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L evi brought Darcy to his side and said, "Look who I found!"

"Am I late? Is the race starting or ending?" Darcy said her eyes on me even though she was talking to Levi.

"Over I am afraid," Levi said.

"Fuck! Thalia's going to be mad at me. How did he do? Last or second from last?"

"Beat everyone, I'm afraid," Nolan replied. Instead of letting go of me, he held me beside him, his arm possessively wrapped around my waist.

Darcy's eyebrows shot up. "No way. Impressive!" her gaze went to Carey and Thalia, who were now getting off the boat. "I owe Hugh five dollars."

"You bet against my husband?" Thalia said as she went to hug Darcy.

"I wanted to see his ego bruised a little," Darcy said when they pulled apart. "He can't be good at everything. Better luck next time."

"Hi, Darcy," Carey said.

"I heard you flew past everyone."

Carey shrugged. "Beginner's luck."

Darcy smirked. "Exactly. You're lucky I wasn't here. If I was, my hex would have tipped over your boat."

Carey nodded. "Which is why I gave you the wrong time."

Darcy's eyes widened. "You!" and slapped Carey playfully on the shoulder. Carey laughed. "Anyway," Darcy said. "Congratulations. I'll be coming at least one hour early next time."

At that moment, Lake, who had been tugging his father's hand, shouted, "Can I go play! Dad! Please!" He pointed at a group of boys about his age who were playing with tiny toy-looking boats along a makeshift river next to the bay.

"Not now dear," Ivy said. Her son's face dropped, making me feel sad for him. Damien, touched by this, said, "After the ceremony. Don't you want to raise your uncle's cup?" That seemed to mollify the boy, but the occasional glances at the children playing with their boats he made showed the compromise barely satisfied him. My gaze went to the children, and I realized why Damien and Ivy weren't so eager to let him go alone. The makeshift river was too close to the main body of water. Even though there were plenty of people around, few were paying attention to the children and if an accident were to happen, it could be a while until people realized what had occurred.

Carey excused himself and went to change out of his wetsuit, while the rest of the party went to where the organizers had raised a makeshift stage right outside the country club, with a lone microphone awaiting a speaker. That was where the prize giving ceremony was being held and a fair number of people had already gathered around it. Our group joined them and Nolan's hand was now holding mine. Possessively, I noticed. As though he wanted to let everyone know I was his wife.

A sun beaten athletic looking man with wispy blond hair climbed the stairs of the stage and went in front of the microphone. "Ladies and gentleman. What a race it has been." From the voice, I immediately recognized him as the same person who was doing the race commentary. "I love seeing such good healthy competition amongst the amateurs. We should do more of these if you were to ask me." The crowd laughed at what sounded to me like an inside joke amongst the yacht club community. He spoke more about the race, thanked people for being a good audience and then asked the winners to come out.

The second runner-up came out of the clubhouse first, followed by Carey who was now wearing Bermuda shorts and a white t-shirt, then the first runner-up and lastly, a middle-aged, skinny woman in a sailor dress. They all lined up behind the commentator, who asked the audience to give the winners another round of applause, which people eagerly gave. "I've kept you here for too long, I know you all wanna get drunk on your boats so without further ado, in third place…" He announced the name as the woman in the sailor dress picked up the smallest plate on the left side of the plate and handed it to him.

I turned to the man next to me. Nolan had his gaze on his brother. Pride made his face radiant as he watched Carey accept the trophy. His love for his family was admirable. Ivy, Levi, and Damien were standing in a row next to Nolan, but Lake was nowhere to be seen. They must have finally let him go play with the toy boats, but when I glanced in that direction, he didn't seem to be there.

"Where's Lake?" I asked more to myself, but Nolan heard me and darted his gaze around. He frowned and turned to his sister. "Ivy? Where's Lake? "

Ivy looked around her, and then her eyes widened when she didn't see him. "Lake," she called out in a too calm voice, trying not to sound too panicked.

"Maybe he went to play with the other kids," I said fruitlessly. Levi asked me if I had seen him go there. I shook my head. Damien and Ivy split and waded into the crowd, looking for him.

"Maybe he went inside the clubhouse," Darcy suggested. "Maybe he followed Carey."

"Lake!" Ivy called out. She was becoming more panicked now.

