by K. A Knight
Come on, Peyton.
They need you, get fucking moving.
But it’s no use. All of me, from my feet to the top of my head, hurts, and I’m so tired…so very fucking tired. Of fighting, of being in pain. The water laps next to my ear peacefully, trying to lull me into the darkness with its promise of peace. Of rest. Of numbness.
As I lie there, drifting in a pool of my own blood, all I can think about are my men. Their lips, their smiles, their love, and the things that made me fall in love with them in the first place.
I would gladly die for them, but the thought of their pain, of being the reason they grieve and hurt once more makes me fight. I scream internally as I force myself to move. Gritting my teeth, I get to my knees, hanging my head as I breathe heavily. My body is screaming at me, telling me to let go, that this is enough. But I can’t give up.
I have to fight for them.
For me.
Dying is easy, living is harder.
I clench my jaw, tasting blood as I stumble to my feet. My vision blurs from the pain, and I squint to avoid the dizziness spinning through me before I pick up one foot and put it down, then the other. Over and over. I focus on the next step, the next breath, the next moment. I hear their cheers in my head, spurring me on, knowing their hearts are with me, demanding I return to them.
One step.
Kalen.
One step.
Tyler.
One step.
Riggs.
One step.
Fin.
I repeat their names again and again to remember why I’m still going, why I’m always fighting. For the way they make me laugh. For the way they make me feel safe and excited at the same time. For the way they love me, trust me, push me, and help me.
I reach the wall and slump against it, just trying to catch my breath.
Come on, Minnow, Michael urges, his voice filling my head like he’s right here with me. I shake my head, dislodging my tears at the pure, rough sound.
“I’m so fucking tired,” I whisper, admitting my weakness to him.
I know, kid, but it ain’t ever stopped you before. When you’re at your weakest, it’s when you have the greatest opportunity to be your strongest. Rock bottom, kid, and there is only one way to go. Don’t you dare give up. You never did for me, like I never will on you. Those men need you. Now get your ass in gear!
With a quiet yell, I push away from the wall and turn, searching for a way out. There’s a tunnel to my left, so I move slowly towards it. Once inside, my hand drags along the rock. I don’t know where it’s leading me, but I keep going forward with determination in each step.
That’s it, Minnow, fucking move. You’ve got this, I’m with you every step of the way. You aren’t alone, I’m right here.
I know he’s not real, but it helps to hear him cheering me on like always. His voice gives me the strength I need to keep moving. My breath heaves out of my tight lungs, and I feel my blood dripping from my cuts, leaving a path across the rock as I walk. I duck when the passage tightens and then opens up into a junction with three tunnels. I pick one at random, stumbling through the dark space. It only grows darker and darker, and I have to hold my hands out in front of me to guide me forward.
Don’t fear the dark, Minnow. You find out what you’re made of in oblivion.
My breathing is loud in the silence, and my heart races as I wonder if one of those creatures is right in front of me, but I still keep going. Although I’m scared, I walk on and on, never stopping, even when my body tries to fall.
Then, I hear the voices.
With a cry, I fling myself forward in the dark and drop through a hole, tumbling down…down…and right into someone. We crash to the ground with a grunt. I force my eyes open and stare down at the wide, bloodshot, puffy eyes of Riggs.
“Hi,” I croak, and promptly pass out.
Chapter Fifty-One
Riggs
“Pey?” I whisper, not totally comprehending that the warm, bleeding body on top of me is my love until her eyes close. “Peyton!” I shout as I grab her and sit up, cradling her in my arms as the others crowd around me. They’re all talking and running their hands across her, checking her over. Kalen even slaps her to try to wake her up, his panic in full force.
We thought we had lost her.
Fuck, I’m getting too old for this shit.
My heart can’t take it as I hold her against my chest. “Fuck,” I mutter, shaking. I thought I’d lost her, truly lost her. I could survive knowing she was somewhere in this world if it was her choice…but when I thought she died, left this world entirely so we could never see her again…I could barely hold it together. I knew I had to for my family, and the only way I could was by counting numbers. Fin and I dragged Tyler and Kalen from that room, saving them like she would have wanted us to, even as we crumpled.
