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Autumn tried to move as best as she could. She tried to make herself go toward the surface, but she couldn’t figure out which way was up and which way was down. She didn’t know where the island was, which way the camp was, and she definitely couldn’t go back to the camp. They would slit her throat now.

The panic that was so near moments before wrapped her in its grasp again. Its grasp tightened on her, suffocated her. Autumn ran her hands along her body, trying to push it off, but she was only met with water. There was nothing there.

Her lungs burned.

Her eyes stung.

Soulara was gone.

Autumn was going to drown.

Relaxing into that understanding, Autumn closed her eyes and listened to the water around her. It was filled with noise, with bubbles, with sea life. It would soon hold her corpse. At least Honour had been there. At least Honour had the plans for the machine. At least Honour could save Soulara.

The weight under her was heavy. Autumn’s body seemed to be pushed upward, rapidly. The water moved against her body, pulling at her clothes and her hair. She breached the surface and automatically gasped for air. It was like shards of ice inside her body. Opening her eyes, she found Honour’s face right next to hers.

“Where have they taken her?”

“I don’t know,” Autumn spluttered. She looked up into the sky and the vessel was still there. Hovering. Threatening. “Why aren’t they leaving?”

“They’re not done yet.” Honour clutched the metal cylinder in her hand tightly and Autumn in her arms. “She’d kill me if I let you die.”

“What?”

“Breathe!” Honour commanded.

Autumn barely had a moment to think before Honour dove under the water with Autumn in her arms. Honour was so much stronger than Soulara. They moved faster than she ever had with Soulara. They must be going at speeds that she would have thought impossible. Before she came to this planet, before she met Soulara and finally understood what it was her fellow soldiers fought for. They fought to save people they loved. Autumn knew the feeling all too well now. And the thought of that bastard having his hands on Soulara burned a rage inside her body, equal to the burning of her lungs as they ached for more air.

The claw crashed down into the water, and Honour turned sharply to the side. She dove out the way. Autumn clutched Honour close, keeping her eyes open as best as she could. She wanted to see what was happening. She wanted to know when she was going to find sweet solace in her death.

The claw speared down again.

Honour grunted in Autumn’s ear. Had she been hurt?

Autumn’s lungs burned, begging for air. They screamed at her to let go and let Honour survive. She was dead weight. She would kill them both. Fighting Honour off, Autumn pushed as hard as she could away from Honour. Kicking her legs and moving her arms, she fought against the mer. She’d get to the surface eventually, she had to. She wouldn’t give in to dying, not until she knew Honour would survive to save Soulara.

The claw struck again, this time hitting Autumn square in the hip. She clasped onto the edge of it, her fingers slipping in the wetness of the water and smoothness of the metal. Honour grabbed her and pulled her deeper into the water.

Autumn screamed out, bubbles escaping her lips. They swam a little way off before resurfacing. Autumn gasped for air again. “Let me go!”

“I can’t,” Honour answered. “Breathe.”

Autumn sucked in a large breath of air as Honour pulled her under again. They shouldn’t be doing this. How had Chalmers even found them? It better not have been Marshall. Autumn would skin him herself if it was. If that sob story about Joe was a lie, then she would find out, and she would haunt Marshall into his grave.

They dodged again.

And again.

But the claw came back down, splattering into the water and latching onto Autumn’s shirt. It pulled upward, retracting back into the ship from above. Honour tried to grasp onto her and the cylinder. She was being pulled in both directions. The cylinder fell out of Honour’s hands and dropped into the water.

“Autumn!” Honour yelled.

“Just let me go.” Autumn went lax, letting Honour’s hand slip from her body. “Find the cylinder and save them.”

Autumn was hoisted into the frigid air. The wind from the engines blew down on her, freezing her in an instant. She clung onto the machine, scared she would fall to her death and then drown. When the doors closed under her body, she breathed a sigh of relief until the claws opened up and she landed heavily on the cold metal floor.

Coughing, Autumn turned onto her back and looked up at the ceiling. The air in here was so cold. She wasn’t sure how she would be able to survive it when she was soaking wet. The gears grinding underneath her came to a halt. And she only had a moment of silence before the stomping of boots reverberated toward her.

They were coming.