Total pages in book: 62
Estimated words: 59521 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 298(@200wpm)___ 238(@250wpm)___ 198(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 59521 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 298(@200wpm)___ 238(@250wpm)___ 198(@300wpm)
“You ever think about quitting?”
The word scares me so much I nearly laugh. “Sometimes. But I’d never be allowed to. Not with my father in the picture, though obviously he had other plans for me anyway so who knows.”
He doesn’t say anything to that.
We just fall silent, his eyes on mine.
“Show me another move,” I demand, to break the silence.
He does, but this time, we end up tangled together in a mild wrestle, and somehow land on the cold rock below. His hands catch me, stop the fall from being so harsh, and then his body is over mine. His face is right there, his eyes locked on mine. I can see every nick, every old scar, the wild blue of his eyes, the fleck of gold around his pupil. His grip says he could crush me, but his touch is stupidly, terrifyingly careful.
“If I didn’t know better,” he says, voice gone rough, “I’d think you liked me being on top of you.”
I bite my lip. “Dream on.”
He grins, wicked and knowing, and then he leans down and presses his lips to mine. I taste sweat and salt and something delicious and masculine. Every cell in me lights up. The ground is hard and cold, his body is heat and certainty, and there’s nothing in the world but this. For the first time since the ocean tried to break us, I want nothing more than to be here, helpless under him, exactly as I am.
He drags his lips from mine, just barely, breath close and ragged. “You’re not as fragile as you look, sweetheart.”
“I might be able to move like a feather, but I am tougher than a rock.”
He grins, a small chuckle leaving his lips. “Well, we’ll have to see about that.”
And with that, he kisses me again, and for another blissful second, I stop thinking about the end of the world.
“WE HAVE TO TRY SOMETHING,” Rachel wails, on her knees, fingers clenched. “We can’t just sit here and watch her die.”
“What do you want us to do?” Tatiana shrieks, her eyes wide as she stares down at Iris. “What the fuck do you actually want us to do?”
“I don’t know,” Rachel sobs. “I honestly don’t know, but we can’t just give up.”
My heart skips a beat as I look down at Iris, who is coming in and out of consciousness. She’s getting worse, hour by hour. Her fever has spiked, she is in pain, and her skin is coated in a fine film of sweat constantly. We are managing to keep water up to her, but only just. She swallows slowly, moaning when she does. Her wound is infected, red streaks running down her leg.
“Maybe we could put her in the ocean, let her leg soak in the salt water?” Aggie suggests, her voice smaller than I’ve ever heard it.
“Could make things worse,” Zeke mutters, arms crossed, eyes looking anywhere but at the girl on the ground.
Aggie takes a shaky breath. “At this point, does it matter? It’s worth a shot, right?”
Ace crouches beside Iris, palm going out to test her temperature. His voice is steady, but I see how he’s unsure and doubtful. Still, he’s going to do the best he can, that much I know. “Aggie is right, it can’t hurt. Give her the remaining antibiotics, some painkillers, and we will take her and wash this.”
I nod, throat tight, then kneel next to Aggie. We give Iris the remaining antibiotics, painkillers, and some coconut water, then we gather towels and the jacket, creating a makeshift stretcher. The guys lift Iris, with Aggie on one corner, too. Rachel and Tatiana shadow us as we make our way down to the water. The tide is out, a hundred meters of sand and shallow pools reflecting a sky that doesn’t seem like it cares whether any of us live or die.
We find a shallow, clean spot and then remove her bandage and lower her leg into the water. She screams—high and sharp, like a fire alarm going off inside your head. Rachel cradles her head, tears leaking down her face as she whispers, “You’re okay, you’re okay,” even as we all know she’s anything but.
Iris’s teeth chatter so violently I’m terrified they’ll break apart in her mouth. Ace and Zeke stand a few meters away, letting us comfort her. Kellen is perched on a rock, his shadow thrown long by the scalding sun. Adrian is paddling around the water, trying to teach himself to swim just in case. I can’t with him. I actually can’t.
Seawater laps Iris’s thigh, red and angry around the wound. The skin is tight, shiny, and the line of infection is a road map of how her body is losing. We stay for twenty minutes, thirty, I don’t even know. She moans, shivers, but she doesn’t faint. Aggie and I gently work some of the scab and pus away, almost sick at the smell.