“Mate, it will work.” I had expected to die in some Hive battle. I’d expected to die a Hive prisoner. I never imagined, ever, to die at the bottom of an ocean. Dying here was not my destiny. I had to be positive. There was no alternative.
“Okay, it will work. It has to work. You’ll have to bend your knees and push off the ground. Pretend you’re trying to jump up in the air, that should help propel you to the surface. If it doesn’t work, fight the pull. Keep your legs mostly straight and kick. Kick hard and fast. Put your arms over your head and pull down, like this.”
Mikki demonstrated and I recognized the moves. “Like I did with my log.”
“Exactly.”
“All right, let’s do it.” I lifted my hands toward my helmet.
“Wait.”
I stilled.
“We’re thirty feet down. The air is pressurized. You have to slowly exhale as you rise. Blow out slowly, releasing the air as it expands. If you don’t, your lungs will explode.”
This just kept getting better. “Explode?”
“Maybe not explode completely, but it’ll be bad.”
“So you have protocols in place. Rules that must be followed in order to survive?”
I could see she mentally paused, watched as her mind worked. “Absolutely. Diving is dangerous. You have to follow the rules. If you don’t, you die.”
I arched a brow and just stared at her. Waited.
I felt the moment she understood. Surnen’s need for rules, his obsession with them. From what he’d admitted, his parents had broken them and they’d died. Mikki had fought them her whole life, but she’d been following them in her passion and hadn’t even realized.
“Oh,” she practically whispered.
“You understand now?” I asked softly.
She nodded. “I do. Surnen, I’m sorry for fighting you so hard.” Shame, sadness, compassion filled me through the collar. Regret. Acceptance. And that warm feeling again, this time for Surnen as well as myself, and much stronger than before.
“Mate, now is not the time for this,” Surnen said, his command loud and clear even this far under the water. He was being strong, holding himself together. Controlling his emotions, just as Mikki was doing. I was the weak link here, drowning in pride for our female.
“Trax, do as she orders. Follow the protocols needed to survive and get the hell out of there.”
Mikki and I stared at each other. Resolute. This was it.
“Just don’t panic when your ears feel like they’re going to explode. Kick off the ground and slowly breathe out,” she said. “Okay?”
“Mate,” I said. “I am proud that you are mine.”
“Trax, you’re… well, mine. And don’t forget it for one second.”
“Never.” With that, I set my hands on my helmet and turned it, unlocking the seal.
Instantly water rushed in. My breath was caught in my body. My face was wet. Pressed upon. It was cold, but not as cold as deep space. I opened my eyes for a second, only saw a red blur. I felt as if daggers stabbed at my ears, but I held on to the helmet, afraid to drop it and ruin our plan.
I couldn’t hear anything beyond the pain.
The helmet was ripped from my fingers.
I did as Mikki had instructed and held my nose, blew air into my sinus cavity until the pain lessened, became manageable.
All at once I could feel the suction of water release, hear the grind of gears. We were free. It had instantly worked, the Hive machine stalling enough for us to break free of its hold. I didn’t wait. I bent my knees and did exactly as Mikki had instructed and pushed off the sea floor. I lifted up and kept going. Higher and higher, using my arms, kicking my legs. Mikki gripped my forearm and tugged as I slowly let out air.
My chest burned as I ran out of air to exhale. My eyes were squeezed shut as I thrashed and fought for the surface, but I had no idea how far there was to go. How I could survive a second longer holding my breath.