A shadow drifted past the beam of his light, massive, smooth, deliberate. The shape circled once, silent and slow. The flick of a tail. Elias’s pulse hammered. Shark. He didn’t dare look again. He kicked upward, dragging the old man with him. The pressure crushed against his skull. The world began to dim around the edges.
Then a hand, Edwin’s, pressed a regulator against his lips. Elias inhaled once, desperate, the air searing down his throat like fire and ice all at once. They kicked together, legs burning, every stroke fueled by raw survival. The water above shimmered faintly, silver and unreachable.