Page 41 of The Darkest Hour

Not one damned thing.

I nodded, even though she couldn't see me. “We'll get through this. We'll find a way.”

“You’re the last person I would think would be optimistic in a time like this.”

“There's no other option.” I rubbed my hands along my arms in a failed attempt to warm me up. “Drowning ourselves in pessimism won’t get us anywhere either.”

She finally turned to look at me. Those brown eyes met mine. “What if we die in this ocean?”

“What if we live?”

“You think someone is going to come and rescue us?”

I watched Onyx, unsure of how to answer that and still be positive.

The truth was that even if we were rescued, the likelihood of encountering saviors was slim.

In these waters, far from any familiar civilization, those who roamed were often the ones with dark secrets and even darker intentions. This part of the Pacific served as a hiding place for the extremely wealthy and their clandestine activities.

I knew firsthand the kind of depravity that took place on the remote islands dotting this vast ocean.

The sex club was the closest thing to civilization in this forsaken part of the world. And even that place, with its hidden island and its dark allure, was a den of twisted pleasures and hidden sins.

Further out, there were places far worse.

Islands where men did the cruelest things to innocent souls, far from the prying eyes of any laws or sense of morality.

I'd been sent to some of those islands, hired to clean up the messes left by the powerful and sadistic.

The things I'd seen. . .

The things I'd done. . .

They haunted my nightmares.

And the idea of encountering one of those yachts filled with vicious, inhuman wealthy people now—in our state of helplessness—was beyond terrifying.

I’d rather the sharks return and rip our bodies to shreds.

If we did cross paths with one of those vessels, it wouldn't be a rescue. It would be another battle for survival, another test of our will and strength.

I clenched my fists, feeling the tension coil in my muscles.

Onyx watched me.

I gazed at the water. “Whatever happens in these next minutes, hours. . .days. . .we have to stay sharp and be ready for anything.”

She shivered, and I couldn't tell if it was from the cold or the fear. “My boss tried to kill me.”

“This is the way of the assassin world.”

“He betrayed me.”

“You see it as betrayal. He sees it as saving millions of dollars.”

The oncoming storm began to gather strength, telling me that rain would come within the hour.

The wind picked up, whipping around us.

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