Seb saw Jem flailing and leapt into the water, but as soon as he got near Jem, the boy threw his arms around his neck and they both went under. Seb pushed the grasping hands away and dealt him a sharp blow across the face, and before Jem could react, he grabbed him by the collar and started towing him toward the dockside.

“Kick your legs,” he ordered harshly.

Georgie let out a sob of relief as Seb managed to drag the flailing boy to the set of wooden steps and haul him out of the water, coughing and spluttering.

Jem’s mishap had distracted her from the commotion in the warehouse. She turned, searching frantically for Benedict through the choking smoke that was now billowing out of the double doors.

“Get going!” Seb shouted. He raced down the side of the wharf to the wooden gates that opened out onto the main body of the river and started turning the handle. The iron cogs groaned against the press of the incoming tide, but the gates gradually opened and a swirl of brown water swept in, making the little vessel pitch and toss.

Georgie grabbed the knife in her boot and hacked through the rope that restrained the sub. She saw Alex drop through the side window of the warehouse and stagger down the alley, and then Benedict lumbered onto the gangway.

The sub had already floated to the middle of the dock, out of reach, drawn by the irresistible pull of the tide. Benedict shook his head and sent her a teasing smile across the eddying water that separated them. He cupped his hands around his mouth. “Where do you think you’re going?”

Before she could tell him that she had no way of steering the vessel any closer, he stripped off his jacket, tossed it aside, and waded down the jetty into the water. “Bloody hell, that’s cold!”

“What are you doing, you imbecile?” she screeched.

He ignored her, and when the water was up to his thighs, he launched himself forward and began to swim toward her with strong, athletic strokes. When he reached the side of the vessel, he caught the dangling end of rope and hauled himself up. Georgie grabbed the back of his breeches and tugged until he landed, panting and sodden, on the deck. His formidable build seemed to take up most of the available space.

He rolled over onto his back and let out a breathless groan that was half laugh, half pain. “No adventures without me, Mrs. Wylde. Is that understood?”

She sent him a chiding frown for doing something so risky.

“Now, how do we sail this thing?”