“Bastian…” My name was nothing more than a whisper on her lips.
“Shh,” I responded. I didn’t look at her. I couldn’t. I was so focused on him, I couldn’t even see her in his grasp.
“I’ll kill the bitch,” the motherfucker growled. He was trying to keep his voice steady and tough, but he was failing. His eyes showed it all – he knew he was going to die.
“Take your hands off of her now, and I promise to kill you quickly.” I took half of a step towards them and saw his fingers tighten against her windpipe. “You know you’re already dead. It’s just a matter of how long I make it last.”
“I’ll kill her!”
“How?” I purred at him. “You aren’t holding a weapon. Can you hurt her faster than I can get to you? Are you willing to take the chance? I have all kinds of ways of making you feel pain.”
He moved but not in the direction I expected.
Being surprised in battle is not something that had happened to me very often. I could only assume I was severely out of practice when I didn’t catch on to his plan until it was too late. Using his body, he shoved Raine to the side of the boat, over the edge, and into the water. He spun around to face the controls and cranked up the gas.
I had very little time to act and no time to think. Raine was behind us, unprotected in the waves. The boat, which could be our best rescue chance, was at full throttle and heading out to sea. Most importantly, I definitely, definitely was not going to let that asshole live. I had to go after Raine immediately because she could drown in minutes, but I couldn’t leave him on the boat. There was only one option left. I jumped for him, grabbed him by his ponytail, thankful he had enough hair to form a tight grip, and leapt overboard with him in my grasp.
The boat continued to move at top speed out to sea.
Ponytail’s nails dug into the skin of my arm just above where I held him by the hair. I had to use the other arm to keep my head above water, searching the slow moving waves for a sign of Raine. I saw her about a hundred yards away, bobbing up and down in the currents. The shore was another thousand yards behind her.
Shit.
“Raine!” I screamed out at her and saw her turn in my direction. I wanted her to head towards me, not towards the shore like she would be inclined to do. I needed her with me. I had to have her close where I could touch her and know she was safe.
I kept the hand holding the half-drowned bastard under the waves, feeling his struggles subside. I wasn’t going to be able to kill him the way I wanted to – slowly and painfully. It was going to have to be fast so I could get Raine back to shore.
I pulled Ponytail up closer to me, his head above the waves again as I swam towards Raine. She was doing well, treading water and keeping herself afloat. I wished I had my knife on me so I could at least cut the bastard I was holding. I looked back to his face, and he spat seawater at me.
I swirled in the water and brought the fucker up close to me as he struggled to get out of my grasp. I grabbed one of the loops on his jeans and brought his torso up close to mine and then brought my knee up quickly, crushing his balls up into his body. He yelled and started thrashing around in the water. With a quick jerk of my neck, I nailed his nose with my forehead, and blood started gushing into the water. I shoved him back underneath the waves and started swimming to Raine again.
The hands gripping my arm became more desperate, clawing at my skin for a minute before the movements slowed and then stopped. I shook the bastard by his hair once and then let him go. He didn’t resurface but slowly sank into the waves. I resisted the urge to drag him back to shore, resuscitate him, and then beat his ass more thoroughly.
It took several more minutes, but eventually I reached out and felt the skin of Raine’s arm. She immediately wrapped both arms around my neck and held on as tight as she could.
“Loosen up a little, baby,” I said. I grabbed her waist under the water and held her against me for a moment before moving her to my back. “Hold on tight, but let me breathe, okay?”