Page 67 of Explorer's Revenge
My lip quivers as my eyes blur with tears. “Dad, I can’t leave them.”
“I nearly lost you. Do you understand that? Do you understand that I didn’t know if you were alive or dead? That fear will never go away. I blamed myself for taking you on that first adventure. I ripped myself apart over and over, and when they found you, I still could have lost you. Maeve, please, don’t ask this of me. I almost lost you once, and I can’t risk losing you again.”
The pain on his face tears me to shreds, and despite my injuries and the machines, I sink to my knees before him, covering his hands as my tears fall.
“Dad, I know you’re scared,” I whisper as I wipe away his tears, feeling his other hand shake in mine. “I am too, but I’m more scared of what type of person I would be if I got back in bed and didn’t try. They saved my life. I wouldn’t be here without them. I would be dead. They are my team, Dad. I can’t leave them out there. I owe them, so I have to try. If anyone can survive, it’s them. Please don’t ask me to leave them when they wouldn’t leave me.”
He searches my eyes. “And if it gets you killed?” he snaps, his eyes glassy with tears.
“Then I’ll die knowing I did everything I could, but I couldn’t live with myself if I never tried. You don’t know them like I do. If there’s a chance, then they will be there. They will be alive. They are fighters just like us. I’m sorry to break your heart, Daddy, but I wouldn’t be who you raised me to be if I got back in this bed. I can’t lose them.”
“You’re asking me to let you go back to the place that almost took you from me,” he croaks.
“I’m asking you to help me go back to that place and save the people who fought with me when I was injured, who carried me on their backs through storms and attacks to save my life. I’m asking you to let me save them the way they saved me. I’m asking you, Dad, to trust me to come back again.”
His head bows, and I press mine against his as his shoulders shake. I try to bite back my tears, but I can’t. Seeing my father so broken is not something I thought I would ever witness. He didn’t even cry when he got his diagnosis, but as he lifts his head, I know this experience has changed him. It scarred him. I can’t even imagine how he endured the worry and pain, and I wish I could stay here to ease that, but each moment I waste is another one they could be hurt or killed.
Wilder promised we would get off that island together. He broke it, so I’m going to find his ass and make him pay.
“They’ll never let you out of the hospital,” he murmurs, and my heart soars, knowing he’s giving me his blessing. “It’s on lockdown. Everyone wants your statement and picture. It’s worldwide press.”
“Then I guess I’ll need help.” I smile, and he purses his lips before blowing out a breath.
“I guess it’s time for one last adventure,” he mutters as his hands find mine. “Are you sure? You’re still recovering?—”
“They would come for me,” I tell him as I kiss his knuckles. “If anyone can save them, it’s me. You know that. Now, how the hell do we get me out of here? And clothes . . . I need underwear. There’s no way I’m going on a rescue mission with my beaver in the breeze.”
He laughs, and I smile with him.
We’ll be okay. Now, I just need to find the guys.
I talk a big game, but fear lingers.
What if I’m too late?
THIRTY-NINE
WAY
The last few days have been hell. We are running out of water, and we are officially out of food, but it’s more than that. It’s the fact that we haven’t seen any signs of rescuers for a while. It’s like they left us here to die or gave up. I don’t know how many days ago that was. They all blend together, especially since we are trapped.
When that second wave came, it dragged us away. We had nothing to cling to. I don’t know if the storm or tsunami opened the entrance to this cave, but the water carried us right into it. We were lucky it was elevated so when the water went down, we didn’t drown, but from that first moment we realized we were stuck here, we also realized that thing did too. It’s been out there for days, waiting.
After we were swept in here, we tried to get out. Wilder nearly lost his arm. We’ve tried a few more times, especially when we heard helicopters. We needed to get their attention, but that beast is out there waiting for any splash or movement, and it lunges at us. Luckily, it’s too big to get in here, but it knows it just needs to wait us out.
Fucking asshole.
Sighing, Rick rolls over and sprawls across my chest. I push him off, and he rolls the other way, curling up on Logan. Wilder sits near the entrance, perched on a rock. I don’t know where we are, but it’s nowhere near the beach. We need to get back there and figure a way out of the cave now that the water is receding. We’ve been waiting for it to lower as much as we can so we can see where that asshole is, but we are risking being too hungry and dehydrated to make it.
We need to make a decision soon.
“Nothing?” Aiyaret’s voice is small. He lies next to me, his back to the rocky wall of the cave. It was where he felt safest, so we gave it to him since he struggles to sleep anyway. I make sure my body is between his and the entrance in case the worst happens.
“Go back to sleep,” I murmur. He’s only been resting an hour or so.
Sighing, he sits up and rests his head on the wall as he looks at me. His hair is slicked back, making him look younger, and he’s still so handsome it hurts, so I glance at Wilder, but Aiyaret’s voice brings my attention back to him.
“She’s okay, right?” he asks softly, and I flinch. “If she was okay, she wouldn’t stop until they found us. I’m scared something happened. I just hope she’s okay. I hope she’s resting and her dad is with her. It’s what she would want.”
