by Tia Siren
Riley scrambled from one side of the boat to the other, clinging to the railings for her life as she went. Tears fell down her cheeks unheeded. Her terror was rapidly replaced with a numb resignation that passed itself off as calm, just enough for her to escape the madness and summon a few clear thoughts. Gray had tumbled in near the back, but the waves basically positioned him on the left side of the boat. She knew there was some sort of maritime name for it, but she couldn’t recall it just then. Whatever old sailors called it, she assumed he had to be near the back end of the vessel.
She leaned as far over as she dared, one hand gripping the rail and the other gripping the life preserver. Her eyes searched the frothing waves. It seemed the shark had gone, at least for the moment, but that didn’t assuage her fears about it having taken Gray.
She had no idea how much time had passed. It could have been minutes or hours for all she knew. Regardless, with every second that passed, his chances of survival lessened. He was still nowhere to be seen on that side, so Riley slowly worked her way around the perimeter of the boat again, keeping a wary eye out for the shark or any telltale blood in the water. She felt a tiny tinge of hope when she didn’t notice any pink or red hues in the tumult, but she knew better than to let that hope swell into anything more. It was a big ocean, after all, and blood would dissipate quickly, something the old horror films didn’t seem to emphasize.
At the front of the boat, she cocked her head to one side. The sound of the waves slapping against Maggie rose higher and higher, as did the crying wind, but somewhere beneath those sounds she was sure she heard something else. There was a faint, distant sound, something that resembled a human voice.
She crept closer, looking down, and her heart stuttered to a stop. There was Gray, clinging to the lifeboat with a white-knuckled grip, his face pointed upward. Waves lashed over his body, causing his head to go under every few seconds. An inarticulate cry came from her mouth when she saw him, one of equal gratitude and terror. She assessed the situation as quickly as she could.
His hands were tangled in the lines that held the lifeboat to Maggie’s hull, but it was clear he was losing strength. To make matters worse, the toothy nightmare was still cruising along the top of the water just west of him now.
She managed to lever herself over the rail enough to grab the line and haul it toward the boat, bringing Gray and the lifeboat closer with each pull, but she wasn’t sure she could maneuver them close enough. She continued pulling, till her arms and shoulders ached from the strain and tears welled in her eyes. Her breath whistled in and out of her mouth and nose. She heaved again, and the skin of her fingers tore as they slid across the rough, unforgiving rope, stiffened by the salty water.
The lifeboat bumped closer and Gray managed to get one hand up, then dragged himself aboard it. Riley screamed again as he came out of the water mere seconds before the fin moved right past the spot where he’d just been. The shark bumped the boat, and another scream rose and lifted from her mouth as the small craft bobbed, then tilted dangerously toward the churning waters.
Gray managed to keep it upright as Riley gave the line another yank. She was not sure how Gray was going to get from the lifeboat to Maggie, but she knew she could not let go, no matter what. Unfortunately, it was starting to fray and loosen, and if that happened he and the lifeboat would go spinning away from her forever.
Their eyes locked, and he gave her a smile she somehow managed to return.
The lifeboat rocked and slid away, and the rope cut into Riley’s palms. Ignoring the pain and the sting of the salt in the abrasions, she planted her feet against the solid walls and hung on, praying aloud to God or Poseidon or any deity who would listen.
Gray balanced carefully. Every motion of the water or Riley or him made the lifeboat turn and can’t in a way that made her belly lurch. The shark fin reappeared, slicing through the water from the opposite side of the lifeboat.
“Hurry!”
The word came out of her mouth, but the wind snatched it and tore it away. Her false calm was quickly shattering. Her heart sped up until a wave of dizziness crashed over her like the waves crashing over the sides of the tilting lifeboat.
Gray grabbed the railing and the line, now drawn taut by her efforts. He’d lost his shirt somewhere in the chaos, and his bare chest now gleamed with water, rain, and sweat. His muscles gathered and bunched. The rope, straining her ability to keep hold of it with his added weight, tore and scraped her already-abused palms, wrenching a sob from her chest.
