Page 2 of Barbarian Brothers

Cynthia is the oldest of our crew, a fine woman at twenty-eight and an exceptional doctor. She’s about one year shy of finishing her residency at Seattle General Hospital. She wears her long black hair combed into a tight bun at the nape of her neck, her green eyes constantly scanning everything around us—a habit she picked up from time spent in the ER. A hard-workingwoman, Cynthia has already seen plenty of tragedy rolling into her ward on bloodied gurneys, yet she’s still fun-loving and warm.

“Hypothermia,” Alicia suggests, but she’s already wriggled out of her baby-blue cocktail dress and has her feet in the icy water. “That’s the worst that can happen. But it might be worth it. Oh, it’s chilly!”

“It’s not as warm as the sand was,” I concede as I go farther out.

Goosebumps prickle my skin, but I love the feeling. My spine tingles with delight as the ocean laps at my thick thighs, the water rising with each low wave to engulf my full hips. With each minute that passes, we laugh harder and squeal louder as we go deeper, delighted by the iciness washing over us.

“This is insane!” Cynthia says.

“Yet I don’t see you getting out!” Alicia shoots back with a laugh.

“I love it!” I reply, my cheeks burning as my body attempts to regulate its temperature against the cold water. “I LOVE IT!”

Jewel chuckles dryly. “Now you know what the first day of basic training was like for me!”

I’m so happy to be here. I’ve barely turned twenty-five, and only now am I realizing how little I’ve actually lived. Having met Hank when I was twenty-one, I completely devoted myself to the relationship, even though part of me knew it wasn’t good enough for me. But I stuck with it. At least I managed to get my fitness certification and built my clientele at the gym; otherwise, it would’ve sucked to depend on him financially. It would’ve made leaving him even harder.

It doesn’t matter anymore.

I should live in the moment. Right here, right now. Just me and my best friends, my comrades in arms, and enough alcohol in our bloodstream to make this midnight dip in the Pacific Ocean far more pleasurable than it would be if we weren’t drunk.

“I think I’m sobering up,” Jewel declares after a couple of minutes.

“You sound disappointed,” Alicia replies, holding back a hearty laugh.

White light glazes the water around us. It must be moonlight. I look up and realize the moon is still on the eastern quadrant of the night sky. No, this is something else. I hold my breath, my eyes searching for the source of the light. “What the hell is that?” I hear myself asking. But my voice sounds muffled.

“Holy shit!” Cynthia gasps.

“Get out of the water!” Jewel shouts.

Alicia screams, and the sound tears through the tender silence of the night. But I can’t move. All I can do is look up at the bright light and listen to the vibrations of the undulating waves. I feel a tremor of sorts, a low hum that rumbles in the pit of my stomach.

“AMBER!” Jewel yells.

But then the silence hits. Every single sound vanishes from my focus as the blinding white light swallows me whole. It’s eerily warm. I want to fight it, yet I’m powerless, unable to move. How did I get above the water? What is happening?

I’m being pulled upward.

It’s not natural.

Why do I feel so sleepy all of a sudden? Fear grips me by the throat, and for the briefest of moments, I’m compelled to resist. But I cannot. The light seeps through my skin. It flows through my veins, paralyzing me completely.

A heavy slumber takes over.

I can’t keep my eyes open anymore.

In an instant, the light turns to darkness, and I’m lost.

I float in a thick kind of dream for what feels like forever. I can’t see a thing, only pitch black. But my skin picks up strange sensations—hot fingers clenched around my arms, and my throat is scratchy. It’s an odd feeling, though it doesn’t hurt. Not exactly. My ears pick up sounds, too. My friends’ voices. They are scared, their words hushed and frantic.

“This can’t be happening,” Cynthia whispers.

“How much fucking alcohol did we drink?” Alicia blurts out, but Jewel is quick to shush her.

“It’s happening, all right. It’s happening. And we need to wrap our heads around it fast if we want to survive whatever comes next,” she says.

Wait, what is she talking about?

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