Dark Life: Rip Tide (10 page)

Navigating the darkness with sonar, I picked the narrow corridor that headed toward the exterior wall for no good reason other than that it led away from the deafening bangs. I considered swimming rather than walking, but the water was slick with oil and scum. Nothing I wanted to put my face in.

When I turned a corner, steam blasted out of a pipe and sent me slamming into a wall, which hurt more than it should have. Stepping away, I ran my hand over the corrugated metal and discovered that it was crusted with barnacles—as sharp as barracuda teeth. If Rip Tide’s prison housed any permanent residents, I pitied them. No one—no matter what he’d done—deserved to be stuck in this wet, dark, deafening nightmare of a jail.

I paused at a cross section of passages, wondering which way to turn and whether shouting for Shade was a stupid thing to do during a prison break. Probably. But I didn’t know how long Gemma would be able to keep a guard from coming down—especially if Fife discovered the key was missing. And throwing sonar clicks down the passageways revealed nothing except sloshing water and hard walls.

Then I became aware of another noise under the mechanical din. A thumping sound. Irregular. Punctuated with a metallic rattle. Like someone shaking a sheet of aluminum siding … or a cage.

Following the banging, I slogged through the flooded halls until I reached the exterior wall. Visibility was better in this section thanks to the moon, which gleamed off the metal stalls that lined the corridor. The jail looked hastily constructed. Especially the grating that covered the gap between the deck’s exterior half wall and the ceiling. Not that an inmate could punch through the metal grille,
but given unlimited time and the will to escape, eventually the bolts that held it in place could be worked out of the steel girders.

Now that I was in the correct area, the irregular thuds were louder and the rattling more alarming. I sloshed through the shadows, past empty stalls, toward the noise, which had become so ferocious, so crazed, my nerves were up and stretching. Who or what could be making such a racket?

A minute later, I spotted the answer: A huge bull shark was battering the grille above the half wall. With its broad head just under the water and both large and small dorsal fins exposed, the beast pounded and ripped at the metal grate. All while Shade lounged on his bunk with seawater lapping at his chest and his skin glowing so brightly he lit up the room.

I gaped at the scene inside the jail cell. The thin metal grille buckled under the bull shark’s ramming. But Shade didn’t look like he cared one whit that the crazed beast was moments away from breaking through.

“Knew you’d be the one to fetch me.” He grinned. “Bet the boys weren’t too happy with you.”

I couldn’t take my eyes off the shark, which had torn up its own snout as much as the grate. Though only about ten feet long, the animal was heavily built and aggressive as all get out.

“He got a whiff of my bloody leg and came knocking,” Shade said.

I looked back at the outlaw who was sitting in the flooded cell, relaxed and luminous. No shine could give him skin that radiant. But his Dark Gift could. “I want to make a deal,” I told him.

“I’m listening.”

But with one loud metallic crack, the thrashing shark had my attention again.

“I’m letting him do all the work,” Shade explained. “Cutting me a way out.”

“And what happens when it breaks through?”

“Things will get interesting.” Lifting his fist above the water, he uncurled his fingers to show me a piece of sharpened metal. Probably taken from the bed frame. “Unless you got a better offer.”

I held up the key, and his smile widened.

“Like I said, I’m listening.”

Another crash from the shark changed my plan. I felt for the keyhole under the water and then jammed the key into the lock, turning it as fast as possible. Just as I yanked open the door, the shark bashed its snout through the grille and worked its snapping jaws into the stall.

Shade rose. “Thought you wanted to make a deal?”

“Just get out of there!”

“If you insist.” He waded past the frenzied shark, with its head wedged through the hole, and out of the stall like he hadn’t a care in the world.

I slammed the door shut and relocked it.

“You’re not real good at negotiation, are you? ’Cause I don’t see what you’re getting out of this deal. Unless you wanted to turn outlaw.”

“We’re still in negotiation. Otherwise, I’ll head upstairs and tell Mayor Fife that you’re free. Maybe you’ll get away in the
Specter
in time, maybe not.”

“Can’t tell anyone anything if I kill you.” He crossed his arms and leaned against a wall. His expression was dead serious.

I wished I could call his bluff, remind him about giving Gemma a home. But a small part of me wasn’t convinced that he was bluffing. Or that his sense of gratitude would win over his desire for freedom. Just then the shark burst through the grille, leaving a gaping hole, and plowed into the flimsy stall.

