Page 13 of Endless Depths

He takes my hand, and squeezes. “Look at me. Do I look scared?”

“No.” He looks determined, but calm, quietly strong.

“Right. I’ll take care of you, just like I always do.”

“Thank you,” I say, but I don’t think he hears me, so I thank him inside my head. I thank him for sacrificing his childhood to raise me, for loving me when our dad didn’t. I wish I had enough words left to tell him all the ways he took care of me.

“Seb, the Coast Guard is on the phone,” Wes says over the PA.

“I have to go,” Seb says. “Be strong for me. I love you.” He squeezes my hand again, and stands. Then he’s gone.

Tears blur my vision. That felt like a goodbye.

Morgan strokes my hair.

“I’m so c-c-cold.”

“I know. I’ll carry you inside and warm you up. Ready?”

I don’t want to, but I trust my husband.

The ship shudders. The hull groans. Morgan’s arms tighten around me. I brace for pain, but it’s a dull ache. Calm lucidity simmers through me, a last burst of adrenaline, maybe?

“It doesn’t hurt that much anymore. I can’t f-f-f-feel…”

“Javi?” Morgan yells, voice breaking.

“I think I’m dying,” I remark in blunted wonder. Death feels inevitable, a reprieve just beyond my reach, but I don’t want to lose Morgan. I don’t want to hurt him. “Please don’t let me die.”

“I won’t. I promise.” He’s crying.

My lids fall shut slowly, so slowly. They’re too heavy.

I don’t want to die without seeing his face, so I remember what he looked like on the day I met him, and every day after, fast-forwarding through the boring days and making pit stops at our first kiss, the day of our wedding… I guess this is that life-flashing-before-your-eyes thing.

Distantly, Morgan wails. It’s an inhuman sound. Maybe it’sthe wind.Briarbreaking in two. My heart races. Wait. We have to do something. We can’t letBriarsink.

Something heavy sits on my chest. Is that the ocean? I force my eyes open.

No, it’s Morgan draped over me. He’s sobbing, so devastated, I feel his pain inside me. I try to catch his attention, but I can’t move. I can barely breathe.

Morgan stills, then sits up. “Cole? I thought you d?—”

A loud crash tilts my world off its axis. Morgan throws himself back over me. The ocean swirls all around us. Morgan tries to hold on to me, but the Bering Sea wrenches me from his grip.

The ocean’s embrace doesn’t hurt. She cradles my body as she drags me overboard, holding me while I fall and fall and fall and fall. The halo of light surrounding theBriar Anterosdims as I descend. The bubbles from my mouth slow, then stop. Darkness swallows me.

FIVE

Morgan

“Cole!”I run to the rail, shedding my life jacket on the way, and dive straight into the maw of the Bering Sea.

Icy razor blades pierce my skin. The cold snatches my breath and stalls my lungs. That’s normal though. I’ve done enough man overboard drills to know. I push through the panic, and scan the depths. It’s impossibly dark, but the water-activated strobe light attached to Cole’s fishing bib makes him easy to find.

Down and down I swim. Silence swells the farther I descend. My muscles burn in protest. My brain screams at me to inhale.

I go where you go.That’s the rule. I’ll die saving him if I have to.