Chapter Thirty

Brett moved around Dio. "I'm going to roll him to his back."

"Be careful." She held her arms out as if she could protect him by sheer willpower and divine intervention.

Dio rolled. His eyes remained shut, but a gasp of air escaped his mouth with the movement.

Brett met her gaze. "I don't know if I'm big enough to carry him."

Dio was six inches taller and probably fifty pounds heavier than Brett. It would be hard to walk through the sand while carrying someone bigger.

"I'll lift his legs and help you." She moved to his feet.

She struggled to get a hold of him. Her cold fingers refused to work. She fumbled and gritted her teeth. Finally, she got his legs tucked under her arms.

"Fuck." Brett raised his gaze to her. "He's shot in the shoulder and the side of the head. We'll be lucky if he doesn't bleed out."

"We have to get him to the hospital." Adrenaline kicked her in the butt, urging her forward. "Let's go."

Brett glanced at the ocean. She was aware of how close the water was coming to them. When they'd arrived, it was a good two hundred yards away. Now the water was fifty feet away from them, coming closer with each surge.

The wind whipped her hair in her face, her eyes, her mouth. Sand coated her dry tongue. Heaviness surrounded her. The storm only made the ocean stronger.

"Let's hurry." Brett propped Dio up without any fight and hugged his chest from behind.

She held his legs but kept losing her hold when Brett moved. Crying out in frustration, she grabbed a fistful of denim and strained with all her might. All they'd achieved was moving him to the bottom of the dune before putting him down.

"Dio?" She scrambled up to his head. "Hey, babe. Can you hear me?"

There was no response. She raised her gaze to Brett and shook her head. "We have to do something. He can't help us get up there."

Brett gazed at the water. "Come up here beside me, and we'll pull him up by his arms."

"But his shoulder—"

"A shoulder is fixable. He'll die if we don't get out of here."

"On the count of three." Brett moved to the side so they could both take an arm. "One. Two. Three."

She strained, pulling with all her strength. But the two of them couldn't lift him up the slope. For every foot they gained in the right direction, the sand caused them to slide two feet down. He was too big.

Dio remained unconscious. Afraid they would take too long to find him, she screamed in frustration. Brett stretched out beside Dio and rolled with him until he got him on his back, piggyback style .

"See if you can keep him from rolling off me. I'll try and crawl up the slope with him. If we can get him over the dune, it'll be easier," yelled Brett.

"Okay." She held on to Dio's vest.

Brett struggled to crawl, the sand making it impossible to navigate. She wanted to lift Dio to lighten Brett's load, but there was no way she could take his weight.

"It's not gonna work." Brett stopped and rolled Dio off his back.

Skye lost her footing and slid down the dune backward on her stomach. When she stopped, her feet landed in the water. A new fear exploded in her.

"Brett. The water." She scrambled up the incline to him. "We have to try again."

"It's no use. We'll never make it." Brett grabbed her arm, pulling her up higher. "Go on. Run."

"Not without Dio." She stared at the upcoming wave. "I'll never leave him."

Water never scared her. She respected it. Having spent her childhood in the pool, she was a strong swimmer—a much stronger swimmer than she was a person. She'd competed in swimming since she was eight years old. She was also a lifeguard through high school; it was how she paid for college.

She looked at Brett. "Can you swim?"

"Yeah."

"In the water, Dio will be lighter. I can keep his head above water and let the next wave take us over the dune." When she saw his reluctance, she grabbed Brett's vest. "I can do this but can't save both of you. The wave is going to hit us. You'll need to swim hard. Don't panic when the tide takes you back and it seems like you're going in the wrong direction. You can catch the next surge."

"I'll take Dio," said Brett.

Brett had no training in saving someone in the water. If Dio regained consciousness and fought the water, fought her, she'd know what to do and how to hold him to keep him from drowning. There was no time to instruct Brett on what to do. He needed experience, and she'd done this many times through the years.

The water took the sand out from under her. She cradled Dio's head, keeping his face clear of the salt water.

"Get ready," she yelled.

The water pulled Brett away from her. He grabbed her wrist. "Don't you fucking die on me."

"You, too." She met his gaze. "Mariah will kill me if something happens to you."

It was the truth. Her best friend had fallen in love. Hard. Fast. Deeply. And she couldn't wait to see where they both ended up.

Brett slipped into the water, struggling to stand on the sand. She looked down at Dio and promised to get him to safety and seek help.

The next wave threatened to take everything away from her. She held on to Dio's floating body and willed herself to remain calm. The water would work for her. She only had to be patient. The tide would get her and Dio over the dune. Once over, they could float to the field.

Dio gave her no struggles, no fight. The freezing temperature of the Pacific Ocean would hopefully slow Dio's bleeding. She had to think positive.

Determined to save him, she braced when the wave slammed them against the dune. She held on to Dio. Unable to feel her fingers, she fisted his leather vest, thankful there was no give in the material, and she could keep him close.

They were getting higher. One more surge, and they'd gain ground. She looked around for Brett, but the next wave came faster than expected, and she lost sight of him.

Dio floated on his back. She had her arms wrapped underneath his armpits. Her feet no longer bumped into the sand. The water was getting higher.

"Hold on, babe," she whispered. "Look at the sky."

The water went over her head. She held her breath, keeping her eyes closed. Trying not to panic, she kept her sense of direction and kicked, bringing them both out of the water.

She gasped for air.

Dio sputtered. She held on to him tighter.

Her foot hit the marsh bottom. Using the water to carry Dio's weight, she dug in and walked through the water, ignoring the tangle of grass trying to stop her progress. They were over the dune. All she had to do was get him closer to the others.

"Skye!"

She looked toward the field and cried with relief. "They came, Dio. They're here. Hold on. I'm going to get help."

The next several minutes were a rush of chaos. Ruger pulled Dio out of the water. Her dad grabbed and picked her up, taking her onto dry land .

Her arms fell limp, and yet her body shook from the cold water. "You have to save him, Dad. I can't lose him."

"We'll do whatever we need to do." Her dad held her tighter.

Dio was put in the Havlin truck and taken away. She pushed to be put down to follow, but her dad carried her across the marsh. Over his shoulder, she watched the waves continue to come for them. But she had no fear. Her dad was there to protect her, and Dio was going to the hospital.

"Brett?" She struggled to keep her eyes open. "Did Brett make it?"

"A minute before you showed up. It was the longest fucking minute of my life." Her dad's deep voice rolled through her. "Brett's waiting for you."

She opened her eyes, seeing they'd reached the parking area behind the old fishing shack. Mariah stood beside Brett, who sat on the bumper of her car, wrapped in the blanket she kept in the backseat.

She reached out for Brett, squeezing his hand. "Thank you."

"Never would've got him back without you, Skye. I couldn't—"

" We did it." She nodded. "He'll make it."

Brett dipped his chin. They both had other things to worry about. Dio was fighting for his life. Maybe one day, they'll acknowledge how desperate the situation was for them.

"Can you take me to the hospital?" She slipped out of her dad's arms. "I don't think I can drive."

Mariah approached her, holding out a large towel. "I raided your bags. Put this around you, or you'll go into shock."

She wrapped the towel around her, but until she knew Dio would live, nothing would help stop the shakes threatening to break her.

He was so unmoving and pale. She wasn't even sure he was still breathing when they took him from her.