As soon as the shark passed,Val started kicking again, swimming for thecage. When she saw Terrance climbing inside, she felt a wash of reliefand maybe even disbelief. They'd actually survived. It was going to be a greatstory. It was going to make for great footage if Gary managed to get any of it.
Val was so close to the cage.So close to this being one of those great close calls.
She almost didn't see Kajsa coming from underneath. Her white belly gleamed whenit reached the stretches of light and gave her away in that last second.
She heardFelix shout. Not "babe" like when he wasworried or afraid, but this time it was her name. Her wholename. And it sounded like the last time she would ever hear it.
Kajsa struckher from beneath, and all Val felt was the slam of the shark's weight against her. She didn't feel teeth. Thebrutal force of the shark's body drove her to the surface. For one horrible moment, Val was airborne but not alone.The sky shone blue, and the sun glared brightly. The water flailedthrough the air by Kajsa's lashing tail, dropletsglimmering like stars.
The giant shark twisted in theair and came down with Val.
And then she was alone.
Shecouldn't move. She wasn't even sure she was breathing. She bobbed justbelow the surface, looking down at the deep and at Kajsa'sdisappearing shadow. The shark drifted deeper and deeper, farther away fromVal, and all she could wonder was, why? Why would she leave when she finallyhad her? All those years of watching each other. Allthose years of Kajsa studying their cages and gettingcloser and closer. She finally had Val, stunned and drifting like deadwood inthe sea, and she swam away.
Val slowly started sinking,drawn downward like debris. She told herself to kick, to move, to lift her headand find the boat, but she couldn't.
A cloud of red gathered aroundher, wispy at the edges where it faded intothe blue but sickly thick all around her body. She watched that reduntil the sun blinded her. Her back landedon the surface of the boat, and she finally felt the weight of gravitybearing down on her. Felix pulled off her mask and held her face in his hands.His palms were so warm against her cheeks. He said that she was going to beokay over and over again. Val wanted to nod, but she couldn't. When he had tolet go of her to do something else, she turned her head to the side and saw howmuch thicker that red looked splattering the deck.
"You're going to beokay," Felix said again, cupping her cheek to turn her head up so that shecould only see him and the sky.
Val watched him until she lostconsciousness, but even when she blackedout, she could still hear the waves smacking against the sides of theboat. She still heard the waves in the hospital, and sometimes now, yearslater, when she closes her eyes, no matter how far inland she might be, shestill hears those waves.
Chapter 2
More than three years later,and not for the first time by a long shot,Val was on another boat in the ocean. She watched the sun come up overthe blue horizon rather than looking at the island behind her. They weren't farfrom land, but she was more than happy to stay on the boat. The sky changedcolors over the sea. She'd seen it happen atleast a thousand times, the dark shades of night giving way in slowfolds to light through waves of pink and orange. It never got old.
Thecoffee cup in her right hand passed to the left, sharing warmth between palmsand digits. Kajsa had taken a chunk out ofher left hand, leaving Val with three fingers and a thumb but no pinky and aparticularly ugly scar trailing up her forearm. Sometimes, when changing, shetook a moment to bend her arm in just the right way so that the scars lined up over her hand, forearm, upper arm, and back. All those teeth, like razors through herskin, and yet somehow the shark only took a pinky. Kajsamanaged to break a number of bones and teara lot of flesh. Even after theyhealed, the bruises gone and the stitches removed, the scars stilllooked gruesome—thick, puckered flesh in pale, jagged lines twisting around herbody.
She heardJulie practically skip onto deck behind her, deeply breathing the ocean air as though for the first time. Valtook another drink of coffee to hide her amusement. Even when they were kids, Julie had been a morning person. Up at dawn and happy about it. Val, on the other hand,reserved all enthusiasm for after eight.
Julie bumped into her onpurpose and then promptly stole the mug from her hands. She wore a blue cableknit sweater and had her brown hair in a messy bun. When they were kids, they looked nothingalike—different noses, different heights—and yet, somehow it had allevened out over the years. On more than oneoccasion, Julie and Valarie convinced friends that they were twins incollege.
Val pushed up the sleeves ofher hoodie just as the sun finally peeked over the horizon to spread out overthe surface of the water. She could hear thecrew stirring down below and aparticularly large grumble about creamer that had to have been Julie'sfiancé, Zach. They had met in the rainforests of Peru. Julie had been therewith a group of other biologists to look fornew species and take samples while Zach had been there as a wildlifephotographer. Love at first sight, it seemed, or, as Val liked to say, loveat first bug bite.
Julie haddragged Val into the rainforest once, and that had been enough. She'd only managed to get her along on this tripby promising that Val wouldn't have to step foot on the island. She'd even made Julie write it into her contractwith the channel they were filming for just so there couldn't be anymisunderstandings.
Val turned to look at hersister.
