24. Chapter 24
Chapter 24
Pacific Ocean, Off the Coast of San Onofre
T he boat cut clean through the waves, the hull slicing across the deep blue as the Pacific stretched endless and unbroken in every direction.
The sun was already high, burning bright in the sky, but the wind off the water was sharp and cool, biting at Isaac’s skin as he stood near the bow, the salty spray misting against his face.
The engine growled beneath him, a steady, vibrating hum that ran up through the deck, rattling through his bones.
He needed this.
This was his space.
Wide open water. The deep. The quiet. The clean, mind-clearing burn of adrenaline and physical exhaustion that came with it.
No distractions. No overthinking.
No fucking Rosie.
She was gone, and that was for the best.
She was back in LA, chasing the life she was meant to have.
And he was here, doing what he was built for.
“Fuck me, it’s perfect out here,” Shay muttered beside him, rolling his shoulders back, staring out at the horizon.
Isaac exhaled slowly, gripping the railing. “Not a bad way to spend a Saturday.”
It was a good crew.
Zach was behind them, checking over his dive gear, the same way he did before every drop—methodical, precise, borderline obsessive.
Jesse and Dom were off near the stern, mid-argument over something dumb, voices half-laughing, half-shouting over the wind.
Vero was standing with the La Jolla Dive Club instructor, already half-zipped into her wetsuit, her sleek dark braid flicking over her shoulder as she ran through the plan.
Isaac ran a hand through his salt-stiffened hair, feeling the familiar buzz of anticipation in his chest.
This was his shit.
Diving. Moving through the world beneath the world.
Sinking into the quiet, the pressure, the weightless nothingness of it all.
It was the closest thing to peace he knew.
“Yo, Rayleigh,” Zach called, grinning from across the deck. “You in, or you just here to stand around looking pretty?”
Isaac smirked. “Can’t I do both?”
Shay snorted, yanking on his vest. “Man, the day you don’t make everything about yourself is the day I retire.”
Isaac glanced over. “That a promise?”
“Fuck off.”
Zach rolled his eyes, tossing his mask onto the bench.
“Conditions look good,” he said, focused now, all business. “Current’s a little stronger than usual, but visibility’s solid.”
Isaac nodded, pulling on his vest, feeling the straps tighten against his chest.
“Depth?”
“About 150 feet.” Zach wiped saltwater off his hands. “You ready?”
Isaac grinned. “Born ready.”
And that was the last thing he remembered feeling good about.
Because an hour later, he was drowning.
* * * * *
150 Feet Below the Surface
The world below was a different place.
Weightless. Silent.
A stretch of blue fading into black.
Isaac drifted through the deep, his breath steady, controlled, his heartbeat a slow, methodical thump in his chest.
The dive had started smooth.
They had descended in formation, sweeping along the rocky formations of the ocean floor, flashlights casting sharp beams through the dim light.
Vero was ahead, gliding like she was born in the water, leading the dive instructor toward a jagged rock shelf.
Zach, Dom, and Jesse kept formation, their movements fluid, precise.
Shay was a little further back, checking the drift.
Isaac adjusted his buoyancy, angling himself slightly as he followed, watching the terrain shift below them.
And then—the current changed.
A hard pull, stronger than anticipated.
His body jerked slightly to the side.
Not a big deal. Not a problem.
He adjusted, moved to correct his position.
But the force came again—sudden, sharper this time.
And before he could react—
Something hit him.
Hard.
The impact was immediate, brutal.
His body slammed sideways into rock, the shock of it bursting through his ribs like a gunshot.
His mask shifted. His regulator knocked loose.
And suddenly—he wasn’t breathing.
Fuck.
His vision blurred, a black halo creeping at the edges.
His body reacted instinctively, reaching for his regulator, trying to shove it back between his lips.
But the pain in his side was blinding, sharp and splintering every time he moved.
He felt his chest seizing, burning, the crushing pressure of needing oxygen but getting nothing.
A sharp pull in his stomach—panic.
Fucking no.
Stay calm. Get the regulator. Correct the dive.
He tried, but his body wasn’t responding.
And then—the second hit.
The current twisted again, and he was yanked sideways, his body slamming into rock again, harder this time.
Something cracked.
Ribs. Definitely ribs.
The pain was a live wire, white-hot, shocking through every nerve in his body.
His lungs screamed.
He reached again—but his fingers weren’t working right, his vision tunneling.
Black spots spilled across his sight.
And just as the panic fully took hold—
A hand gripped his vest.
Strong. Unyielding.
And a regulator was slammed between his lips.
Oxygen.
Burning into his lungs, but saving him.
His eyes snapped open.
Dom.
His face clear through the mask, his eyes locked onto Isaac’s.
Got you.
Isaac inhaled, the relief immediate and searing.
Dom signaled—are you good?
Isaac could barely nod.
Pain radiated from his side, sharp and unrelenting.
Dom’s eyes stayed locked on his, assessing, before he signaled up.
Time to ascend.
Isaac didn’t argue.
His body was wrecked, ribs screaming, vision still frayed at the edges.
He needed to get to the surface.
Dom didn’t let go.
Didn’t leave his side.
And Isaac knew—without him, he wouldn’t have made it.
He was alive because of him.
And that?
That was a debt he’d never be able to repay.