under the water several times before he was able to wrap his hand around the rope and hold on. It was like fighting a whirlpool. He couldn’t seem to pull himself out of the turning water. His head kept being pulled under and suddenly he realized that he was fighting for his life.
Water filled his lungs as he continued to fight to keep his head above the surface. He’d believed that tangling his hand in the rope was a good idea, but each time his head hit the side of the rowboat, he saw stars. Now he figured there was a possibility that it was going to knock him out and because of all the thrashing around, he was so twisted in the thing, he doubted he could break free.
Was this really how things were going to end? His mind kept returning to Aubrey. Was she fighting for her life now as well? Stuck somewhere trying to break free from the surging storm? Maybe trapped under a tree or worse…
Another wave forced his head under and this time he doubted he’d be able to break free. His mind was already oxygen starved, causing his muscles and limbs to be unresponsive to his commands.
He’d lost track of how long he’d been fighting to break free, to return to the surface, when hands gripped him and pulled him upward. He was waiting to take that first glorious breath of air but came to a jerking halt when the rope tore at the skin on his arm.
Everything was backwards. How could the rowboat be below him now? It was pulling him downwards now. The hands that had been trying to pull him up released him, and he reached out for them in the dark water as he was dragged downward.
Then he spotted a red streak heading towards him along with a glimmer of something sharp. He felt soft hands grip his arm and the sting of a knife nick his skin as it cut the rope. The hands paused for a moment as soft lips covered his. He relaxed into what he assumed would be his last kiss, only to have oxygen shoved into his mouth. He gulped it up, swallowing it and the water that had filled his mouth. The sawing motion on the rope started again and he ignored the pain in his arm as Aubrey worked on cutting the rope holding him and the now sunken rowboat, which lay at the bottom of the bay.
He felt his mind going fuzzy and watched in horror as everything started to gray. Just before he blacked out, he felt his arm jerk free and relaxed as he was carried upward.
“Aiden!” Someone was shouting his name over and over again.
Peeling his eyes open, he reached up to push Aubrey’s soaking strawberry hair out of her face.
“He’s back,” he heard a male voice say from somewhere beyond his sight.
Aubrey threw her arms around him and held onto him while she cried.
“Shh,” he said softly, enjoying the feeling of her next to him. “I’m alright,” he promised.
His mind was too foggy at the moment to register that she was there. Safe and sound in his arms.
“I thought I’d lost you,” she said into his chest.
“We’d better move. I don’t think this place is going to hold up much longer. I’ll take him, you get out.” It was Owen, Aiden thought as he felt the man start to lift him.
“Hell no,” he growled. “Put me down. I’m not having you carry me out of here.”
Owen chuckled. “I would if I thought you could stand,” Owen said, lifting him.
“I can.” He shoved the man away and touched his feet to the ground, only to have it rush up towards him.
Aubrey and Owen grabbed him at the same time and the three of them wobbled out of the building and into the storm together.
He forced his legs to continue moving as they made their way through the rain and wind into the darkness. He shut his eyes at one point and just willed his body to keep moving. He didn’t want to be carried anywhere. Maybe it was his pride, but he wanted everyone to know that he was okay. He took deep breaths as he moved and, by the time they stepped out of the rain, his lungs burned and his head was throbbing.
“What happened?” someone cried out.
“He almost drowned. Somehow, he’d gotten tangled in the ropes holding a rowboat. A tree branch broke through the roof of