Page 69 of Wandering Wild

Gradually, my agony begins to fade, and my breaths start to slow. I feel as if I’ve been in a battle, and it’s a struggle to open my eyes, but when I finally manage to do so, I want to slam them shut again straight away.

Because we’re still in the tunnel.

Back in the air pocket.

No, I think, unable to say the word aloud.

Zander must see it written on my face, because he rasps out, “I’m sorry—this was closer than the other end, and I didn’t know if—” He shudders against me. “I wasn’t sure how long you had.”

He’s still holding me, treading water for us both, and the enormity of what he just did hits me.

“You came back for me.” My voice is hoarse from both emotion and strain.

“Of course I did,” he whispers. He keeps one arm around my waist but moves the other up to frame my face, pushing my hair away before pressing his hand to my cheek. “At the risk of sounding like another Hallmark-quoted fortune cookie, I’ll always come back for you.”

A half laugh, half sob leaves me, and I lean forward until our foreheads touch. My words are tremulous when I say, “I d-don’t think I can do that again.”

“We’ll wait a minute, catch our breaths.” His voice is soft, encouraging. “We’re so close, Charlie.”

“I n-nearly drowned, Zander,” I say, the shock hitting me, causing me to shake all over. “Iwouldhave, if you hadn’t arrived when you did.”

His arm at my waist tightens. But when he speaks, he just says, “Don’t go stealing my thunder, Charlie Hart. Only one of us gets to drown on this trip. Those are the rules.”

His playful tone has me shifting back enough to see the teasing glint in his eyes, though I can also see the depth of fear it’s covering—fear forme.

He holds my gaze, his playfulness fading as he turns sober and says, “I won’t let anything happen to you—I promised, remember? And something to know about me: I never break my promises.” His eyes are locked on mine. “We’ll go together this time. I’ll be right beside you the whole way. You can do this, Charlie.Wecan do this.” He pauses. “Are you with me?”

I’m still trembling violently and every part of me wants to say no, but seeing the assurance in his gaze, the confidence, thepromise, all I can do is whisper, “I’m with you, Zander.”

A weighty breath leaves him and, as if he can’t help himself, he presses his lips to my forehead, the move so quick that I would wonder if I imagined it if not for the tingling it leaves behind.

“Ready, then?” Zander asks, not giving me time to dwell on his tender action. “One last deep breath.”

I follow his lead and fill my lungs with as much air as possible, doing everything I can to ignore my fear of what we’re about to do—again.

But then Zander is releasing his hold on my waist, only to grab my hand, entwining our fingers as we dive under the surface and shoot forward through the water. It’s harder, joined as we are, but I’m not about to let him go, needing to feel him beside me, needing to know I’m not alone.

I see the rocks approaching, glowing blue under the light of our watches, and my stomach clenches as I think about what would have happened if Zander hadn’t returned for me. But he did, I remind myself. He came back for me, hesavedme.

And now the rocks are behind us, our swim strokes steady and sure as we pass right over them.

There’s light up ahead, and seeing it makes me want to weep. My lungs are burning all over again, but we’re nearly there—nearly there?—

Nearly—

—there.

We break through the surface, coughing hard and sucking in fresh, clean air for the first time in what feels like years. I’m not sure if it’s water streaming down my face or tears, but when Zander guides me toward the shallows of the underground pool we’ve arrived in and I can finally touch the bottom, it’s definitely a sob of relief that leaves me.

“We did it,” I say disbelievingly, as I glance around the beautiful, open-roofed cavern. “We actually made it.”

The next second, I’m swept up in Zander’s arms, water flying all around us.

“Told you so,” he says into my ear.

A surprised laugh leaves me as I recall what he said earlier. “Guess you have an excuse to be a smug know-it-all after all.”

He draws away again so he can grin at me, his eyes dancing. “I’m only smug when I know I’m right.” He winks. “And for the record, I usually am.”

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