The sudden force knocked my feet out from under me. My center of gravity broke apart in an instant, and my body pitched backward. Behind me there was nothing but open water, black and infinite.
In the chaos of falling, instinct seized my hands. Hazel Ashford hadn't expected it. My fingers locked around her wrist.
The next second, we both plunged into the sea.
Two splashes and a scream shattered the banquet's calm. Shouts erupted across the deck, overlapping, frantic.
"Someone's fallen overboard!"
The cold hit me like a wall of iron. The sea swallowed me whole. I couldn't swim. I could only thrash, clawing my way above the surface for half a breath before the churning waves dragged me back under.
Suffocation and terror blanked my mind. Nothing remained but the animal drive to survive.
"Help... help me..."
When I fought my way to the surface again, I finally heard two bodies hit the water nearby.
My vision had already blurred, but I still recognized them. Sylvia Nightfang. And Hazel Everett.
In that moment, a small, fragile flame of hope lit inside my chest.
Then I watched them swim toward Hazel Ashford.
From the deck above came Hazel Sterling's frantic voice, pitched almost like a command.