Page 21 of The Players

I spotted a ladder nearby. Without another thought, I ran and grabbed it. It was heavy and bulky, but I had nothing but energy as I rushed that thing to the side of the tank and climbed up it.

“Hold on,” I said, grabbing for the wire that had suspended Mills above the tank. “I’ll get you out.”

I pulled and pulled, but the water-logged Mills was too heavy and the wire was too wet. There was no way I could budge it like this.

“No, no, no,” I repeated, panicking. “This has to work. Something has to work.”

Time was ticking. Mills began to thrash. He was running out of air.

The ladder. He could stand on it. But how could I get it in?

Panicked, I climbed onto the lip of the tank, gripping either side with my thighs as I tried to yank the ladder into the tank without smashing it on top of Mills, but now it was wet and hard to wield, and I kept slipping and nearly falling in myself.

Time was running out. Mills was drowning.

If only he could stand on something.

Or someone…

I jumped into the tank, blowing air out of my lungs to quickly drop myself to the bottom. In the chaos, I wasn’t sure if Mills knew what I was doing, but if he had any wits left he could understand. If I stood on the bottom, he could stand on my back, push up and breathe.

I planted my feet at the bottom of the tank, ignoring my already panicked brain, and shook Mills’ pant legs. Then I crouched down and slid my body under his feet.

For a second, I feared the worst. He didn’t push up. Was he already dead?!

Then I felt the weight on me as Mills pushed himself up and out of the water.

Oh, sweet lord and baby Jesus. It was working.

The only problem was I hadn’t taken a big gulp of air before I came down here, and now Mills’ weight was on top of me. I hadn’t thought about what we could do long-term, how I could breathe, I’d just acted.

And now I was the one drowning.

Alarm bells began going off in my head.Air, air, air!I needed it so badly, but what could I do? I tried shaking Mills’ pant leg, but he’d grown heavy above me. Was he unconscious? Was he pissed I’d picked him last and taken it out on me? Either way, I needed to get to the surface, but no matter how I struggled, I couldn’t seem to get free of Mills’ body.

No. No, no, no. This was not how I was going to die!

Just as I thought I was going to lose consciousness, a loud boom sounded against the tank.Boom. Boom. Boom.

The glass cracked into a spider web of glass pieces. Then it shattered.

A watery hand shoved me out of the tank, spilling me out on the floor as the water washed over me.

Coughing and retching, I lay on my back, trying to suck air into my lungs. When I could finally move, I glanced up to see Easton standing beside the tank with a crowbar in his hand. He gave my waterlogged form a once over before turning on his heel and disappearing into the dark.

“Interesting turn of events. Oh, well. Game over,” Savannah said. “Thanks for playing, and see younext time, orphan.”

Chapter ten

“Youcouldhavebeenkilled.” Hector threw a towel at me and then crossed his arms over his chest. If I hadn’t been half-drowned, I would have noted how great his pecs looked in his soaking wet shirt.

“You three almost were killed,” I said, taking the towel and starting to dry myself off. “I’m just grateful we all made it out of there alive.”

Mills made a noise, something between a grumble and a cough. He’d been silent the whole way to his father’s restaurant. I’d tried to chalk it up to the fact that he’d nearly drowned. He’d swallowed a good deal of water so that when the aquarium had shattered he’d laid gagging on the floor, duct tape over his mouth. Even though I’d been in shock from nearly drowning myself, I’d managed to rip the tape off and roll him on his side while he retched the water out of his mouth and lungs.

He hadn’t said a word since.

I’d picked him last. He knew that. He didn’t know why. How could I repair that damage?

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