Chapter 33
The current is strong here.
“Nieve!”
I’m treading water in the center of the river where the bottom is too deep to touch.
“Nieve!” On the shore, Carter stands with a beer in his hand as he shouts my name.
I can feel the current dragging me farther down the river. I just need to get to the other side.
My arms start to feel tired as panic sets in and Carter gets farther and farther away.
“Nieve!” His voice is muffled by the roar of the water and the beating of my heart. Is he running downstream toward me? Everything feels disorienting.
And then I feel the change, the river picking up speed. The rapids loom in the distance.
I kick and paddle harder, trying to move closer to the bank.
Carter is already running into the water.
He dives forward just as I reach two rocks.
The hole underneath the rocks yawns open like a monster, and I realize too late that I’m headed for it.
When my hands slip on the slick stone, I’m forced under them by the current.
I panic. I try to push the stone above toward the surface, but I’m a feather caught in a whirlpool. Twirling and turning and flailing in the darkness as the water shoves me deeper through the opening.
Finally, I see the light above me, and I try to push myself toward it, but I’m disoriented.
I can’t see anything. I try to take in a lungful of air but get mostly water as I’m shoved down the rapids.
My arm hits a rock, and a sharp pain goes through me.
Something hits my knee, and I try to pull my limbs in toward my chest. But then, I’m falling.
Down, down, down, down until I’m plunged into darkness.
The water still roars around me. I see hands and feet and the outline of a body.
Carter has come to save me. I kick and push and move toward him. My lungs are burning. I need air.
Carter. His blue eyes locked on mine, his hand reaching for me.
I hit a rock, and the ache in my ribs is instant. I kick, but the power in my body is fading. Every time I feel like I move upward, something else pulls me down. And then Carter is there, his arms around me, and he’s kicking his legs toward the surface.
The world starts to narrow. It blackens at the edges, and I feel Carter’s hands slip from around mine.
And then a hand is pulling me up.
My face breaches the water. Fingers tilt my chin toward the sky.
“Breathe.” It’s a plea. “Come on, take a breath.”
I do, I think. It hurts. There is a burning in my lungs.
“Open your eyes.” The way it’s said feels deep and heavy. “Open them.” A hand gently hits my cheek. “Open your eyes, Nieve.”
And when I do, I’m staring into endless green.
Max.