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She slammed against the water, the force driving the wind out of her in a rush of bubbles even as she plunged down and down.
Panic raced through her, wild and unchecked, and on its heels came the desperate need tobreathe.She kicked, thrashing her arms, fighting toward the surface that seemed impossibly far away.
You will not die.
You will not die.
You will not . . .The thought faded and the light of the surface began to dim as she sank into the depths.
Until something grabbed her around the waist.
Lara struggled, reaching blindly for her knife until her face broke the surface and Aren was shouting in her ear, “Breathe, Lara!”
She sucked in a desperate mouthful of air. And another. A wave rolled over her head, and fear filled her anew.
Clawing and grasping, she tried to climb. Tried to get above the water.
Then Aren’s face was in front of hers. “Quit fighting me. I’ve got you, but you need to be still.”
It was an impossible request. She was drowning. She was dying.
“I need you to trust me!” His voice was desperate, and somehow it cut through her fear. Brought her back to herself. She quit fighting him.
“Good. Now hold on to me and don’t move.”
Grasping his shoulders, Lara forced her shaking legs to still. They were not quite beneath the bridge, perhaps two dozen yards from the nearest pier: the narrow one with no access to the bridge. And the shore . . .
“Can we make it?” she asked, spitting out a mouthful of water as another wave splashed her in the face.
“No.”
“What do we do?” She twisted, looking up at the bridge. She could hear the soldiers shouting, see Jor hanging off the side from a rope, his finger pointing at the water.
“Quit moving, Lara!”
She froze. Because in that moment, she saw what Jor was pointing at. What had Aren’s attention—and his fear.
Grey fins cut through the water.
Circling them.
Moving closer.
“We have to last until they can reach us in a boat.”
Her eyes jerked to the distant pier, the opening still concealed by the tide. Then to the cove where two boats had been launched. There was no way they’d make it in time.
As if to punctuate her thought, one of the sharks darted toward them before veering off at the last second.
“Shit,” Aren snarled.
The creatures were swimming closer, and Lara sobbed as something smacked against her foot.
The soldiers above began firing arrows, the bolts slicing into the water all around them, blood blossoming when they struck true. Then, seemingly as one, the fins disappeared.
“Aren!” Ahnna’s scream echoed from above, and a second later, an enormous fin was slicing through the waves toward them.
“Let me go.” Lara made the decision because she knew he wouldn’t. “Without you, I’ll drown. But if you let it have me, you’ll have a chance.”