We were barely able to put one foot in front of the other, our minds caught on the last moment we saw her. “Princess?” Kalan pleads as Tyler twists and turns her body to inspect her.
“Fin?” I snap, wanting answers.
“Cuts and scrapes, some deep but not in need of stitches. It’s more the quantity of them, and she’s reopened her side wound. I’ll clean and cover that, and disinfect as many as possible,” he replies instantly. “Please put her on her back.” I lower her softly, stroking her hair from her face, needing to touch her as he gets to work. As I peer down at her slack, pale face, I can’t help but smile.
“I knew you couldn’t be dead,” I whisper. “No matter what the numbers said, you are too fucking strong. You hear that, Pey? And when we get out of here, we’re going to relax for so long, you’ll start to get bored.”
“And get drunk,” Fin adds with a grin, “and feel you up, babe.”
“And be together,” Tyler vows with a trembling smile.
“There’s no escaping us now, princess,” Kalen comments, kissing the back of her hand and pressing it to his cheek.
“You hear that, Peyton Andrews? You’re ours, so wake your ass up and kick us into gear.”
We hold her as Fin works, talking to her the entire time, sharing stories of our past—some after she left. We laugh, we cry, and through it all, I feel my heart starting to heal, and when those eyes blink open and stare at me, that last piece falls into place.
Peyton Andrews controls my heart, and she always has. Without her, there’s no me anymore.
“Hey,” she rasps. “Did I hear something about Fin trying to wrestle a crocodile?”
I laugh so hard I cry. Fin sits back, his hands covered in her blood, but I’ve never seen him smile so wide nor look so relieved. “You know it, babe, and when this is over, I’ll wrestle you too.”
“Romantic,” she teases and looks down. “Oh, look, I’m not dead.”
“You, princess? Never. You’re too strong for that,” Kalen murmurs, and she grins at him.
“Don’t you ever fucking do that again,” Tyler snarls, crawling around me and getting in her face. “You fucking hear me? Don’t you ever sacrifice yourself for us again. Live or die together, remember?”
“I love you too,” she whispers, and he shudders as he leans down and kisses her softly.
“Never again,” he murmurs as he pulls away.
“Can we get the fuck out of here now?” she grumbles as she tries to sit up. I quickly press my arm behind her, as does Tyler, and she goes to lean into him, but he winces when it hurts his wound, so she leans into me instead. I happily wrap my arms around her.
I need to feel her close, need to feel her alive. Safe. With us.
“Yeah, babe, sounds like a good plan to me.”
“Have you found a way out?” she asks.
“Maybe, we, erm…got distracted.” Fin coughs awkwardly.
Her eyebrow arches, and she looks around as we all avert our gazes. “Riggs,” she demands, focusing on my face since it’s the closest, so I sigh. I’m unable to lie to her.
“We might have lost it when we
couldn’t get back to you and didn’t look for an exit—yet.”
I expect her to be mad, disappointed even, but instead she cups my cheeks until I meet her eyes and kisses me tenderly. “I love you,” she whispers before looking at the others. “All of you. I’m sorry I stayed behind, I thought it was the only way, but we’ve gotta keep moving. I’m not dying here, and neither are you, so put the emotional shit away for later and let’s go.”
“There she is.” Kalen smirks. “My fucking bitch Andrews.”
“You know it, Kay.” She winks. “Now help me the fuck up and let’s blow this cave.”
“You heard her.” Tyler laughs.
“Hell yes, time to go,” Fin agrees.
“Together,” I add.
FIN
Peyton’s right. As much as I want to throw her into a wall and fuck her raw in both punishment and pleasure for her leaving us and still being alive, we don’t have time. We need to move before they figure out a way to get to us. The two that already did are lying dead in the corner.
