“We’re swimming?” The hand gripping my shoulder begins to tremble even worse, so I pause a moment and reach up to touch it with my own. Darkness swirls around the edges of my vision.
No. Please no.
“Do you trust me, Emma?” I whisper the words, almost afraid to hear her answer. After all, with everything I’ve put her through…how could she?
“Yes,” she replies without hesitation.
“Then trust that I won’t let you drown, okay?”
Emma nods, so I continue withdrawing items from the bag. First, I slide one flipper onto my foot, then do the same with the other. As soon as they’re secure, I withdraw two mini oxygen tanks fitted with mouthpieces from the bag.
I hand her one and point to the mouthpiece. “You’re going to bite down around this and breathe slowly, okay? You need to be calm so you don’t run out of oxygen too fast.”
Another yell on the beach.
I look up and see the men hassling people closer to the shore now.
Another hit of adrenaline kicks my system into overdrive.
“Okay,” she replies.
Reaching into the bag one final time, I remove another pair of goggles and quickly pull her hat off her head to slide them over her face. All while I keep an eye on the shoreline.
One glance this way, and they’ll make us.
“I’ll have a hold on you the entire time, okay? Just gently kick your feet. And if you feel you can, close your eyes. It will help.” After sliding my goggles down and shoving the bag, her hat, and sunglasses into the Velcro pocket of my swim trunks, I bite down around the mouthpiece of my tank and take her hand off of my shoulder to weave her fingers through mine.
Emma follows suit, biting down on the mouthpiece. With her eyes locked on mine, we slip beneath the surface of the water.
It surrounds us, enveloping our bodies as it silences the sounds from the shoreline. My hammering heart is all I can hear. But the water pressing in around me helps to mute the feeling of her hand in mine. Which helps me pretend that no one is touching me.
We’re far enough out that the waves aren’t pushing us back to shore, but we still have a long way to go before we’re safe. I stay focused on that simple fact, and doing so manages to help keep everything else at bay.
These waters and this island will be crawling with Karvers people if we wait too much longer. I have mere minutes to get us to the pickup location. So, keeping a tight grip on her hand, I kick my feet and push us out further.
We need to be out far enough that the boat won’t seem suspicious to anyone on the shoreline. My hope is that they’ll turn their attention to the island rather than the waters, but I can’t take any chances.
My muscles burn from exertion, but I keep pushing forward. Not too much farther now. We’re far enough out that the ground below has fallen away and made way for the dark abyss below. I glance back at Emma again, hoping she still has her eyes closed.
For someone who can’t swim, being unable to see the ground below will feel an awful lot like torture. Thankfully, her eyes are still closed. I pull her forward a bit more, swimming with one arm and both feet.
I’ve never been more thankful for my special forces training. Specifically, the two months we spent training with SEALs.
Ahead, I glimpse a red weight dangling down in the water. Bingo.
I pull her forward and keep swimming until we’ve reached it; then I squeeze her hand tightly. She opens her eyes, and I point up.
With wide eyes, she frantically kicks her feet, and I push her to the surface. We break free beneath the bright sun, and Riley reaches down to pull her into the boat.
“Hey there, Emma.”
Bradyn and Tucker pull me up, and I drop the breathing apparatus onto the floor of the boat, then slide the flippers off and set them beside it too.
“You good?” Tucker asks, his gaze dark.
He wants to know if I’m stable. Or if I’m struggling with the forced proximity I shared with Emma. More likely, he wants to know if I’m myself or the monster they made me. “I’m good.”
“Yeah?”