The shark hit the lifeboat, and Gray quickly scrabbled for purchase on the side of Maggie. Finally, with one massive effort, he jerked himself up and over just as the lifeboat upturned and the shark’s hideous face, rows of teeth, and those black eyes broke the surface for just a moment.
As soon as Gray landed on the deck, Riley let go of the rope, and it emitted a low, singing whine as it ran across the railings. “Cut it, Riley! Cut the rope!” Gray yelled through exhausted pants.
Riley shucked off her own fatigue to run to the galley. In the living quarters, anything that was not nailed or glued down was flying or sliding around. She carefully avoided being impaled by any of them, found a sharp knife, and rapidly made her way back to the deck.
Maggie listed dangerously to one side, and her lifeboat, now the object of the shark’s rage, was yanked about in the massive creature’s teeth. That yanking only added to the urgency, so Riley sawed through the rope with a grim and steadfast determination. It took what felt like eons, but the fibers finally parted and gave way. The rain lashed down harder, soaking her all the way through. Her hair fell over her eyes, and her breath came in hard, fast, raspy gasps as the line spun over the rail and vanished. Once the deed was done, Riley collapsed on the deck.
Gray took the knife carefully from her hand. The gusting wind howled over their heads, and the boat slid and rocked again, dipping toward each side before finding some balance.
They couldn’t rest long, and they both knew it, but Gray took a moment to hug her close and she wrapped her tired arms around his neck. She wanted to relax in his hold, but she couldn’t help thinking they were still going to die. Just like that, the terror was back. The idea of dying, of no longer being on the world, literally froze Riley in place. We can’t die now, can we? I mean, we’re too young, and we’re so in love, and… Wait. In love? Are we? I mean, I am, but is he? She knew it wasn’t exactly the right time to ask those questions, but her mind still wandered there.
Gray managed to get to his feet. Dark circles had swelled under his eyes, as dark as the sea, and bruises had already formed all along his shoulders and wrists from the rope and the waves. He made his way to the controls of the boat with Riley right beside him, terrified to let even an inch grow between them. There was a sail for good weather, but when she shouted at him that she could help get it up, he shouted back that there was no telling where they would end up, that they had to use the motor to try to outrun the storm.
Riley’s eyes followed his. Much to her dismay, it became evident that the hell they had already been through was just the proverbial tip of the iceberg. On the horizon, coming right toward them, was something that literally stopped her heart: long curtains of black, heavier rain falling from the slate-gray sky, with waves that seemed to reach even higher than the clouds. “Gray, are we going to make it?” she asked, her shout holding every inch of her fright.
He took her hand and held it, and even though his skin was as chilled as hers they both found some warmth in that touch. “Damn straight we are.”
She nodded and hoped he was right.
“There’s no way I’m gonna lose you, Riley.”
Those words were nearly as heart-stopping as the shark, and they rendered her just as speechless for a moment. Finally, she found it within her to utter, “I’m not willing to lose you, either. Just get us to shore, okay?” Her smile was tremulous at best, but she was proud to give it to him.
Gray gave her a brief but intimate kiss a
nd said, without an ounce of uncertainty in his voice, “Your wish is my command.”
Chapter 19
The wind blew harder and harder, but Gray managed to focus on the task at hand. The boat listed more often than he would have liked as they tried to outrun the storm. The appetizer was bad, but he knew the entrée would be far worse. This storm was just starting. “Get on the radio, Riley,” he instructed. “Just leave it on the same channel and try to get an answer. If you can’t, try the other channels.”
“What do I say?”
“Just tell them it’s a distress call.”
“A distress call?”
“Yep.”
“Um…okay.” Her face was pale, and her hair was hanging down her back in long, snaking strands. She nodded, and her lips trembled, but she obediently turned and headed toward the radio.
