He glanced at the cave, and she could see the longing in his eyes, even through the equipment. He wanted to find Ys. How many times did she have to tell people that there was no lost city? Not the way the legend described it. But they had found evidence, actual evidence. It might not look like much, but real finds weren’t piles of treasure where X marked the spot. So what else did he want?
‘It doesn’t matter,’ he said at last and the disappointment was palpable. ‘We’ve run out of time, haven’t we?’
She ached inside for the loss, for the despair, she heard in his voice, but he was right.
Jason’s voice came through the coms again. ‘Ari! Come back. Now. We need to get out of here. Squall incoming. Respond immediately.’
She pushed the button. ‘We’re coming. On the way now.’
They couldn’t rush. Shoot up too quickly and they were going to get the bends. True, they weren’t that deep, but they couldn’t risk it. The ascent had to be staged. And time was against them.
She jerked her thumb upwards and Rafael nodded, turning to swim back towards the boat as agreed.
Something hard and unseen slammed into her side, sending her flying back towards the cliffs. She twisted around, trying to right herself, and it hit her again, something in the water, part of the water. As if a current had taken on a mind of its own and bore her a particularly vicious grudge. Ari struggled violently, trying to tear herself free. A rip tide? It had come out of nowhere.
She heard Rafael shout her name, his panic igniting hers as the sea cave loomed over her, a gaping mouth, a maw of darkness, swallowing her up.
For the next few seconds, minutes – she had no idea how long – her body tumbled through the water, struck rock face and was dragged along the ground. Silt from the floor turned everything dark, her torch unable to penetrate it, though she managed to hold on to it. She tried to protect herself, to make sure the equipment wasn’t damaged, but there wasn’t time and, to be honest, there was nothing she could do but let the water take her where it wanted. And pray.
The face mask cracked, the sound deafening, and the water rushed over her face, freezing, overwhelming. Her air supply bubbled up in front of her. She couldn’t fight the sea. Nothing could. She knew this better than anyone.
Panic drained away. She couldn’t take anymore. It was too late.
Surrender.
The thought came from the back of her brain, from that dark place of loss and despair, that at least this way she’d be with Simon again, going the same way he went.
A curious calm spread over her mind and body.
I’ve let the tide take me and surrendered to her.
From the darkness, a hand grabbed her wrist and hauled her upwards.
They burst out of the water into a vast domed cavern. The waves surged around them, but Rafael pushed her up onto the ledge where his torch was already lying beside the camera. He pushed her shattered face mask back.
‘Breathe,’ he told her. ‘Just take a moment, go slow and breathe. In and out. Ari, listen to me. Breathe.’
CHAPTERTWENTY-ONE
It all happened so fast, Rafael couldn’t stop it. One minute she was there and the next the sea swept her into the cave as if it had reached out an invisible hand to seize her. Without a second thought, he plunged in after her, letting the current take him as well. It was madness, he knew that, but it was just what Fabien had written, the rip tide taking them in along an underwater path. It was a leap of faith. Idiocy, but he couldn’t let her go alone. Not like this.
He saw her hit the wall at the back of the cave, with horrible clarity, saw the impact shudder through her body. The silt came up like a curtain, but he pushed on to reach her. For a moment, he thought he’d lost her again and he knew –knew!– he couldn’t allow that to happen.
He needed her.
The beam of his torch hit the water overhead and he realised that they were near the surface and beyond it was a larger open space. He surfaced briefly, took in the cavern above them and plunged down to find her, grabbing her flailing arm and pulling her to the surface.
The diving mask was cracked and her pale face looked devoid of life, like the thing they had locked away. Her wet eyelashes made little points on her lower lids and he thought he was too late. Then she opened her mouth to gasp for air, coughing as he hauled her onto the ledge and out of the water.
He removed the face mask, staring at her frantically.
‘Breathe,’ he told her, smoothing his hand over the perfect lines of her face. ‘Just take a moment, go slow and breathe. In and out. Ari, listen to me. Breathe.’
‘I’m…I’m OK.’ She choked out the words. ‘I think so anyway. What happened? Where are we?’
‘I think we’re underneath Castelmeur. In the sea caves.’
A dim light filtered through the water from outside the cave, and from the churning surface, the storm was still going on out there.
