‘I took care of it’ is what I want to say. But strangely, I think he knows that. It’s why he’s asking.
I break his gaze. “Room 206,” I mumble.
“Gabriel. Xavier.” Reuben’s command is sharp and they're both gone, leaving Tobias, Camille, Reuben and I, with an unconscious Lucia.
“Now tell me what happened,” Reuben demands.
It’s easier to tell him than Tobias. And when I do, I can feel the rage emanating from them both. Can see the horror in Camille as she holds a hand to her mouth and starts to cry again.
“They're dead.” My voice still sounds foreign to my ears.
Reuben opens his mouth to speak. To console me? I don't know. He doesn't get the chance, because a loud creaking noise pierces the air—the crack of a pipe, or a gear coming undone. We all hear it tilt on its axle, looking around for the source of the sound with wide eyes.
But I’m the only one who can see it, rushing toward us.
Behind Reuben and Tobias.
I push Camille, forcing her to fall with a sharp cry, before getting to my knees and sweeping Tobias’ feet from beneath him.
I only have a single moment left when I grab Reuben by the collar, who’s still holding the sleeping Lucia, and forcefully pull him out of the way using all my strength.
Everything slows the moment I know they’re out of harm’s way. I’m meeting Reuben’s eyes while he reaches for me, a sliver of emotion I can’t recognize on his face.
And I only feel relief knowing I was able to protect them.
The tunnel collides into me—a chunk of the water slide, come undone from the exchange of bullets on the deck, and the impact forces the world back to its regular pace. It picks my body up off the ground and knocks the air from my lungs, breaking some of my bones on impact and making my vision hazy.
I only know it’s thrown me cleanly overboard when I’m suspended in the cold air, hovering in the night sky for the barest of moments, until gravity grips me in its jaws and begins my jarring descent towards the water below.
My mind is whirring as I fall through the air. I've never felt gravity work so ferociously against me and there isn't even any time to hold my breath before I collide into the water. The breath I didn't even know I held escapes me on impact, and I can feel the force of it vibrate my bones.
If I really were human, I would have died before even hitting the water.
Attempting to swim makes my ribs ache. I can feel them, I’ve broken four. But I’ve also never been thrown into an abyss-like body of water before, so… I couldn’t swim even if I tried.
Fuck.
Powerful lights suddenly shine into the water, and I can make out my surroundings if only for a few moments.
Since the moment I fell into the sea, all manner of fish have been assaulting me, swimming all around and towards me as though I have something to offer. I find myself distracted by them now with the light making their figures clear. I’d only seen one or two, maybe even groups of small ones in glass tanks in Portland…
But it’s a bit frightening now.
Especially the big ones… I pretend not to see those.
After all that time… who would’ve thought I’d need to shift into a fish? Still, I can’t shift now. If I do, the fractures will disappear. I can't go back to the team uninjured; I got hit by a fucking… what even was it, a container?
Stars, should I really be dead?
The urge to breathe is building in my lungs with no help from my otherwise useless thoughts, and the water drags me under slowly. The surface is lookingfurther and further away but it hurts too much to move and I don't know how to fucking swim.
The only option is to shift.
But if I do that, I can’t go back to Reuben.
And after I just promised to show him the worth of the Adler Squad.
Fuck.
