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They went through an audio check, each of them reporting in with their name. Julia wondered if their voices would sound as clear once they wereunderwater.
“I’ll keep the sat feed up as long as I can,” Nora said. “If it looks like you’re in trouble, I’ll either come for you myself or I’ll sendhelp.”
Braden lifted his mask. “Sendhelp.”
Nora’s eyes hardened and Julia got a glimpse of the tug-of-war that must go hand in hand with working in a dangerous field with your significant other. “You do your job, I’ll domine.”
Braden glared at Nora and replaced hismask.
She looked at each of them. “Ready?”
They nodded and she turned to Nick and held up threefingers.
3… 2…1.
Nick went over the side and Nora held up a hand, waiting a few seconds before she gave a similar countdown toBraden.
Julia waited for Braden to move away from the drop zone at the back of the boat, then looked at Ronan. She wanted to tell him she would be okay, that this would all be over soon, but there was notime.
Nora held up her fingers. Julia forced herself tobreathe.
Then she was tipping over the side of the boat, the water closing in over her head as she sank through the muffledabyss.
31
Ronan didn’t dare lookat his dive watch as they swam through the dark. He was too focused on Julia in front of him, too worried about losing sight ofher.
Like all of them, she wore a clip light that illuminated her position, a beacon of gold that made it easier for him to keep his eyes on her, but he was all too aware of the vastness of the water around them. It would only take a few seconds for one of them todisappear.
He didn’t know how long they’d been swimming when Nick’s voice sounded in his ear over the comms system. “Coming up on theElysium.”
Julia slowed to a stop, hovering in the water in front of him. Nick and Braden appeared next to her and pointed to the surface where the Elysium sat low and heavy in thewater.
They were near the vessel’s bow, its lights cast into the water like glitteringgems.
“Everybody good?” He looked at Julia when he asked the question, searching her eyes through the mask for any sign ofdifficulty.
“I’m good.” Julia’s voice was clear andcalm.
He held her gaze before looking atBraden.
“Allgood.”
“Nick?” They hadn’t talked much after their conversation on the terrace, and now he wished that he’d taken more time to tell Nick how much their relationship, their shared history, meant tohim.
“A-okay,” Nicksaid.
“Wait until I give you the all clear,” Ronan said. “Keep an eye on thecurrent.”
It was easy to let an underwater current carry you off course. They would need to watch the Elysium to make sure they stayed inposition.
He took a last look at Julia and killed his light before he ascended. There was no way to know the position of the guards while he was underwater, and he was careful to surface quietly, staying in the shadow of the bow until he could get hisbearings.
The bow of the Elysium rose twenty feet overhead, hardly moving in the water. He didn’t see anyone on deck, and he allowed himself a minute to take in the rest of the vessel, long, sleek, and ultra-modern.
The bridge rose into the night sky, the boat’s antenna shining red, announcing its presence to other boats and low-flyingaircraft.
A few seconds later, footsteps sounded on thebow.