There’s no more time to mess around. Tyler is hurt, and so is our girl. It’s only a matter of time before they struggle to go on or another one of us gets hurt, then we’ll be screwed. Determined to get the hell out of here, we check the equipment we have left, since some of it was dropped when we escaped the other cavern.
When we realise how little we have left, we share a sad look, but it won’t stop us. We have three tanks of air, two masks, one rope, one pick, two knives, and some water and food. It’s meagre, but we have to use it and hope it’s enough.
We switch as much as we can over to Kalen’s, Riggs’, and my bags before we set off. Tyler is being held up by Riggs, while I’m at the front with Peyton behind me and Kalen brings up the rear. I know she hates letting me go first, but she’s hurt, and we are not letting her get attacked again. Her wounds may be small, but if we don’t get her out, they could get worse or become infected.
There is only one tunnel out of the section we find ourselves in. We have to bend our heads, but we manage to get through. It twists and turns, and at one point, we have to move sideways with Peyton helping Tyler from one end and Riggs the other.
Even when exhausted with sweat pouring down his face, Ty doesn’t utter a single complaint. He keeps moving, keeps going. As does our girl. Both of them are fucking survivors, and they’re so fucking strong, it makes me want to do better, be better, to find us a way out of here so they don’t have to be in pain anymore.
That’s why I push myself to move faster, to stay ahead so that if I run into any issues, they have enough time to escape while I deal with it. My recklessness may come in handy right about now, because if it saves my girl’s life, my family members’ lives, then so fucking be it. We can’t count on anyone but ourselves—never could and never will—and down here, our luck can change quickly. But if anyone can get the fuck out of this cave, it’s us.
Apex predators all day, baby.
We keep walking, only breaking for water and to check on Tyler’s wound. Luckily, the bleeding has stopped. It didn’t hit anything too important, but he lost a lot of blood, plus who knows what was in their claws or the water. He’s pale and sweaty but determined, and Peyton ignores our concerns and promises she’s okay.
Once I’m sure, we push on. The tunnel leads upward, and we have to struggle up the incline. Tyler grunts with the effort, and Peyton pants but forces herself forward. When we’re at the top, I freeze and stare down.
You have got to be fucking kidding me.
Chapter Fifty-Two
Peyton
The entrance is big enough for us to stand in side by side, so we do, and then we gape.
Fuck, why is nothing in this cave easy?
I know they say life only throws you stuff you can handle, but holy shit, I’m reaching my limit.
Below us is a pool, and from here, we can see the way out. Light is filtering into the water, bright sunlight. It’s a submerged tunnel leading out of the cave. It’s our exit, but it’s also at least thirty feet below and filled with water, and who knows how long the passage is. We only have three tanks and one rope, not to mention Tyler’s injuries.
I share a look with Kalen, and Tyler narrows his eyes on me. “Don’t,” he snaps. “We’re getting out of here. We are problem solvers, we’ve got this.”
“Okay.” I bite my lip, debating our options, and come to the same realisation they probably have. “Fuck, I have a plan, but it’s insane.”
“The best ones are,” Fin remarks, making Riggs grin.
“Okay, someone dives down there with the rope, tying it off at the bottom for us to climb down. We need somebody before and after Tyler if he can manage t—”
“I can manage it.” He nods solemnly.
“Then we buddy breathe through the tunnel.”
“Fuck,” Kalen grumbles.
Pretty much. Buddy breathing alone is dangerous, but heading into an unknown tunnel and buddy breathing? It’s fucking suicide, but we have no choice, especially when we hear the squawk of the monsters not too far away.
“Okay, so I’ll share with Peyton—” Kalen starts, and I shake my head.
“No, you need to protect our rear, which means the slowest ones need more air. You need a tank,” I tell him. “Fin needs to go first, since he’s the fastest after me, but I’m too hurt to go too fast. He needs a tank, and he can buddy breathe with Riggs.” They nod, and I share a look with Tyler. “We’re the most injured, the most likely to fail, so we need to share air.”