“I need a ride to Hardluck Ruins,” I said quickly, not sure which alarmed me more—the bull shark or the outlaw. All I wanted was to get out of there.

“Could have just asked,” Shade said in a lighter tone.

“I need to go to the Ruins tomorrow and I want you to come in case Gabion is planning to kill me.”

“Heard you won today.”

I noted that Gabion wanting to murder me didn’t surprise him. In fact, he took it a little too much in stride. As if fearing for my life was the natural consequence of winning a boxing match. “Does that mean you’ll do it?”

“I’ll let you know when I feel inconvenienced.”

Taking that for a yes, I sloshed back down the passageway, ready to put some distance between me and the bull shark that was now ramming the cell door.

At the top of the stairwell, Shade paused and his skin turned pitch-black. His eyes, too, which was more than a
little unsettling when he turned them on me and asked, “The
Specter
still circling?”

“I think so.”

“Get Gemma. Take the cable car back to the docks. We’ll pick you up from there.”

I said nothing, suddenly wondering if I could trust him to show. Once he was aboard the
Specter,
he might decide to head for the open ocean.

Footsteps clanged above us. Descending. Then Gemma’s voice rang out, “Come on, Ratter, let me sneak one peek at the outlaw. I didn’t get a good look at him in the ring.”

“Can’t do it, little girl,” Ratter replied. “Fife said not to let anyone down.”

“I’ll have you know that Mayor Fife is a friend of mine,” she announced.

“Fife don’t have friends,” Ratter said with an ugly laugh. “You either work for him or you’re nothing to him. That’s about it.”

In a crouch-run, Shade and I crossed the deck and slipped behind an empty deep-fried shrimp stall.

Shade had limped on his wounded leg as he’d run, and now he grimaced in pain. “Change of plan.”

As Gemma and Ratter appeared at the foot of the stairs, I saw her glance around and knew she was looking for us.

Shade nudged me. “No reason for you to hide.”

I rose from behind the shrimp stall and gave her a wave as Ratter disappeared down the stairs.

“Get her,” Shade ordered. “We’re going to dive for it.”

“Off Rip Tide? She’s not going to want to do that.” That was the understatement of the century. Still, I waved her over.

“Fine, we leave her.” He stood. “Safer here anyway. But if you want a ride, you dive. That guard will sound the alarm as soon as he spots my empty cell.”

We intercepted Gemma by the drill well, and Shade quickly relayed his plan.

“I’m coming,” she said firmly.

“I don’t have time to wait for you to take the cable car and climb down a cliff,” Shade said roughly.

“I’ll dive.”

I shot her a look, remembering what had happened the last time she was in the ocean.

“Ty taught me how to swim,” she added, as if that was the issue.

Shade tipped his head as if to say “
whatever”
and took off toward the far side of town.

“It’s closer this way,” I hissed, pointing at the half wall just past the stairwell.

He paused. “There, we’d hit the water near the jail. After we left, that shark probably headed back into the ocean.”

“Shark?” Gemma asked.

“Shark!” a voice screamed. A second later Ratter barreled out of the stairwell.

“Or maybe not,” Shade conceded.

At that moment, Ratter spotted us and gawked. “You!” he shouted.

Shade hooked Gemma by the elbow and took off.

“Stop there!” Ratter whipped his speargun off his back and aimed it at Shade, even though Gemma was running alongside him. “Stop or I’ll pin you to the deck!”

I dove for Ratter, tackling him to keep him from pulling the trigger. A good sight heavier than me, he tried to shove me off, but I grabbed ahold of his speargun. As I tried to yank it from his hand, he rolled, using his weight to loosen my grip.

Now he had me pinned, crushing me. But when he attempted to push himself up with one hand while holding on to his weapon with the other, he floundered. He had to release all the pressure on me to get himself to his knees. I shimmied out from under him and grabbed the butt of the gun. In trying to pull it out of his hand, I unintentionally helped him up. Then a tug of war began, each of us gripping the speargun.

But he had the wrong end.

I could easily pull the trigger and send a shaft into Ratter’s gut—but I wouldn’t. Not that he knew that
about me. Most people would have let go the second they saw that they were gripping the barrel end of a gun. Not Ratter, though, who was clearly too stupid to understand the danger he was in.

