Page 74 of Dark Consequences

“Best breakfast I’ve ever had.”

Xiao’s angry growl is loud enough to let me know that Raphael’s response struck a nerve.

Glancing around the corner, I catch the flash of a knife blade as Xiao lunges for Raphael.

“No!” I scream, leaping from my hiding spot and exposing myself to the group.

My outburst distracts Raphael.

“Watch out!”

Raphael’s eyes snap from me to Xiao and the knife in his hand. He moves, but not quick enough. The blade buries into Raphael’s shoulder when it would have hit his heart instead had he not moved.

But, if I had just stayed quiet, he probably would have been able to avoid the attack altogether. The momentum drives Raphael and Xiao backward against the railing. Xiao’s feet get wrapped up in rope coiled by the railing, and he trips. Raphael meets my eyes a moment before they disappear over the side of the boat.

“No!” I dash forward, crashing into the steel railing where they fell overboard. “Where are they? I can’t see them.”

Michael and Enzo appear beside me, one on my left and the other on my right.

“You were supposed to stay in the damn boat,” Enzo growls.

I don’t bother arguing because what I should and shouldn’t have done is irrelevant right now. I can’t find Raphael or Xiao, and that’s more important. Raphael’s been stabbed, and he’s bleeding in open water.

“Do you see them?” I ask frantically.

“No,” Michael answers in a grave voice.

“Michael,” Enzo says, the single word heavy and full of hidden meaning.

A single heartbeat later, Michael removes his vests and weapons, stripping down to only his pants and shirt. “Stay here and wait.” He then sticks a knife blade between his teeth, steps over the railing, and dives into the dark ocean below.

35

Raphael

Plunging into the ocean feels similar to when you first submerge in an ice bath. The shock that follows sends a brief wave of numbness through the body and soothes the burning coming from my shoulder.

Breaking the surface, I shake the hair from my eyes and take a couple of needed breaths before a hand latches on to my ankle below and pulls me under.

The salt in the water stings my eyes when I open them to look down at Xiao. He’s practically trying to climb me like a tree to get to the surface, his eyes wide in panic, which is when I see what’s wrapped around his ankle.

He somehow got tangled up in a rope. The weight is pulling him under, and the bastard is trying to take me with him.

Xiao’s knife is still buried in my shoulder and is likely the only reason I’m not bleeding more profusely. But it’s also preventing me from using my arm very much, which means I’m going to have to fight this bastard with one hand.

Reaching into my belt, I pull out another knife and swing at Xiao, catching his arm. Blood pours from the cut, instantly clouding the water.

I’m not afraid of sharks, but I know we don’t have long before the blood in the water attracts them, and then I’ll have another enemy to deal with.

Xiao uses his other hand to seize my wrist. As we sink deeper into the ocean, we wrestle for control of the knife in my hand. Xiao’s desperate, causing his movements to be erratic, and I watch in dismay as the knife slips from my hand, vanishing into the unknown below.

That was my last weapon.

Except for.

No.

If I pull that knife out, I risk bleeding out. But I don’t have a choice. I need to get free from Xiao.

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