As she pulled him onto the rocky shore that surrounded the bay, Aggie was certain that she was too late. She’d stayed away, but when she’d seen the blood, she knew she had to do something. He wouldn’t survive unless she intervened, and even now it looked like he still might not.
“Wake up,” she begged, making her voice as sweet and enticing as she could. She slapped his cold cheek gently as she cradled his head in her hands. “Oh, please, wake up. I didn’t mean for this to happen. I swear.”
Daniel leaned forward, coughing up sea water, and Aggie let out a sigh of relief. Not breathing may have been the biggest of his problems, but it definitely wasn’t the only one. The propeller had really done a number on him.
Both of his ears were bleeding, and he had a horrible gash running from just behind his right ear to the middle of the back of his skull. His shirt had been completely shredded in the back, and while Aggie hadn’t gotten a good look, she could see it was stained with his blood, and his shoulder was torn up.
“You’re okay, you’re gonna be okay,” Aggie promised him when his eyes opened.
Those were the same eyes that had locked on hers when she’d been in the water. She hadn’t seen the boat at all, not until it was too late and it was coming right for her. But as soon as Daniel saw her, he’d jerked the boat to the side, trying to save her.
And now he’d ended up like this because he’d wanted to protect her. She couldn’t leave him like this, even if that was what her sisters would want her to do. She refused to.
“John,” he whispered.
“What?” Aggie asked, leaning closer to hear him better.
“John,” he repeated, louder this time. “Where’s John?”
“I don’t know.” Aggie shook her head. “I don’t know who that is.”
“My brother.” Daniel coughed, and then tried to sit up. “I have to find my brother.”
“No, you can’t go back out there,” Aggie told him and pushed him back down. “You need to get help. You’ll die if you go back out in the water.”
She scanned the shore for the two girls he’d been with, but they were gone. Aggie had no idea where they had gone or how they’d left. Her attention had only really been focused on Daniel. Since he’d been the one to try to save her, she had to return the favor, but she didn’t owe the other passengers anything.
“John!” Daniel shouted, and he tried to push against her. “John!”
“John’s gone,” Aggie told him, speaking as firmly as she could. “He’s gone, okay? Now we need to save you.”
“No.” He fought Aggie, even though he barely had any strength and was trembling in her arms.
“Shh, okay? Just calm down,” Aggie said, making her voice lyrical, but he didn’t seem to notice. “Come now, weary traveler, I’ll lead you through the waves.”
Instead of calming down the way Aggie had thought he would, Daniel only became more fervent in his struggles. He grabbed the front of her dress, balling up the wet fabric in his hand, and stared up at her with a fresh intensity.
“Listen to me, I have to find him. He’s my only brother, and it was my fault,” Daniel said, his voice cracking as he spoke. “I crashed the boat, and I can’t lose him. Please. You have to help me.”
“I’ll help you,” Aggie said, brushing his hair back from his forehead. “What’s your name?”
“What?” he asked.
“What’s your name?” she asked again, louder this time.
“Daniel.”
“Daniel.” She took a deep breath, still stroking his hair. “You’re dying, and I have to get you out of here. We can’t help your brother. He didn’t make it. But none of this is your fault, okay? You didn’t do anything wrong.”
He stared at her, his expression unchanged, with his fist still balled up, and for a minute she thought he hadn’t heard her. Then a single tear slid from his eye.
“We need to get out of here,” Aggie said again.
She stood up and tried to help him to his feet, but Daniel was either unable or unwilling to stand. When she tried to take a step with him, he tumbled back down on the rocks.
“Leave me,” Daniel said when she crouched down next to him. His eyes were pleading with her. “Leave me here to die.”
And she actually considered it. She’d done her part. She’d pulled him from the water, and if he wanted to be left here, that was his problem. Even helping this much had already put her at risk.
Aggie had been gone for a few days, so her sisters would be looking for her soon, and it would bring all kinds of unwanted questions if they discovered her in Capri. And if she actually answered their questions, it would mean the end of her. They would destroy her if they knew what she was up to.
Until this, she’d been doing so well, doing her best to stay below the radar everywhere she went. She’d only planned on being here a couple hours, not long enough to leave any kind of trace for her sisters to find. Right after she had spoken to the witch, she’d meant to leave, but the full moon had made the night swim too enticing, and she couldn’t resist.
And now she was in this mess. Aggie should be moving on instead of helping some boy, but she couldn’t bring herself to leave him. She didn’t want any more people to die because of her.
“I can’t leave you,” she said finally. “But I have no idea what I’m going to do with you.”
With or without his consent, Aggie was determined to save him. Daniel had apparently gone into some kind of shock, and she had to pick him up, because he wasn’t moving.
If she wanted to save him, she would need someone else to help her, but who did she know in Capri?