Chapter 14

Chapter Fourteen

Later That Night

Later That Night

Cold. So tired. I can’t… move.

“Hey!”

A hollow voice pierces the darkness inside my head.

Hey , my brain says back, even if my mouth doesn’t move. I try to lift a hand, only to find my fingers covered sloshing around in water.

Oh, my god.

Where am I?

Panic roars through me, my arms flail, water splashing into my mouth. Saltwater.

Is this the ocean?

Slowly, fog lifts, and the desperate pain inside my heart floods my whole body.

“Truck.” The word chokes out of me, a sob, a desperate plea.

“Hey! Can you hear me? Don’t struggle, we’re coming to get you.”

Within my panic, I register the sweeping beam of a floodlight.

Squinting is hard because of the violent shivers wracking every inch of me.

“I’m here!” My arm will barely raise to wave for help and when I lift it, I slip under the surface.

Coughing out the water, I duck my face to avoid the penetrating light.

The grind of an engine grows louder. The lamp’s beam growing brighter with every second.

Just float. That’s all I have to do. But even that feels too exhausting.

Finally, the engine gets quiet.

“Jesus, get her out of there!”

A man. Someone aboard the boat is angry, shouting something at other people.

Then strong hands are grabbing me, pulling me up onto a large, white platform. “Put her over here.”

My head lolls, I try to lick my swollen lips, wincing at the pain. Everything hurts, and the jellyfish sting hours ago doesn’t help.

“Allison, can you hear me? This is Justice, from Agile Security and Rescue. You’re safe now.”

I nod. Or I think I nod. “I can…hear you.”

My lids are heavier than car doors. So, I just drift in the darkness as they move me about. Exhaustion pulls me in and out—everything seems wavy, vague, dreamlike.

“Thank fuck, we found her.” A different voice, deeper, rougher. “How long do you think she’s been out here?”

“I don’t know. But where do you think Truck is?”

“Truck,” I jolt from the dream, hyper aware that I’ve just been pulled from the ocean. “Did you find him?”

No one answers.

Panicked, I try to sit up. “Is he…?”

“Easy.” Justice murmurs.

I can’t say anything else, a keening begins in my chest and fills my throat so full I can’t breathe.

Someone tucks a blanket around me, rough and impatient. “Don’t move. You need to take it easy. You’re on the boat now.”

“Who… who are you?”

“I’m Axle.” the stranger replies in a gruff, emotional tone. “When did you see him last?”

“Oh, god.”

Wading through memories from the last few hours is exhausting. Bit by bit, I rewind through the panic and fear. Until I get to the unthinkable moment when we got separated.

“In the river. Some trees were there. He got caught. It all happened so fast. The boat was going down, and we had to swim.”

My pulse is tripping over itself now, clear terrifying memories playing on loop. “The current was strong, but it was fine. Truck was pulling us to shore. But then all of a sudden, the trees were in front of us. He pushed me to safety, but the water was holding him against the branches.”

Screams echo in my head. Terrified at the possibility that he might be gone, my shivers turn to violent shaking.

A burst of primal momma bear energy surges through me.

Voice raw, I demand for them to take me back. “We have to go up the river.”

They stare at me, then share an uncomfortable look.

“We should sedate her,” Axle hovers, hidden in the shadows.

“No! I need to be awake.”

Anger makes the air tense; his eyes feel like hammers on me from the shadows where he’s standing. He has every right to be mad.

I’m the reason his teammate is missing.

My terror is quickly joined by bone-deep guilt. “I’m sorry, I didn’t want anything to happen to your team. I tried to warn you away. We have to find him.”

“You’re a bloody mess. How long have you been out here?”

“It was almost sunset when I got swept into the ocean. How did you find me?”

Justice drops to a knee next to me, offering me a bottle of water. “The reflective material on your boot saved you. Our spotlight beam caught it.”

That tiny strip of reflective material saved my life.

“I didn’t want to let go of them in case I needed to walk, so I tied them together and hung them around my neck. I guess that was a happy accident.”

“Angel on your shoulder.” Justice grins. “Isn’t that right, Axle?”

Contempt thick, he slices at me again. “Let’s hope Truck had one too.”

The light hits him differently, and my breath catches. “You look just?—”

“Like Truck,” he replies, cutting his eyes toward me. “We’re twins.”

If ads affect your reading experience, click here to remove ads on this page.