Page 111 of Cathmoir's Sons

He hugs me back and tucks his face against mine, sniffing my neck. “Your scent grows richer every day. Kellan, are you sure it’s safe for you to dive while you’re kittering?”

I nod. “The pressurization spells are for Arch, mainly. Rachel and I learned how to protect ourselves against depressurization when we were diving for Sagoru’s statue. It’s a manipulation of Air, the same as when we fly at high altitudes?—”

“I guessed that. It’s where I was going to start researching.”

“I’ll point you in the right direction. Arch is too paranoid to let any of us cast enchantments on him, particularly something that changes his blood.”

Luca scoffs. “Dick. Why have him on the dives at all?”

I shrug and nestle closer to him, enjoying his warmth. “It’s his team. He brought us together to start with. I don’t want to oust him from his own team. I know he can be arrogant but he’s actually a very powerful Fire mage. Extremely strong offensively and good enough on defense that he can shield the entire team. None of the rest of us can do that.”

“I bet you could now,” Luca says.

I squeeze him. Loyal consort. “Maybe. Strategy isn’t his best thing. I could tell you weren’t impressed during the meeting. He’s better out in the field.”

Luca grunts. “I’ll reserve judgment. Now that Rho’s back, will you let him dive with you?”

“Yes, absolutely. If he wants to, that is.”

“He will.”

Rhodes does wantto dive with us, which makes for some friction with Arch, and even more friction with Law. My Cait stalks back and forth over the rocks with the red and white pylon framed dramatically against the sky behind him.

“I can smell something,” he growls.

I can smell something, too. Testosterone. It’s even stronger than the ocean’s brine.

“Bullshit?” Rhodes suggests.

I shake my head and mouth “stop” at him before I turn back to Law.

“Does it smell like a threat?” I ask, trying to settle my consort enough that he lets us walk into the water. We’re all wearing full wetsuits, charmed by Arch against the water’s winter chill. Instead of snorkels, Arch, Val, and I clutch the scraps of parchment containing Viv’s gill spell. As we turn our heads, following Law’s path back and forth over the rocks, sunlight catches on an Air charm I’ve cast to protect our eyes from the salt water.

Law props his fists on his hips and grimaces at the horizon. “No. I’m not sure what it smells like. I’ve never smelled it before.”

“Join Danny where he’s monitoring us. You’ll be able to see us the whole time.”

Law nods and paces off to where Danny’s set up on the sands, the aether around him shimmering with a powerful combination of magic and wards to keep the magic from interfering with his five laptops and something that looks like a miniature satellite dish.

I pick up my bag from the rocks. Arch shoulders his. They contain the transponders that Danny and I have spent years developing and refining. These are waterproof versions. We’re carrying twenty in all but Danny’s hoping we’ll be able to cast a complete net with fifteen or less. It just depends on theunderwater topography and the magickal interference we find underwater. Man and mage have occupied this part of the world for thousands of years. There are layers of magic, particularly around a mount which Danny says lies just offshore.

Rhodes catches my free hand and nods at the waves hitting the shore with audible smacks. “Stay close on this first dive. There’s a countercurrent running along the shore. It’s a cold current which could break into whirlpools. Stay in reach of me.”

I nod. When the Water-mage says stay close, I stay close.

“Okay, grid’s up,” Danny calls. He frames a slice of ocean to the north between his arms. “Grid A-zero. That’s where we’re starting. If you can place transponders in A-one through A-three before the twenty minutes are up, you move west. I’ll zap you when you’re in position in case we lose contact.”

Danny shakes his wrist. He wears a string of Teddy’s beads, opaque with a pearly sheen. We all have matching strands around our wrists. They allow Danny to see and hear us. More importantly from Danny’s perspective, they allow him to deliver mild electric shocks via the beads. I’ve asked Teddy to remove that part of the enchantment a dozen times but she just laughed and said Danny promised her a lifetime of free antivirus updates to leave it in place.

With nods, we all stuff the scraps of paper from Viv into our mouths, chew and swallow. Then we wade into the foamy surf. I feel Viv’s spell take hold as my chest gets tight. I quicken my pace to get underwater. The countercurrent Rhodes mentioned is strong, tugging at my legs as I wade in up to my waist, then do a standing dive into the water. As the cold water slaps my face, flutters run up and down my neck. It feels like kisses. My head spins pleasantly as I kick my way deeper. My eyes adjust to the azure deeps. I turn my head from side to side, feeling the stretch and flex of the gills, and check my team. Rhodes swims almost lazily beside me, his long arms and legs sweeping through thewater. This probably isn’t even as strenuous as practice for him. Arch and Val swim off to my left. No one looks like they’re having any trouble with the gills. Viv does good Work.

The seabed below grows dotted with seaweed-covered rocks. Schools of small, pinkish fish dart around them. White corals stretch up from the sandy seabed, waving in the strong current.

Rhodes stretches out his hand and a golden line spins out from it. I grab onto the line with one hand, and he pulls strongly to the right, against the current. I realize it’s washing us away from our target zone and nod at Rhodes, grateful for his assistance.

We pass over huge mats of sea grass, growing in miniature forests. Yellow and orange striped-fish, larger than those near the shore, spiral over the tops of the sea grass like buzzards circling on updrafts.

The sea floor, which had dipped, begins to rise and we follow it up into lighter blue water. Huge fans of coral, rich crimson, sunset orange, bright pink, stretch up toward the light. I catch a hint of a longer, more muscular tail disappearing between two car-sized coral fans. It doesn’t look like a shark, though. The tail is visibly scaled and almost opalescent. I’m not aware of any pearly sharks. I point it out to Rhodes anyway, with a yank on the line. But the tail’s gone before Rhodes follows my pointing finger.

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