The water was ice against his skin, but Wade ignored it and fought his way through the water. She was ahead of him. He could see her dark hair bobbing against the angry waves. Julianne was a surprisingly good swimmer, especially for someone who was essentially raised indoors. Wade could only suspect it was a magic of the isle, pulling Julianne to her fate.
He could not lose her.
He would not let her be another casualty to the changers.
He would not lose another woman he loved.
Not today, and not ever.
He knew this would kill him. This would be Wade’s final act. He would die trying to rescue Julianne. He would give up everything for her.
When he met her, he was instantly drawn to her. Attraction was an entirely different beast than love, though. Love wasn’t something he was capable of feeling anymore, but Julianne changed all of that.
She healed him.
And she had loved him.
He should have told her sooner, should have begged her to stay somewhere safe on this last part of the voyage, but he knew he could no sooner bear to leave Julianne than she could bear to be left. He needed to find the treasure, but he needed her more.
And he chose her.
He would drown today, lose his treasure, lose his life, but he would not lose Julianne. He would save her. He would rescue her.
And then he caught her.
His hand wrapped around her wrist. The storm raged, but the water seemed almost calm around Julianne. Wade turned toward the beach and saw what Julianne must be seeing: a group of beautiful women calling to her.
Julianne. Their voices seemed clear. Despite being able to physically see the storm, Wade noticed he could no longer hear it. He let go of Julianne’s wrist and the vision disappeared. When he grabbed her again, it reappeared, and he knew this was how the isle stole people.
The ghosts and spirits didn’t need to get in the water to catch people or to trap them. No, they only needed to make their island look better than the stormy seas, and they seemed to do a fine job of it. If Wade hadn’t been warned, he thought it might be easy to lose his head and try to make his way to the safety of the beach.
Only he had been warned.
And this was not his first pirate adventure.
“They aren’t real,” Wade said. Julianne ignored him and kept trying to swim toward the beach. Wade grabbed her by the waist and pulled in the opposite direction. This seemed to anger the spirits on the beach because they no longer appeared beautiful, but hideously deformed and upset.
Their gentle coaxing turned to screams, and Julianne began to cry.
“I’m sorry for this, love,” Wade said, as he realized the only way to keep Julianne from trying to swim was to hurt her. She could not be distracted from the spirits in this moment. They had already ensnared her. They had already taken her. Wade hit her on the head and felt her body sag in the water.
Immediately, the image from the beach disappeared and he could hear the full sounds of the ocean. The sea was an angry mistress as Wade turned back to the ship. He could barely see her flags, but he had promised he would save Julianne.
He would get her back to the ship.
He fought against the waves, kicking his way back to the ship. The water in Julianne’s clothes made her heavier than usual, and Wade struggled to stay above the surface of the water. Slowly, he made his way closer.
Closer.
Closer.
Rain poured from the sky and the waves crashed around him, but still, Wade swam. He still felt the tug of the isle’s magic, but the closer he got to The Dark Lovely, the freer he felt. He thought of Pepper’s words.
Stay off the beach.
And for the first time, Wade thought that maybe, just maybe, this wasn’t really a death sentence.
Maybe he could survive this. In fact, he was certain of it. He could save Julianne, he could rescue her, and they could be happy together. He wanted to be happy with her. He wanted to spend his life with her, wanted to give her the entire world.
He could do this, he suddenly thought. He was fierce, and he was strong. He was feared. What was a little storm against the likes of the Saucy Devil? He never should have doubted himself, never should have thought he couldn’t do it. He could do this. He could save Julianne.
He could save her, and he could save himself.
He took a deep breath and kept going.
It was the only choice he had.