"Gonna cry?!" Nathan shouted after him. "'Run home and cry, baby!' Do you remember that?" He flung himself against the chains, moaning again. "Do you remember telling me that, Duke?!"

Duke ignored him. He made it to the end of the docks and sat abruptly, feet dangling over the edge as he curled in on himself and tried to breathe through the rush. The boards of the dock cracked under his fingers. If he had to get up right now, he'd take chunks of them with him.

Slowly, the rush subsided. And Duke was left with just his bruised throat and aching head, and Nathan screaming and taunting him from the other end of the dock.