Niall—face pale, wild with fear. “Are you alright?”
Before Collin could answer, another wave crashed over them, but this time he didn’t go under. He couldn’t speak—his chest heaved with raw, painful breaths—but he met Niall’s eyes. That was enough. They weren’t going down without each other.
Far off, Clive was still paddling, arms slicing the air, his mouth open in a shout they couldn’t hear. The canoe was moving—too slow, too far.
Niall was shaking now, his teeth clicking audibly. “It’s not just a current,” he rasped. “It feels like a giant hand—pulling us out!”
Collin grit his teeth. “We have to swim.”
They turned and kicked toward the shore.
The sea disagreed.
Every stroke was met with resistance. Collin’s body shivered violently in the freezing water, his limbs growing heavy with every second. The shoreline remained impossibly far, a distant blur. No matter how hard he fought, the sea dragged him farther.
Another wave surged. It hit like a wall, slamming into them and swallowing them whole.
Collin surfaced—but Niall didn’t.
“No!” Collin shouted, his voice cracked and ragged. He latched onto Niall’s arm and held on, screaming again—not just from fear, but to drown out the pounding in his head. “Help! Clive!”
From the distance, Clive was shouting too, his voice warped by wind and wave.
Keep breathing. Keep swimming.
Niall was limp in his grip. The sea roared around them, endless and deafening. Collin’s chest burned. His arms trembled. His vision blurred from salt and exhaustion.
And then—
A cry cut through the chaos in his head.
“Collin!”
It struck like lightning—Aries’s voice, sharp and terrified.
Collin turned toward the sound. Through the spray, he saw Aries—swimming fast,reckless, determined. Fear carved into every line of his face.
And he wasn’t alone.
Beside him was a man with a mop of straw-yellow hair, cutting through the water like he was born in it. There was no time to wonder who he was or where he came from.
They were hope—alive and barreling through the water.
Collin gritted his teeth, wrapped both arms tighter around Niall, and started kicking again. If he could just get Niall to Aries—just far enough—
They might all make it out.
“Stop fighting the current!” Aries shouted, grabbing Collin’s arm.
“Niall’s too weak!”
Aries’s companion—still nameless, still surging through the water like it meant nothing—reached for Niall. “I’ve got him!” the man yelled. “You can let go! Just swim parallel to the shore, alright?”
Parallel? What the hell good would that do?
The cold had already stripped Collin of strength. Clive was still a dot on the horizon. They needed theshortestpath back. They neededland. Not some sideways slog through open sea.
He turned stubbornly toward the beach.
