Hart and Hunter

Chapter 36

Ch. 36: Julian

"He was right behind us," Freya says, worry edging her tone. "Had to give Erickson a shove. Fool panicked when he saw that smaller tunnel."

"I didn't think I'd fit!" Erickson snaps. "I thought I'd get stuck in the damn thing."

"Stuck in the..."

Horror floods my gut. The tunnel had been claustrophobically small, but I'd had enough room to wriggle through with little trouble. I'm a slender guy, though. Erickson's slightly bigger, but Dane...

"Oh, shit. He's stuck."

With fear seizing my throat, I take a gulp of air and dive beneath the surface again, hoping against hope that I can still find the entrance to the tunnel and that I'm not too late.

A few meters down I find the bottom and shine my flashlight over the rough gravel and stone. Through my blurry vision, I can hardly see more than vague shapes and shadows, but by a stroke of luck the entrance is obvious. Like a drain in a sink, it's a black circle gaping at the bottom of the pool. I balk at the sight of it, but my fear can't be anything compared to what Dane must be feeling— if he's even still conscious.

Entering the tunnel head first, I swim down at a steep angle. About two meters in, the tunnel flattens out to the bottom of the u-shape we'd come through. The narrowest part of the tunnel was right at the bottom of this, and that's where I spot Dane.

He's wedged fast, one arm forward and one pinned back. He's still struggling, and looks up at my light as I approach. Agony twists his face, and streaks of blood discolor the water where he'd already scraped himself raw in his desperation to get free. I reach for his hand and grab hold, trying to pull him loose, but I have no leverage and he doesn't budge an inch. Upside down, with my legs in the tunnel behind me, I have nothing to push or pull against, and merely tug ineffectively at his hand.

He knows it's no use, and as our eyes meet through our blurry underwater vision, the look on his face changes. Agony gives way to an almost peaceful calm, and he stops struggling.

His lips form my name, and then he releases his breath.

The bubbles escape in a cloud, sticking to the tunnel's roof as they skitter away in little silvery globs of spent life.

Dane's grip loses its strength, his body goes limp, and his locs float free around his face.

I scream, and my own breath escapes to join his as I tug on his arm in a futile effort to free him. My lungs burn, but the pain in my chest is more than physical. It feels as if my heart is being crushed and torn apart within the cage of my ribs.

The primal instinct to survive is telling me to let him go and swim for the surface, but I can't.

I won't leave him.

Shutting my eyes, I feel the sort of peace I'd seen on Dane's face spread through me, and my fear and pain dissolve.

If this is where we end, we'll end together.

Just as the darkness closes in on my mind, something else closes on my ankle with a startlingly strong grip. My eyes snap open, and I just have time to clamp my hand around Dane's wrist before I'm yanked violently from behind. My grip on Dane slips, but I refuse to let go. Another sharp tug, and another, and then, with one final yank, I feel his shoulder dislocate and he comes free.

With the need for air searing my lungs like white hot fire, we're dragged from the tunnel and into the open water of the pool. I can just make out Freya's form, gesturing at me to let go and swim for the surface. As she takes hold of Dane, I successfully command my oxygen-starved brain to obey.