By Chance (Accidentally In Luck #1)

43. Love and Death - Cora

*Cora*

Dark didn't even begin to cover it. As soon as I felt Toro throw me, I knew I needed as much breath as possible and to keep my eyes shut no matter what. Theo was coming, I knew, but it wasn't going to be fast.

I heard the splash above me as I waited in the void of water under the dock and then a muffled scream of my name came shortly after. I couldn't yell back for fear of breath, but I made as much sound with my mouth closed as possible and luckily it worked, and I felt his hands on me. They cupped my cheek before tracing down my body to my feet where I could feel the ropes digging in as my body tried to float and the blocks didn't.

E's fingers traced the ropes for a second before his hands were back on my cheeks and I felt his lips touch mine briefly before he was gone.

Darkness once again pressed in around me as I realized this could be it. I might die right here, right now. In the dark, in the water under a dock somewhere off the shore of LA. Somehow, it didn't feel quite real. Sure, I felt the water and the air expiring in my lungs, but it was distant from me. It was like I was watching it in a movie. I could picture myself in the water, hair floating everywhere, cheeks puffed out with air, saltwater stinging the cuts from my earlier beating, but it wasn't really me.

I floated, every now and then swaying with the waves that were crashing against the deck above.

I contemplated letting the unconsciousness that's been constantly hovering in the back of my mind thanks to Dante take over again but decided against it. If I really was going to die right now, I was going to do it with Theo with me. All I had to do was wait just a little longer and he'd be back.

I was proven right as just a few moments later I once again felt his hand on my shoulder. I felt him grab my hand and gently press something cold and metal against it. I felt a sharp edge and suddenly everything was right in front of me again. I didn't feel distant from myself anymore, I could feel the stale air in my lungs starting to burn and the ropes digging in painfully and the salt invading my many cuts. Somehow all the pain made me even happier. I knew that as long as I was in pain, I was still alive.

For now.

As I felt the knife against my fingers, I realized that maybe, just maybe, I was going to get out of this.

I pulled my hand away from the knife and pushed him down as best as I could, hoping he got the message to just cut the damn ropes already.

I felt the water shift in front of me as he sunk to my feet and within seconds, I felt my left foot be freed from its block, then the right, and I was floating up.

Theo's arm wrapped around my waist and he propelled us up like I couldn't do.

Not a minute later, I felt air on my face and gasped in a breath. I reached up and gingerly wiped the water from my eyes. I opened them and was never happier to see Theo Archer in front of me. "Theo," I said and hugged him as hard as I dared with my hurt ribs.

"Oh, my God. Cora. You're alright," he responded, his voice hoarse as he hugged me back carefully, stroking my wet and tangled hair back from my face.

I managed a chuckle as he started dragging me towards the shore. "'Alright' might be a bit of a stretch, but I'm alive," I gasped, and it was true. Every inch of me hurt, but I was still breathing.

Theo helped drag me out of the water and to my feet where I swayed dangerously but managed to stay upright. He then wrapped one arm around me for support and held the knife out in front of him by way of protection.

Only then did I realize what being thrown in the water had made me miss. There was a full out war going on in front of me. Left, right, and center people were fighting. There were knives out and punching being thrown, and I couldn't focus on one thing at a time because there was too much movement for my concussed brain to follow.