Suddenly, he tried to swing me off, using his bulk to his advantage. I went with it, letting him heave me around in a circle, figuring that he’d get dizzy first or exhaust himself well before I was spent. I wasn’t
that
lightweight. It wasn’t like he could get me up in the air. He had to throw his whole body into each heave, while lurching haphazardly.

On his second tipsy rotation, I realized he’d circled us to the edge of the drill well—right where there was no railing. In that split second, I knew I had a choice: let go of the gun or get thrown into the eel pool. But one glance at Ratter’s dogged expression and I knew there was a third option. I went with the next lurch, tightening my grip on the speargun as I sailed off the edge of the deck. And sure enough, Ratter stubbornly refused to let go of his end of the gun, only to realize too late that by holding on, he’d be pulled into the pool with me. And so he was—splashing down one second after me.

As I sank, I released the speargun and felt it drop away. Ratter must have finally let go. All at once, a wriggling mass of eels enveloped me. Covering my face with my arms, I tried to kick away but there was nowhere to go. The lampreys were everywhere, winnowing through
my clothes, seeking out bare flesh.
Use it as a weapon,
a voice in my head shouted.

I clicked rapidly but the eels only increased their writhing.

Amp it up.

This time I blasted out the lowest-pitched sound I could muster and instantly all movement around me ceased. I knocked aside the limp coils in front of my face and kicked for the surface.
It worked!
I’d stunned the eels like a dolphin stunned prey. Why hadn’t I tried it before?

I surfaced just long enough to fill my lungs with air. A few yards away, Ratter thrashed toward the pool’s edge. Without attracting his attention, I dove again and swam below the drifting eels.

Sending out clicks, I sensed where the net wrapped around the town’s legs. Not far at all. Above me, Ratter splashed and kicked as he attempted to heave himself out of the pool.

I drew out my dive knife and tore into the net. The blade strained for only a second before cutting into the woven metal. Luckily, not titanium. The cold gnawed at my skin as I slashed a hole big enough to wriggle through. Too bad I wasn’t wearing a diveskin.

I’d just made it past the net when the lampreys poured through the hole and swarmed around me. Alert once more and on the attack. Pain broke out along my neck and below my ear as eels bored into my skin. I tried blasting
them with sonar again, but those that had already dug in didn’t loosen their bite. By now my lungs felt scorched from needing air. But I was trapped under Rip Tide.

I swam toward the edge of the town, head dizzy, extremities cramping with cold. Had Shade and Gemma made it to the sub?

I had to get clear of the town. Had to surface
now.
I pushed my speed. Didn’t even break my stroke to pull off the lampreys, though their bite burned and their heavy, soft bodies thumped against my chest.

My eardrums throbbed as I swam against the tide, yet I couldn’t make any headway. A powerful undercurrent was keeping me pinned beneath the town. I dove deeper to escape its drag, only to find that the undertow was even stronger closer to the seafloor. So strong I was nearly swimming in place, unable to reclimb the water column, and I was growing weaker by the second. Close to blacking out. Only terror kept me conscious.

Lampreys ripped from my skin and vanished in the current. Which was wrong, I realized with a start.

The undertow should be moving out to sea, not toward the coast. I turned to shoot sonar over my shoulder and lost ten feet as I was whipped backward. And that’s when I saw it in my mind’s eye—a hulking underwater turbine, which sucked in the tide to power the town. Its housing would keep me from getting mangled, but without air, I wouldn’t have the strength to pull
myself away from its grille. Frenzied, I tried to swim faster, harder, anything.

Water pressed down on me as something large descended. The bull shark! I gasped, sucking in seawater. Even while choking, I threw up my hands to defend myself … and cracked my knuckles against metal, not the flesh of a sea creature. For a second my brain couldn’t categorize the gray mass above me, then understanding hit. That was the
Specter
hovering over me.

Gagging, I began to scrabble along the underside, seeking entry, while fighting back the darkness that threatened to eclipse my thoughts. Registering that the hatch was still closed, I realized that had been Shade’s plan all along—to let me drown. A burst of light appeared and something brushed the back of my neck. Another lamprey, here for the feast. I tried to knock the eel away, but it tightened its bite and jerked me upward.
Big lamprey
was my last thought before I blacked out.

The impact of hitting a floor jarred me back into consciousness, and I rolled to my side to cough up half the ocean. When my eyes could finally focus, I looked up to see that once again the Seablite Gang had me surrounded.

Shade’s smile was wry. “Welcome aboard the
Specter
.”