Page 68 of Wandering Wild

Once again, I have to cough when I reach her in the air pocket, this final leg of the swim so much further than any of the others.

“What happened? Are you okay?” she asks anxiously, while trying to help keep me above the waterline. “You were gone a lot longer this time. Did you?—”

“I found the end of the tunnel,” I rasp out around my coughs.

The look on her face—I can’t tell if she’s about to cry with relief, or kiss me. As much as I want the latter, what I want more is for us to be free of this underwater prison.

“Are you sure?” she asks, as if she can’t believe it.

“I’m sure.” My chest is on fire and my muscles are screaming, but at least now I know the end is in sight. “It’s an uncomfortable distance, so you’ll need to take your deepest breath yet and swim as fast as you can. And be careful—there are rocks or stalagmites or something rising up from the ground partway along, so don’t swim too low or you could hurt yourself.”

There’s worry in her eyes, but resolve as well. “I’ll keep a close watch. Now let’s get the hell out of here.”

I draw in as much air as I can while Charlie follows my lead, and when we’re both ready, I dive under the surface one last time.

My fatigue and pain are becoming an increasing worry the further I propel myself through the tunnel, but I’m more concerned about Charlie. There are no more air pockets between us and the end of the passage, and if she can’t hold her breath for long enough, or if she can’t swim fast enough...

She’s fine,I tell myself as I hurtle through the water.She’s right at my heels.

But when I finally reach the end of the tunnel for the second time, gasping in lungfuls of air, I know within seconds that something is wrong.

Because there’s no sign of Charlie behind me.

I’m running out of air.

I can feel it, the searing in my chest, the desperation to draw in a breath, the need for fresh oxygen to pump through my veins, but there’s nothing I can do, no way to relieve the agony building and building andbuildingin me.

Because I’m trapped.

My foot is stuck, the laces of my left hiking boot caught between the rocks Zander warned me about.

I saw them as I was swimming, the glow of my wristwatch illuminating them rising from the unknown depths below, and I gave them a high berth, not even thinking about my trailing bootlaces. But now...

Panic grips me as I attempt to yank myself free. When that doesn’t work, I reach down to tear my shoe off, willing to sacrifice it to save my life, only to realize all my tugging has pulled the laces so tight that I can’t slip my foot out.

A bubble of air leaves me as my terror grows, and I brace my right leg against the rock, heaving my weight against it. I feel like I’m about to snap my own ankle off, but no matter how hard I try, it doesn’t give.

I tug and yank and pull and do everything I can to wrench myself loose, but it’s no use.

My vision begins dotting, my blood is pounding in my ears, my body shrieks for relief, and I realize I’m out of time. There’s no air left in my lungs and my strength is quickly fading; all I can do is kick helplessly at the rock, but I might as well be kicking a mountain.

The last of my precious air leaves me, and I know this is it. I want to cry and scream and rage because I only just found the courage to dream again, to see a future, towanta future, and now it’s being stolen from me. I’ll never get to explore the world and go on more adventures. I’ll never get to laugh with Ember again, or make sure my stepdad knows how much I love him, or tell Zander that I?—

Hands grab me, shocking me enough that I would gasp if I had any air left. But there’s nothing; it’s taking all of my remaining strength to keep my mouth shut and not inhale the water, though I know I only have seconds before I lose even that small control and my body surrenders against my will.

But seconds might be all I need.

Because Zander is here.

He sees the problem immediately, gives one firm tug to my leg, and when that yields no results, he pulls Hawke’s hunting knife from his belt. Without hesitating, he slices it straight through my bootlaces, then wraps an arm around my waist and hauls me backward through the water.

I’m all but limp in his arms as I fight to remain conscious, to ignore the stabbing torment I feel in every part of me.

I can’t hold on any longer.

I can’t?—

My head breaks through the surface and I’m choking and choking andchokingas Zander holds me against his body, keeping me from dropping back beneath the water, telling me toBreathe, Charlie. Just breathe.I barely hear him, unable to do anything but suck in burning, wheezing, painful breaths. Zander is panting with me, holding me so close that I can feel his heartbeat galloping in his chest, echoing my own, as he keeps saying those same words over and over.

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