Page 83 of Doyle

They’d landed in the well of a wave, and it caught him up, Tia struggling against him.

The wave slammed them into the rocks. He took the hit on his shoulder, his arms around Tia, fighting to protect her.

Then the current pulled them back out.

He had to set her free because kicking together would only drown them. Even now, her boots landed in his shins, and despite her paddling, they sank in the water.

And then his feet touched rock. Approximately six feet down—his boots scraped the top of the lava tunnel.

He wrapped his arms around her at the rush of another wave. “Big breath!”

Then he ducked them under the cresting water, kicking hard.

They came up behind the surge into the next roll, and he reached down, fumbling with the backpack strap. The swell caught them up, and again—“Under!”

He ducked with her, found purchase on the tunnel roof, and pushed to the surface. She sputtered, coughing as he released the strap.

She wiggled free, but he caught her hand as the water rose under them again.

“Down!” He took a breath and, next to him, felt her follow. This time, they came up farther from the cliff. He tore off the pack and shoved it at her. “Put this on!”

“I can swim!”

“It’ll let me hold on to you!”

She splashed, then shouted, “Duck!”

He took a breath, and this time she pulled him under. The wave caught them, tumbled her, but he grabbed hold and pulled her to himself, again launching himself from the lava base.

They surfaced.

“Listen! It’ll just get me tangled up. Let’s swim!”

But then he’d lose her in the darkness. “No—we have to stay together!”

She blinked at him, treading water.

“Okay.” She grabbed the pack, pulled it over her head and shoulder.

He grabbed the trailing strap. “Stay with me!”

“Go deeper!”

Good idea.Deeper, the current would be less furious. He took a breath and plunged into the water, sinking into the depths.

She swam beside him, using breaststrokes, and he sensed the waves rolling over them.

He surfaced after a minute and found her treading next to him. They’d swum away from shore, out of the breaking waves. “Turn onto your side and do a sidestroke.”

“Why?” But she turned over.

“You can save energy that way. SEAL trick that Stein taught me. But first—lose the boots.”

“I like these boots.”

“You like to breathe too, right?” He’d already started to unlace his boots, sliding out of them, the water chilly against his bare feet.

She did the same, and then she started to twist in the water.

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