Gray managed to find air and pull it into his lungs. The whole time he was out in the swell, he kept his eye on Maggie. The waves had carried him far from the boat and nearly drowned him, and that shark had almost made a meal of him, but the sight of Riley running around the boat and trying so hard to find him had given him the strength and courage to make it to the lifeboat. That was a tricky feat, because that monstrous beast in the water had scared him stiff till his legs refused to move. In the end, he knew that was probably what had saved his life; as terrifying as they were, sharks were kind of stupid and had trouble noticing anything not flailing around like an injured seal.
His desperate grab onto the lifeboat was exactly that: desperate. He was sure he was going to die and leave Riley out there alone on the water, with no way to get the boat back to shore, and when the thought hit his own imminent death seemed much less scary and important. Her life was what he fought for as he clung to the boat and tried not to draw any more attention from that shark, a twenty-five-footer at least. That thing was big and powerful, and even now, as he stood on the deck of Maggie, he knew it could quite possibly topple the boat with them still in it. He wouldn’t dare frighten Riley with that reality, but they had to get as far from it and the maelstrom as possible.
Gray’s soaked head cleared a little when he heard Riley making the call. He planned to get them as close to shore as he could, as fast as possible. He cranked the speed up a few notches but didn’t dare go any faster. They were cutting through the waves too quickly, leaving a perilous wake behind them. That, combined with the force of the roiling water, could capsize them at any second, and the last thing he wanted to do was take another swim with Jaws.
He strained to see the shore through the rain, which was reducing visibility to almost nil. He had estimated they were a mere two miles from shore, and he was moving Maggie as fast as he dared to push her, but it would still be a long half-hour before they reached land…if they reached it at all.
Damn it, Gray, you fool! Why were you so foolish to go out so far without checking the weather? At the time, he was far too angry with his father and was just determined to go, but now he cursed himself again for dooming them both with his rash, childish behavior. Once again, one of his temper tantrums had landed him in hot water, and this time Riley was in that water with him.
He moved his hand toward the controls, and his fingers stilled as his mind went over the possibilities and considered their options, which weren’t many.
“Coast Guard? Hey, it’s the Coast Guard!” Riley yelled, and the catch in her voice broke his heart. “They need to know how to find us,” she said.
Gray’s eyes immediately went to the panels. He gave her the coordinates and added, “Tell ‘em we’re moving toward shore on that direct course but the waves may send us east because of push.”
Riley parroted the words, then said, “They said they’re not far at all. That’s good, right?” she asked, hope dripping off every syllable.
Gray nodded, but he knew better than to be too hopeful. Depending on where the Coast Guard actually was, and the strengthening wind, their help might just come a little too late.
He continued battling the controls, keeping his eyes on the horizon. He saw a faint smudge through the rain and assumed it might be land, but he couldn’t tell how far away it was, especially since he was not entirely sure how far out they’d been thrown by the waves. He tried and failed to stifle a yawn; his energy was running low, and time seemed to stretch and stand still for them while speeding up for the storm that was pursuing them. The odd smudge on the horizon never got any closer, and Gray began to think he was imagining things, like a desperate person seeing a mirage in the Sahara.
Riley hurried up beside him and rested her hand on his arm.
“Almost there,” he said, though he wasn’t sure how true it was.
“Good.” She was scared shitless but hanging on. She just wasn’t sure how much longer she could do it. When he leaned into her body, she felt better and leaned back against him.
The rain fell harder, obscuring the land ahead, and Gray swore again as the downpour met the heat to form a thickening veil of sea fog.
Riley’s voice cracked. “Is that bad?”
“No, we have the instruments,” he said, a fib if there ever was one. “It’s fine. No worries. We’re heading to the dock, and then we’ll hole up in a room somewhere and order the most enormous Chinese dinner in history.”
“Mmm. I like Chinese.”
