kid for once? Just for fucking once!” If I wasn’t stuck in one spot, I would have lurched forward and punched him in the face. “This is serious, and it’s real, and you don’t need to lie to me about it!” I pushed my knuckles into Dominic’s shirt. “Neither of you. Will, can you tell Mum?—”
“Christ’s sake,” Nipper Will muttered.
“Let him finish,” Dominic said, his voice strained.
“We’re wasting time!” Will growled.
“Tell Mum I was okay,” I said. “Whatever happens, tell her it was peaceful, Will, please.”
Will pushed his way through the water so that we were standing nose to nose and I had to tilt my head back to meet his gaze in the gloom. He glared at me. “You think I’m gonna tell Mum that the sea’s taken another part of this family? Not in a million fucking years. Fuck that.” His face twisted. “Copper, let’s bloody do this.”
“His name’s Dominic,” I said. “And he’s my boyfriend.”
“Time for him to fucking prove it then,” Nipper Will said.
