Page 47 of Corrupted Lies

This was not good at all.

If a spark of lightning hit the water close to them, they’d be dead.

Electrocuted.

As if they needed another problem right now.

The temperature was dropping, they weren't dressed to be out in the water, and they had only one working life jacket. Between the wind, the rain, and the growing waves, swimming was going to be difficult, and keeping close to each other next to impossible.

Losing Alannah to the ocean was not an option.

But how was he going to ensure they didn't float away from one another?

He had no rope, nothing to tie them together, they could hold onto each other, but they weren't going to be any match for the storm, and the ocean could quite easily rip them apart.

They’d been tossed around too many times after they jumped and got caught in the explosion, then he’d been too focused on finding Alannah rather than trying to keep a direction in his head. There were no prompts in the sky since the stars were covered by thick clouds, so he had no idea which way to swim to get them to the closest piece of land.

Failure wasn't an option.

Not when he had Alannah with him.

Twenty-eight years ago, he’d made her a promise, he’d vowed to protect her, and while it was quite obvious he’d failed several times over the years, this couldn’t be one of those times. Now her life was at stake, he was responsible for her, he’d agreed with the yacht plan rather than going with the rest of his family to Delta Team, and he was the one who hadn't done a detailed enough sweep of the boat.

Alannah was in danger because of him.

So he had to fix this.

He had to figure out a plan.

“I'm scared, Jake,” Alannah’s voice somehow managed to rise above the storm raging around him, even though he knew she hadn't spoken particularly loudly, certainly hadn't been screaming to be heard.

But he heard her.

Saw her.

Knew her.

Better than anyone else did.

Wrapping an arm around her, he pulled her close, needing one moment to just hold her, flood his senses with her feel and her smell, then he could compartmentalize and do what he had to do to get them out of there alive.

“I’m scared too, sunshine,” he admitted, allowing himself one second of weakness and vulnerability. “But I promise you this, Alannah. I will get you through this, I swear it.”

There was sadness in her eyes that he caught only because of a well-timed flash of lightning. “Us, grumpy. We have to get both of us through this.”

That was the plan, but in the end, if only one of them could survive it wasn't going to be him. It was going to be his sunshine.

October 18th

5:50 A.M.

Swim.

Swim.

Swim.

Don’t stop.

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