“Me too, but I bet no fortune cookie woulda predicted this,” he said, then let out two deep breaths. This time it wasn’t only his life that rested on his ability to keep his head. Gray had never known true responsibility until that very moment, and the weight of Riley’s life in his hands felt too heavy, too crushing. In a way, it did crush him, smashing every ounce of immaturity within him, destroying the selfishness and the holding back of his heart. He felt it happen, felt it when all the things that had been standing between him and truly being a man—a man in love—were crushed to dust. Suddenly it was all up to him, and he had to be the man, an actual grownup. He had to keep her safe, and once all that pretense and boyish nonsense melted away beneath the weight of that responsibility, he was ready to bear it. He found himself wanting to protect her, and he held her life above his own. While he wanted to live, too, he had to make sure she did. His whole heart told him it didn’t matter if he died out there, as long as Riley Teeters went on to have a long, happy life. With that thought on his mind he doubled his efforts, doing his best to hold the boat steady. “Riley, go downstairs before you fall.”
“No. I’m not leaving you.”
“You might get hurt. Go.”
“I’ll hold on to something then. I’m not leaving you, Gray.”
“Damn it! Do you have to be so stubborn?” he muttered, then risked a glance at her face. She knew exactly how deadly the situation was, yet she chose to stay with him no matter how it was all going to play out. He felt a squeeze on his heart at the thought of that. Had anyone ever, in his entire life, cared for him this much? The simple answer was no, they hadn’t, and he vowed that as soon as they got to shore, back on dry land, he was going to tell her just how much he loved her. He couldn’t bear to say it in that moment, because he didn’t want it to sound like a farewell, like he was giving up, like that damn, pathetic goodbye speech of Jack’s in that Titanic movie. He sighed and looked over at her. “Hang on really tight then. It’s about to get bad up here.”
“Don’t worry, Captain. Because of you I’m getting used to all kinds of bad,” she said with a wink, then gave him another firm squeeze on the arm as he handled the controls.
Chapter 20
Riley grabbed hold of the first thing she thought might keep her safe as Maggie was violently jostled about: the slim column of mast that sat in the center of the boat. As she clung to it her eyes went from the tiny stairway that led to the cabin and galley to the foaming, seething ocean. The waves were now so high they crested across the bow and spat water onto the boards of the deck. As much as he tried to convince her to go below, she was not about to leave him. She’d seen the dark, thin outline o
f the shore, and she stared through the rapidly- unraveling mist as they penetrated it, straining to try to find that land again. When she spotted it, a little victorious cry issued from her mouth. “Land! I see land ahead!”
Gray shouted over the wind, “Me, too, but that storm’s kicking in right behind us, doing its best to knock us way off course. Just hold on, okay? If we have to jump off this bastard or ground it without a dock, we’ll do it. I’m gonna get you to dry land, baby, one way or another. I swear. I hope you’re hungry for egg rolls.”
At the moment the thought of that made Riley’s stomach gurgle with sickness, but she appreciated the sentiment. His ideas sounded insane, but she knew they might be their only shot. Her eyes washed over the ocean again, and there was no sign of the Coast Guard at all. She wondered if they had given up on helping them or if they were simply too far away. When the boat rocked and pitched, Riley found herself cheering for Maggie, urging her on. “You know what? I didn’t even realize you’re a sailboat, with more than just a motor. You’re a special girl. Now get us home, damn it!”
Gray shot her an amused look over his shoulder.
Riley smiled back at him sheepishly and shrugged. “So I’m nuts. Shut up about it!”
He had lost some of the grimness and desperation in his expression, which relieved Riley greatly. His hands seemed steadier, too, but they continued to sway and stall as every wave pushed them back a bit, forcing them to lurch slowly forward again. The waves seemed intent on keeping them from their goal, but Riley couldn’t help but be proud of Gray, with a sort of stupendous admiration. He would not give up, and that spoke to her. For the first time, all her doubts about their relationship fell away.