He must feel it too, because he gives me a knowing smile before turning back around.
Suddenly, his smile drops, as do his feet. I stop and turn when I see what we are running toward—the edge of a cliff.
“What do we do?” I ask as we both look over the edge.
“We have two choices—run along the perimeter of the island and try to find a boat, or we jump.”
“Jump? And where would we swim to?”
“Do you see that land?”
I nod.
“It looks like it’s only a few miles from here.”
I nod, understanding. It’s an exhausting swim. I turn and look back. I won’t go back to the castle, and I won’t allow Langston to die at Rowan’s command. We could circle the island, but it only gives the men more opportunity to find us. They won’t suspect that we jumped into the water. And since no boats are missing, it will take longer for them to search for us across the channel.
Then I look at his hands. “You aren’t going to be able to swim with those chains.”
We both look over the edge, searching for options. There’s some driftwood floating nearby.
“I have to try.”
Langston has always been a fish in water. He’s always belonged in the ocean. And I know if he were to die, he’d prefer the ocean swept him away.
“On the count of three,” I say to gather strength.
“One,” he says.
“Two,” I say.
“Three,” we both say as we leap.
I don’t know how tall the cliff is, but the fall seems to go on forever. We hit the water, and I immediately start kicking as hard as I can toward the surface. I’m not afraid that I won’t take another breath, but I need to make sure Langston makes it to the surface.
I breach the surface at the same time Langston does. We both smile wide.
“Here,” Langston pushes a piece of wood in my direction.
I grab onto it, and then he grabs hold of another. We both turn ourselves in the direction of the closest piece of land and start kicking.
I don’t think I breathe until we are at least halfway between the island and the far shore.
“Do we know what country we are in?” I ask as we swim.
“No, I didn’t get much information out of the suit.”
“The suit?”
“The man in charge.”
“Oh, you mean Rowan Wells.”
“He told you his name?”
“I demanded he tell me, and he did.”
His eyes widen. “You are a better manipulator than I thought.”