"Let's even the odds," she whispers.
Everything happens atonce.
Ethan shouts a warning. Mateo lunges forward, too far away to reach her in time. I brace for the impact, for the searing pain that will end my life.
But it's Declan who moves fastest.
His massive body surges, pushing me and stepping between me and the gun just as Becky pulls the trigger. The crack of the gunshot echoes across the water, impossibly loud in the twilight air.
Declan jerks backward, a look of surprise crossing his features. His dark eyes meet mine for a fraction of a second, wide, shocked, but filled with love. For a suspended moment, he stands there, swaying slightly at the edge of the pool. Then his knees buckle, and he topples backward into the water with a massive splash.
"NO!" The scream tears from my throat as crimson blooms across the surface where he disappeared.
I don't think. Don't hesitate.
I dive.
The water closes over my head, cold and shocking. Panic flashes through me, the old fear, the helplessness, the memory of hands holding me under. My body wants to freeze, to turn back, to fight against the liquid pressing in from all sides. But deeper than the fear, stronger than the panic, is something else entirely.
Love. Raw and fierce and unstoppable.
The chlorinated water stings my eyes as I force them open, searching the murky blue depths. The pool lights cast an eerie glow, transforming everything into surreal shapes and shadows. There... a dark shape sinking toward the bottom, trailing wisps of red that bloom and disperse like crimson smoke.
Declan.
I kick hard, driving myself downward. My dress billows around me, tangling my legs, slowing me down. My lungs already burn, but I ignore it. Push past it. Every second counts. Every moment he's under water is another moment closer to losing him forever.
He's almost at the bottom now, his body drifting in the strange, suspended way of things underwater. The pool is deeper than I remembered. So much water between us. So much distance.
I reach him just as he touches the bottom, my hands grasping his shirt, his shoulders. He's so heavy, so solid, a mountain of a man now pulling me down with his weight. His eyes are closed, face pale beneath the wavering blue light. A cloud of red pulses from his shoulder, dispersing into the water around us.
I wrap my arms around his chest from behind, kicking furiously against the water's resistance. We rise a few inches, then sink again. Too heavy. He's too heavy.
Panic claws at the edges of my mind. I can't do this. I can't lift him. I'm going to watch him die, or die with him, right here in the place I fearmost.
No.
The word echoes through me like a command. No, I refuse to lose him. Not like this. Not after everything.
I remember his strength, his gentleness. The way he stood between me and every threat without hesitation. The patience with which he helped me face this very fear, this very water.
I adjust my grip, locking my arms under his from behind, and kick with everything I have, every ounce of strength, every scrap of determination. My muscles scream in protest. My lungs burn for air. But slowly, agonizingly, we begin to rise.
Inches. That's all we move at first. Precious air bubbles escape my nose, my mouth. Black spots dance at the edges of my vision. Each kick seems to move us less than the last as my strength wanes.
We're not going to make it.
My vision tunnels. My grip on Declan starts to loosen despite my desperate attempts to hold on. We've risen maybe halfway to the surface, but it might as well be miles.
Then something changes. Something shifts. Maybe it's the water's physics, maybe it's my body finding one last reserve of strength, maybe it's the sheer force of my will refusing to let this man die for me, but suddenly we're moving faster.
The surface grows closer, the wavering light brighter. My lungs feel like they're collapsing, my muscles like they're tearing apart, but I don't stop. Can't stop.
The world goes muffled. Blue-green. My lungs seize with desperate need, but I keep my arms locked around Declan, solid, steady.
One... two...
I feel his heartbeat beneath my hands. Still there. Still fighting.
