Page 14 of All the Devils are Here

Lightning flashed, and I saw the surface of the ocean in the brightness. It wasn’t even close to flat. We were in the middle of waves I’d only seen in things like movies where they were on boats five times the size of this one.

“Still happy you came on the boat?” A voice called over the roaring storm.

Even though he had to yell, his voice still managed to sound like velvet. The man from earlier, still in his black suit, standing without holding on like the sudden swerving of the boat didn’t affect him at all.

The front of the boat rose so high it felt like we were in the movieTitanic, and then, free fall. That’s what it felt like. The boat went over the wave and we dropped, the splash soaking me through as I clung to the rail and tried to keep my feet. “Who the fuck are you?”

He still stood with his hands in his pockets, not a care in the world.

“It doesn’t matter,” he said, coming closer. “But I’ll see you soon.”

Leaning in, his lips brushed the shell of my ear and I shuddered from the heat. “I wish you had listened to me.”

He stepped back, and I only had time to see him smile before he tipped himself over the rail and into the blackness. I felt myself scream, but I couldn’t hear it. The storm was too loud, and the air was filled with other screams because there were no more lights.

Panic clawed up my throat, and I wrapped my arms all the way around the rail. There was no way to see and nowhere to go.

Oh god. Oh fuck. Were we going to die?

I was still drunk, and for the first time, I realized that this might be worse than I even thought. This wasn’t a storm a boat should be out in.

Fear bottomed out in my gut. My heart pounded in my ears and I started thinking about all the things I should have done. Fuck, this was really it, wasn’t it? Your life really did flash before your eyes.

I shouldn’t have let Laurent go so easily—I should have tried harder. I should have told Christine everything. I should have done a lot of things…

We went over another wave and dropped straight through the air into the water. The tip of the boat sank so deep, pure water flooded over the railing and nearly swept me away. The screaming only got worse, and someone banged into me, flung by the water. People were running, but with no light and no traction, there was nothing to do except hope and pray we wouldn’t sink.

More water crashed over me.Fuckit was cold. This wasn’t the Atlantic. It could be a lot colder, but my teeth were chattering.

Not that it mattered if I was going to die.

The heat of tears warmed my skin. Thinking about my teeth chattering wasn’t the way I thought I’d go. None of this was the way I thought it would go. And that man was right. I wished I’d listened and stayed on dry land.

But I couldn’t go back in time any more than I could will this storm to settle.

A splintering sound cracked through the air, something hitting me in the back painfully. I nearly lost my grip.

Please.

I didn’t know who I was begging now, but it was all I could think. Please don’t let this happen. Please don’t let us sink. Please don’t let me die.

Please.

My stomach swooped with the free fall over another wave, and in the next burst of lightning, I saw the truth. The next wave was coming, and it was taller than the rest. We weren’t going to make it over the top of this one.

The light faded, and fear sank into me like the jaws of a predator. Final. Knowing it was the end. We were slipping downward in the hollow of the wave.

I filled my lungs with as much air as possible and held my breath, waiting for the crash. Even the lightning couldn’t reach us in the shadow of the wave. I closed my eyes.

It all happened at once. Screams were the last thing I heard as the force of a building landed on top of me. There was no holding on—my body ripped from the boat and tossed through the water like a rag doll. It was all cold and all water, and there was no way to tell which way was up.

I opened my eyes to sheer blackness and void. Pure terror electrified me, and it was all I could do to keep holding my breath. Maybe I would reach the surface.

Maybe.

A flash brighter than the lightning ripped through the water. I whirled and saw the colors of fire smothered quickly, the blurry shape of the yacht sinking below the surface. It was being dragged down so fucking fast into the darkness. And the light was gone as quickly as I saw it.

I kicked for the surface, but I never seemed to get any closer. There was just more water and more water and more water and my lungs began to burn. I choked back a sob, grief ripping through me. I was going to die. I couldn’t hold my breath much longer, and there was no sign of air.

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