It's so cold.
It seeps into my skin. Did I once know heat? Was it possible that warmth once coursed through my veins?
Saltwater and numbness become my new reality. I'm grateful my prosthetic hand is waterproof.
It takes a full minute before my brain remembers to move. Another three to reach the body. When I reach the makeshift raft we saw from above, my eyes widen.
Jean Luc is gripping a jagged piece of wood, his eyes glassy as streams of blood stain the choppy water behind him. It takes a moment before I see the cause. A laceration runs from his shoulder across his chest.
Gods. It's a miracle he's still alive.
"Hold on, man," I say through clenched teeth. Grabbing his arm, I start to tug him back to the chopper. He is silent, quiet moans of pain escaping his lips as I pull him to the chopper.
As if on cue, Raphael pops out of the open door. "Give me his arms."
Exchanging a grateful look with the male, I push Jean Luc forward. The King of the Angels is ridiculously strong, and Jean Luc is in the chopper a few moments later.
The moment Jean Luc’s head lands on the chopper floor, he turns his pain-filled eyes to me. A thin sheen of sweat covers his forehead as he looks at me.
I clamber aboard the chopper after Jean Luc. Helena is right there, handing me a towel. I wrap it around myself before sliding down onto the ground. Reaching behind me, I grab another towel and press it to Jean Luc’s chest.
"Erik," the injured man rasps, “Conrad... he’s not dead...”
I take his hand in mine, squeezing tightly. “I know. We saw him. He’s sided with the Ice Mer King.”
Deep coughs rattle in Jean Luc’s chest as blood seeps around him. “King Phelix is dangerous.”
“It’s a good thing I’m dangerous, too,” I whisper. My heart seizes as I stare at this man who has spent the past twenty years with me. “Keep breathing, Jean Luc.”
“Is that an order?” he rasps.
I smile softly. “It is.”
Just then, the pilot pops his head up. He hands me a headset, which I put on. The pilot’s voice crackles in my ears, "Look, we have to go. There's a storm coming in, and we need to get off the water."
"Fine," I say gruffly. "I'll stay here with him. Keep holding pressure."
Helena looks at me, raising a brow in silent question.
"Go sit," I urge her.
She shakes her head. Sitting down, she picks up my hand with one and Jean Luc’s with the other. A silent sigh escapes her as she settles in.
Moments later, the chopper takes off, and I wonder if the Ice Mer King will ever leave us alone.
34
Fortuna, The Romantic
HELENA
The second the chopper lands, Jean Luc is immediately taken to the hospital.
Erik and I are escorted back to the Tower after being thoroughly reassured that there is no further threat to the place. All the Elite are accounted for, and my uncle’s men have thoroughly swept the city.
There are so many noises around me, so many people talking, shielding me, but I am struggling to feel or think anything. In the back of my mind, I realize I am in shock. I am moving, but I am not present.
Current time does not exist in linear form—it is just an endless underwater eddy that I am trapped in.