Page 16 of Bleeding Hearts

She saved me, though, and she seemed genuinely terrified when I was struggling. Despite how it could have gone, she risked her life and her spot at number one to save me.

It has to mean something.

“Third place, Samantha Owens.”

Swallowing hard, I pick up my hoodie and wrap it around me. It doesn’t do much, but it’s better than nothing.

A scream splits the air, and I spin, my eyes wide as I scramble across the sand with the running crowd. Everyone stands at the edge of the water, watching others swim hard to get to shore and secure their placement.

None of them notice the body floating face down.

“Are they dead?” someone croaks.

“Someone save them!”

No one does, all focused on beating the others to the beach. Dropping my hoodie, I wade back in. When I reach the person, I hesitate with my hands outstretched before I grab them and turn them over. I cover my mouth and stumble back to my ass as the water surrounds me.

Their eyes are open, wide and unseeing, and their lips are blue.

They are dead.

Risk has claimed its first life.

CHAPTER SEVEN

The panic attack hits me about one mile down the road. I sink into the tall grass, completely alone. My fingers clutch the brittle strands, snapping them just like my sanity. Water drips down my face and body, making me shiver, but my heart pounds hard as I struggle to breathe.

I almost lost Alice tonight.

I didn’t hesitate. I’ve been drowning for so long, what did it matter if I actually did? Surrounded by the water, I felt a slight reprieve, but when I went to resurface and saw her, everything in me stopped. I didn’t even think before I dived toward her. The only other time I have ever felt such terror was the night I almost lost her before.

She nearly died because of me.

Doesn’t she understand that following me only leads to heartbreak and death?

Everyone I love dies. She needs to stay far away from me. They all do.

Bending over, I press my face to the grass, sucking in desperate breaths.

I remind myself she’s alive over and over until the panic recedes enough for me to hear and think. Voices reach me, and Iknow I’ll be found soon. I can’t afford for anyone to see me like this. I need to get it together.

Wiping my wet arm across my eyes, I compose myself.

I stumble to my feet when I hear the crowd heading my way and race toward the road, needing to get out of here. I need liquor to numb me and slow my heart so I can rest and not dream of her terrified eyes.

My eyes snap open, but I see nothing except deep blue darkness. My pink hair floats around me like ribbons in the wind, and my hands slide through the water as I jerk around, looking for the surface, but there is only water . . . above me . . . below me . . .

I’m trapped

I spin faster, churning the water around me, but there’s no escape. My name is called, and I freeze. Alice appears from the shadowy depths, swimming toward me. Her mouth opens and closes as her hands grip her throat, and she looks around in panic.

“Lally!” she shouts as her body starts to jerk.

I scream, but the water swallows the sound. I swim to her, but I’m stuck, and I don’t get closer. I have to watch her drown and sink. My screams echo in my head as she disappears.

I can’t stop screaming until another face appears before me.

I quiet, my eyes widening. “Tommy,” I croak.