was what you deserved."
"Fuck you," I whispered, and coughed. God, I hated him. The darkness inside me had filled me to bursting, and I needed to gag it out before it choked me. "I killed the ship for you."
"Yes, you did. Not a bad job. But you let the lifeboats survive. That's a whole lot less impressive."
I blinked away burning salt in my eyes. "Help me."
"Wait, what was the pithy phrase you just used? Fuck you, Jo. You kill Lewis Orwell for me.
Then we'll talk about how I can help you." He smirked down at me, his pale eyes as vicious and shallow as those of the shark that had come after me. "Consider it the fairness doctrine in action."
And with that, his image turned into a black mist and blew away.
But I didn't think he'd ever really been there anyway.
There were more sharks coming. I'd drawn them here, and now there really was blood in the water - mine. My wounds were pumping out more all the time, and the shark I'd destroyed was functioning as bait too. The next one to arrive wouldn't be so tentative.
He'd just rip me in half.
I wondered if it was shock that was making me so fatalistic about that.
The lifeboats were all heading off to the horizon now.
All except one, which peeled off and turned back.
I was unconscious before it arrived.
I woke up lying on the floor of the lifeboat, with two Earth Wardens healing up my bites as best they could.
It hurt.
It hurt a lot.
Cherise, Kevin, Cho Chu Wing, and the remaining crew were on this lifeboat, as well as the Grand Paradise 's Captain Miller, a sturdy gentleman who retained his military dignity despite his waterlogged uniform. He didn't say much. I didn't suppose he was regretting not going down with his ship, but maybe he was thinking about all the inevitable paperwork.
Or, if he knew I was responsible, he was thinking about finishing up what the sharks had left undone.
"We need to split up the boats," Lewis was telling the captain as I drifted in, out, and around consciousness. "We're like ducks in a shooting gallery out here on the open water." The captain nodded, but not as if he really understood or cared. I didn't think he cared about much anymore. "I've already sent out distress calls," he said. "Six freighters are heading our way, including a Saudi tanker. They'll start rendezvousing with the other lifeboats within the hour."
Lewis nodded and walked over to take a seat near me. The benches were fiberglass, with cushions that doubled as flotation devices. Among the supplies already broken out were insulating blankets, one of which was already wrapped around my damp, shivering body, and boxed drinks. They were trying to coax me to drink apple juice, but I couldn't choke anything down. Not yet.
I'd learned a startling new lesson: no matter how badass you think you are, having a shark latch on to your body and break a piece of you away will put a dent in your self-confidence.
Cherise was playing Red Cross nurse; she draped a blanket over Lewis's damp shoulders and handed him a juice box, which he mechanically sipped as he stared down at me.
"What?" I asked, and tried to smile. "You never saw somebody trying to kill you get their ass kicked before? Because I know you have."
No answer.
"You want some advice? Pull the Wardens together. If you split them up between the rescue boats, you're screwed."
"Thanks for the tip," he said. "Wardens stay on the boats. I want them protected in case you and Bad Bob decide to play Battleship."
I almost managed a shrug. "Hazards of the sea. They all know what could happen."
"Yeah," he agreed. "I'm sure that'll be a great comfort to their kids back home. I want Wardens behind us, guarding our retreat, as well as with us, guarding our asses up close.
You got a problem with that, take it up with - oh, nobody, because at this point, you've got nobody." He raised his head and fixed me with red-rimmed, fiercely focused eyes. "What am I supposed to do with you?"
A week ago, if he'd asked that question, it would have been with an undertone of longing and some heavily suppressed fantasies involving schoolgirl uniforms. Not now. He was looking at me like I'd looked at the shark that had bitten me.
"I can still get you to Bad Bob," I said. "If you want."
"I can't trust you."
I winced and closed my eyes as