KIERAN’S POV
The wave closed over Sera, and for a heartbeat, I froze.
One second, she was laughing—her hair whipped back, her hands clumsy but determined on the board—and the next, the ocean swallowed her whole.
“Sera!” My voice tore from my chest, ragged, but the sea didn’t care.
Daniel’s scream was sharper, higher-pitched. “Mom!”
I dove without thinking, cutting into the water like instinct. The salt burned my eyes, but none of it mattered.
I’d always trusted the sea—it was familiar, dependable, steady. But in that moment, it felt like an enemy, dragging Sera down, greedy for her.
When I found her, her hair was streaming like dark ribbons around her face, her eyes closed, her limbs slack. Too still. Too quiet.
The sight carved into me with the precision of a surgical blade.
No. Not Sera. Not like this.
