“Adira, come on!” Hawken shouted up to her as the waves crashed against the boat. Moments earlier he had sliced the ropes that held the rowboat to the side of the larger vessel Adira was standing on. He had then jumped into the waves and hauled himself into the small rowboat.

“Is now a bad time to tell you that I’m deathly afraid of the ocean?” Adira called down to her partner. She could see him slap his forehead and drag his fingers down his face.

“You’re Adira Sae, otherwise known as the shadow, greatest assassin on the entire continent. You fear no man and laugh in the face of death. You’ve gone head to head with the deadliest of people, AND YET YOU’RE SCARED OF WATER,” Hawken demanded, his voice almost drowned out by the wind that ripped her hair out of its braid and blew it into her face. She pulled her hair back again, using her spare elastic to put it in a ponytail.

The sound of shouting was getting louder, which meant the men they had knocked out were waking up, and wouldn’t be happy to see their boss dead, his head separated from his shoulders.

Shit. Shit. Shit.

“ADIRA JUST JUMP, I PROMISE I’LL PULL YOU UP THE MOMENT YOU HIT THE GODS DAMNED WATER, JUST JUMP,” Hawken pleaded. The rowboat rocked on the waves that were getting almost as tall as Hawken. He was knocked to his knees and had to grab hold of the side to keep from falling out.

Shit. Shit. Shit.

It was either jump and probably get eaten by some deep sea monster, or suffer a long and painful death at the hands of ten angry men who were much larger than her. The odds were never in her favor, it seamed. Adira took a few steps back, forcing herself to breath, to think happy thoughts. The banging was even louder now. They were going to break through the door at any minute. So, she ran to the edge and jumped, squeezing her eyes shut. Moments later, ice cold water swallowed her. Before she could think of swimming to the surface, Hawken’s strong arms were hooked under hers and hauling her up and over the side.

“I am *never* going to shut up about this. I’ll joke about it for the rest of time,” he grinned. Adira responded with a quick punch to the gut. He made a surprised sound but recovered quickly, chuckling to himself.