Page 62 of Handcuffed to the Bear

“Roger’s a lion,” she told him desperately. “A very large one. I—I don’t know what Eva is, but she might not be able to fight him.”

Avery smiled. It was a quiet smile, but there was something sharp in it nevertheless. “Oh, I wouldn’t worry about Eva if I were you.”

* * *

Jack hadn’t known he had one last shift left in him until Casey screamed. Then it came without his conscious intent, the feeling ofbearsweeping through him, picking him up and carrying him along.

He wasn’t actually trying to knock Roger into the water, and he was only half conscious when they hit. He went beneath the cold waves. Water filled his jaws.

Swim, said an inner voice that sounded a little like Casey and a little like Avery.Swim!

He kicked, more by reflex than anything, and his head broke the surface of the water. He gulped a desperate breath. The boat was nowhere to be seen in the smeary blur of his nearsightedness. He couldn’t tell if the thumping in his ears was an engine or just the beating of his own pounding heart.

Something latched onto his hindquarters, dragging him down. Water closed over his head again, and he struggled to free himself, swiping at his assailant with paws slowed by the water and his exhaustion.

He and Roger grappled in a sort of slow-motion ballet, ripping at each other with teeth and claws in a dark, silent, aquatic world. Blood roared in Jack’s ears, his vision dimmed, and suddenly he didn’t care if he drowned as long as he took this bastard with him.

But Roger, sensing his suicidally deadly intent or just running out of air, tore free and kicked for the surface. They broke out of the water mere feet from each other, the bear and the lion, gasping for air.

Between the damage Casey had done to his face and the ravages of Jack’s assault, Roger was looking somewhat the worse for wear. He was still in much better shape than Jack, though. There was no way to victory Jack could see that didn’t involve his own death. But the alternative was to die here at Roger’s claws and fangs, his death serving no purpose.

Casey, I’m sorry ...

He wished he could see her one last time. He hoped she’d be all right against Derek on the boat.

And then he lunged forward, driving himself with a powerful thrust of his legs. Roger saw him coming and readied for defense, but all Jack was trying to do was get a firm enough grip that Roger couldn’t get away. He didn’t care if Roger hurt him anymore.

He sank his teeth into Roger’s shoulder, wrapped his muscular legs around the lion, and sank them both.

Too late, Roger realized what he was trying to do. He struggled wildly to free himself, but his thrashing only made them sink faster.

Jack barely felt the pain as Roger tore at him. Nothing mattered now but holding on.

And so he did, as they sank through the dark water, tangled in life as their bodies would be in death.

Something huge came out of nowhere and slammed into them.

It was as fast as a torpedo and big as a submarine. Shocked, Jack found himself drifting free, staring as an enormous orca closed its jaws around Roger. It arched its body and pulled him down, his tawny limbs fluttering like those of a rag doll. And then it had vanished into the murky gloom, and Jack was alone in the dark water.

That was Eva.

They found us.

And that was his last coherent thought. He didn’t have the strength left to swim for the surface. All he could do was drift.

He was dimly aware of something large coming up from beneath him. It bumped him gently, and then bore him upward.

* * *

Avery leaned over the edge of the boat, heedless of his own safety. Above him, Dev and Mila were pulling Casey inside the hovering helicopter.

The boat was still drifting aimlessly with the waves. In the gathering darkness, the helicopter jagged first one way, then another as it tried to maintain a relatively steady position above.

“Jack!” Avery yelled.

Nothing answered but the lapping of the dark waves, glinting in the helicopter’s searchlight.

Then something lurched out of the water, a dark lump like an island breaking through the waves. It moved purposefully toward the boat, and as it got closer, he could make out Eva’s long black-and-white torpedo shape just under the surface. Jack was draped over her back in bear form, a huge, limp, sodden mass of fur. He looked dead.

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