“Babe,” he groans, and I grip his head and press my forehead to his.
“You know I’m right. It’s our decision for our team. If we fail, then we only kill each other, and we’re already hurt. We share air, my love.”
“You’ve always been my air anyway,” he replies, even as Fin fake gags. “You’re right.”
We both know sacrifice, the weight of leadership. We can’t kill our team for our weaknesses. We’re wounded, meaning we’re more likely to panic or run out of air and suffocate. We share to ensure we don’t hurt the healthy ones on our team. With our eyes locked, we nod our agreement, knowing if one of us suffers, dies, then the other does too. We accept that.
“Don’t go being all dramatic on us. We all get out,” Kalen snarls.
“Exactly. No matter the distance, we dive it.” Riggs nods. “It works, and we can see the light, so it can’t be too far. No panicking, slow breathing. Two and two.”
“Two and two.” Fin nods. “Get to the surface and find help, then sleep forever, and after, all the sex.” It makes us laugh, even as I pass over the rope, our hands sliding together.
“You get us out of here, love, and you’ve got yourself a deal.” I wink.
“Fuck yes. Now watch this, babe. You’ll be wet as hell at my impressive skills,” he teases with a smirk. With the rope tied around his waist, Fin dives over the edge, plunging into the water below. He hits it clean, and within a moment, he resurfaces and grins up at me. “Wet,” he mouths, making me shake my head with a laugh.
“Okay, Riggs first to help Tyler,” I instruct. He goes to protest, but I narrow my eyes. “Riggs, you, me, Kalen. Don’t fucking argue. We can still dive down if needed, you can’t. Now, get your sexy ass down there. You owe me orgasms, and when we get out of here, I plan on claiming them.”
He kisses me hard. “That’s a promise, my love.”
We work together to get him hooked onto the rope below me. I lean against the side of the jagged wall and help him from behind as Riggs assists from below, holding as much of his weight as he can on the rope. Kalen and I help Tyler down, walking backwards. I can see how much he hates this, but we have all been there, and the only thing that matters is that we’re alive and still together.
“You’ve got this,” I say as Kalen turns to watch our backs. I hold the rope at the top, kneeling as I observe him slowly climb down with Riggs’ help. He’s breathing heavily, and his teeth are clenched, but he manages it and softly d
rops into the water, going under before resurfacing as Riggs stays by his side.
They nod at me to come down, so I glance at Kalen and get to my feet. He looks back, his dark eyes stealing my breath as usual. Standing on my tiptoes, I kiss him hard. “I know you came back for me, and I love you for it. Thank you for saving them,” I whisper, trying to pull away, but he palms the back of my head as he deepens the kiss.
“If you ever try to leave me again, I’ll chain you to my side,” he snarls against my lips, nipping them in warning as I shiver in desire.
“Yes, Kay.” I giggle. “Be right behind me.”
“Always,” he promises as I pull away and grab the rope.
I back to the edge and step over, slowly descending as I ignore the aches in my body. We are almost there, I know it, and adrenaline pumps through me, pushing the exhaustion and pain away, giving me enough energy to finish this.
I reach the bottom and let go, slipping under and resurfacing next to the others as Kalen unties the rope with a wince—his hands are a bit torn up, but he’s dressed them—and throws it down to us in case we need it. Riggs reels it up and ties it as Kalen dives, hitting the water next to us smoothly. We swim closer as he breaks the surface, forming a circle as we tread water.
“Okay, are we ready for this? Everyone know the plan?” They nod. Our tanks are already distributed, the levels checked. They are at fifty percent, but we ignore that, knowing we can drop them and push through freediving if need be.
I let Tyler start with ours, and we share a look as we swim as close as we can. It’s a ritual, one we haven’t done in many years. “Why do we do this?”
“To explore the unknown,” Fin answers automatically, knowing the drill. I taught them after my father died. It was tradition, and the fact we carried it on makes me feel that much closer to him.
“Why are we here?”
“To find ourselves,” Riggs responds with a smile.