"I'll go look inside," Levi said.

Nolan marched forward, already on his way. "I'll come with you."

I wandered to the bay, Darcy trailing behind me. "He couldn't have gone far," I said, feeling even more afraid that something terrible happened to the poor child. The crowd was beginning to feel the stress that something was wrong, and a few people were muttering. We reached the group of kids and Darcy asked them if they had seen Lake, giving them a description of the ten-year-old. Most of the kids shook their heads and one outright said no. Maybe he was safe in the clubhouse, and my mind was thinking of the worst potential outcome for no reason. Then I heard a scream and a splash of water.

I ran down the pier toward the scream. It came from the back of the clubhouse. There were a few boats there, and all looked empty. I heard another scream just as I arrived to see Lake splashing around in the water, trying to keep himself afloat. I handed my phone to Darcy and jumped in. Didn't think twice as I swam to the drowning child. His head was now below water, so I dove to look for him. Lake was sinking slowly to the bottom when I found him. My hands went around his waist and I pulled him and myself up until our heads were above the water. Darcy was waving her hand at me and she helped Lake and me out of the water. I laid his silent body on the dock, my heart beating a little too fast. I kneeled next to him, lifted him into a sitting position, and slapped his back to get water out of his chest, but nothing happened. I laid him down again and administered CPR, or the little I knew of CPR. Darcy was frantically calling Ivy and telling her we found him.

He seemed lifeless at first, and maybe it was the waning sunlight, but it look like he was turning blue. I was freaking out even more, but then he began choking. I turned him to the side so he could spit out the water out of his lungs. He coughed again, and I slapped his back to aid him. I let out a deep breath when he croaked, "Please don't tell mom."

I rubbed his back. "I don't know how we're going to explain the wet clothes, buddy. "

Footsteps rumbled on the wooden planks and a few seconds later Ivy, Damien, followed by Nolan and Levi behind them, appeared around the corner. Lake's entire body crumbled, probably afraid his parents were going to reprimand him, but the fear and relief on Ivy and Damien's face showed how grateful they were to see their son alive and well.

"What happened?" Damien asked as Ivy went to kneel beside her son and hug him.

"He drowned."

"I wanted to play with the boats. I was looking for one of my own. I was told I would find them there." He pointed to a small kiosk detached from the main building, with windows shuttered closed. "And then I slipped and fell."

"He must have panicked when he hit the water," I said. "I found him trying to float."

"If Aelin wasn't around I don't know what would have happened. She heard his scream, rushed over here and got him out of the water, then administered CPR. "She saved his life."

Everyone's gaze landed on me. They were all looking at me in a different light. Nolan, especially, was looking at me like I was an alien. "It was nothing really."

"No way," Darcy cut in. "I didn't even hear the scream. I was hopeless on the sidelines while she did everything. "

Ivy helped Lake up and when she tried to carry him, he protested, "I'm fine, mom," he said and she let him on his feet. Ivy fussed over his tiny body. Satisfied that he didn't have any bruises, she looked up at me with a grateful smile. "Thank you."

Damien let out a harsh breath and ran a shaky hand through his hair. "Thanks, Aelin."

I shook my head, feeling overly thanked for doing very little. "It was nothing, really. I only did what anyone would do."

Darcy cut in. "I couldn't. You were amazing."

"Am I in trouble," Lake croaked.

Ivy smiled. "No. But you have some serious learning you need to do, young man. Let's get you into something dry."

Nolan came to my side. "You too."

Darcy grabbed my arm. "I'll help. I came with a change of clothes. I have something that would fit you."

I didn't want to be alone with Darcy. Even though she was being kind, she knew there was something off about me.

Nolan nodded, and Darcy led me away. I thought we were going to the clubhouse, but we went aboard a yacht where she led me to an ensuite bathroom with a shower. "One of my friends owns it," she explained. "When you're done, you'll find clothes on the bed."She's just being kind, I thought. Don't overthink it.

The shower was warm and nice. After I was done, I saw a dress laid neatly on the bed and a pair of sandals on the bottom that looked a size bigger but were fairly comfortable. I put on the clothes and went to the salon where Darcy was lounging alone. She smiled at me.

"Thanks," I said. "The clothes fit perfectly."

"You're welcome Aelin, but you are not Aelin are you?"