The minute she was submerged, she let go of the evil man and propelled herself to the surface.
Gasping for air, she heard Zach’s voice from the deck of the boat that was…powering away?
What the hell?
“Grab this,” he called out, tossing a life ring expertly in her direction.
Within a couple of swift strokes, Lace was able to grab onto it.
But now what? And where was the captain?
Lace looked around.
The man’s head suddenly appeared above the water, but he was clearly floundering, splashing at the air with windmilling arms.
“Help me,” he howled. “I can’t swim.”
Well, fuck.
Just what she needed right now. A moral dilemma.
Should she let the man reap what he’d sown, and drown? Or should she save his nasty ass?
Lace turned her eyes heavenward and sighed. She couldn’t just let the man die, no matter that he’d wished that fate on her.
Goddamn her principles.
Lace scissor-kicked toward the captain and called him by his real name for the first time to try and settle him down.
“Captain Macleen. I’m coming. Hang on. I have a life ring.”
She knew it was only rated for one person—which would, by necessity, now be for the one of them who couldn’t swim—butLace still had a few tricks up her sleeve. She just hoped she not only remembered what she’d been taught in her water safety courses, but that she had the energy reserves to pull it off.
There were two things going for her. One, she hadn’t been sapped by an infusion in over a week, and two, the water in August was still warm, even this far offshore.
“I’m—”
The captain’s face disappeared beneath the waves before appearing once again, choking on water and panic. He was certainly no longer full of the hubris Lace was used to seeing him exhibit.
“Almost there,” she attempted to give reassurance.
Just a few more strokes…
Lace thrust the life ring at the man while keeping her distance because, yeah, she didn’t trust him. Once he was safe, who’s to say he wouldn’t try to finish the job of drowning her?
“Grab it,” she ordered, and somehow he managed to hook his arms up and around the flotation device.
Lace swam a few safe feet away.
“You… You saved me,” he spluttered, coughing out water.
“Yeah. You’re a prick,” she responded, “but I couldn’t let you die.”
“But…why? And what about you? You can’t keep swimming forever. Shouldn’t we share?”
Lace couldn’t tell if he was being sincere or not, but screw that. His word was worth shit.
“I can take care of myself,” Lace said.