He thought of Huck. In danger. He’d never be able to become the man he was destined to be.

Mackenzie and Ahab. Forest would never get the chance to redeem himself for lying to them.

They rounded the edge of the bay, where waves beat against tall pinnacle rocks. Davey had gone quiet again – he could’ve been made of stone, and Forest of crumbling sand. Everything faded in and out. Terror . . .

And just like that, it was gone. He imagined himself far away, floating above it all.

Here, at the end of all things, down in the deep. Death.

Without warning, Davey changed course, veering towards the base of the cliffs. But then Forest could see it – a small archway above the rolling water.

Davey slowed the engine and they pottered into the cavern. The sounds of the motor echoed back off the jagged edges of the cave and the plane of the water. He threw a loop of rope over a rock, drew it tight, and then pulled his lifejacket on. He grabbed Forest by the back of his collar and leapt into the water.

Forest struggled under water, wrenched back into his own body. The cold water had woken something in him. Davey wasn’t simply going to drown him; whatever he was doing would be much worse.

Davey swam into a smaller tunnel, once again dragging him, gripping rocks to pull himself along. Kelp tickled Forest’s legs and he screamed.

‘Me and Mackerel used to come here,’ said Davey conversationally. ‘At high tide, this place is submerged. There’s heaps of these little mermaid grottos. We figured it’s where the sirens used to live.’

Light was fading the deeper they went. Water occasionally filled the entire space, pushing his head against the ceiling and covering Forest’s mouth and nose. Davey didn’t panic – whenever the waves filled the cave, he took a breath and let the space fill, then when it pulled back he’d continue swimming on as normal. Forest had to do the same the further along they went, the cave growing narrower and narrower, kelp on all sides, squeezing and constricting. It was now completely dark ahead, but from the sounds of the water, they had emerged into a larger space.

‘Jesse found this place originally. As a kid I thought he was reckless. Now, I think he was suicidal.’ Forest could see nothing anymore, and Davey’s seemingly disembodied voice echoed all around him. ‘He was the first to swim in here. Scuba gear, of course. I came along a few times after that. Mackerel, once. Jesse could always get me to do things I didn’t want to. Mackerel thought he had it rough? Getting picked on by his brothers? At least nothing Jesse did to him was as dangerous as what he’d get me to do.’

He slowed and fiddled with Forest’s bonds, freeing his arms.