one to challenge us to a competition. Jokingly, perhaps, but he was still the instigator and the reason Elder had stripped his shirt, pulled off his trousers to reveal tight black swimming shorts and passed his belongings to Cal. “First to Phantom wins.”
“Wins what?” I crossed my arms. “Another yacht?”
“Respect?” Prest’s lips twitched. “An IOU, perhaps? A favour for the future.”
I didn’t like the thought of owing anyone—even someone I’d grudgingly started to like while sharing a few beers and talking nonsense. He was standoffish and guarded but also quick with sarcasm, which I found mimicked my own love of duelling with conversation.
Cal and I had made it a game.
Elder made it a challenge.
So, of course, I wasn’t going to let him wade into the ocean without accepting his current dare. Stripping off my t-shirt, I kept my shorts on and dumped my cell phone and keys to Singa Laut into Cal’s hold. “See you there, Cal. Bring my wife.”
Cal rolled his eyes. “It’s dusk.”
“So?”
“Feeding time for sharks.”
“Only if they catch us.” I smirked.
“Only if they catch you, you mean.” Elder sniffed. “I’ll be too far ahead for them to bother.”
“Pride goeth before the fall, Prest.”
“We’ll see.” Elder traded dry sand for lapping waves, rolling out his shoulders in preparation.
I followed, sighing in pleasure as the sea welcomed me back, licking at my ankles. “See you soon, Cal.”
Standing beside the man who had admitted he was well trained in martial arts and even that he played the cello—two things that I’d guessed about him back on Calypso—Prest cocked his chin arrogantly. “I’ll warn you, Sinclair. I swim every night around Phantom.”
“I swim every night around Batari.”
His hand came up. “In that case, let the best man win.”
“You’ll be eating my bubbles, Prest.” I shook his hand before tossing our grip away and striding into the water.
He followed, our speed increasing the more competitive we became.
We dived at the same time, swallowed by the sea we both loved, and the rest was a blur as we cut through the warm salt and struck off toward the towering floating city about a kilometre away.
The thoughts in my head vanished.
My body became master over my mind, falling into a meditation of stroke, stroke, breathe. Kick, kick, push.
I didn’t bother looking at where Elder was. I didn’t waste time or energy worrying if he would win. I set myself to the task of pulling ahead and propelled myself as quickly as I could.
At some point, the growl of a boat shot past us, leaving a spray of wake and the rock of displaced waves.
That was most likely Cal, driving Eleanor, Jess, and Tasmin.
I didn’t stop.
That bastard had beaten me thanks to a motor and machine, but I’d win against the other bastard swimming beside me.
The farther we swam from shore, the darker it became. Black reef beneath us and blackening skies above.
No sound apart from the systematic splashes and the rasp of my lungs as I exhaled and inhaled on alternating strokes.
I was used to swimming long distances around my island. I enjoyed the lactic burn and the challenge of pushing myself past my abilities, improving on my endurance with each round, so when the pain in my legs began—still weak in places from harpoon scars and broken bones—I ignored my body’s urge to slow down and added more power.
Lights flickered ahead, pooling on the ocean from the mega yacht.
The final stretch was both the easiest and hardest—easiest because I reached a state where the burn became inconsequential, and hardest because that same burn made my legs heavy and my lungs beg for a better breath.
Spying the platform that’d been lowered at the rear for our arrival and the moored speedboat that Cal had commanded, I changed my direction a little and ploughed the rest of the way to the finish line.
A round of applause and whoops sounded as my hand slapped onto the platform, hauling myself from the depths onto Prest’s expensive yacht.
Beside me, Elder launched from the sea at the same time, leaping to his feet within microseconds of my own standing.
We eyed each other. Dripping wet, chests heaving.
We scowled.
Who the fuck won?
“It’s a draw,” Cal muttered. “Photo finish. We’d need a video-tape and replay to know who arrived first.”
“Shit.” I swiped a hand through my soaking hair. “That’s just aggravating.”
“I wasn’t expecting to have to work so hard.” Prest wiped his face. “You weren’t lying that you swim a lot.”
“Pity you didn’t get nibbled by a shark, seeing as you were