Page 2 of Beneath the Surface

Yup, his dad was cussing, and he never cussed. He was in so much trouble. As he swam toward his dad and the guide, he decided not to tell them what happened. They’d think he made it up to avoid getting in trouble.

It was only then he remembered he hadn’t been afraid of drowning.

THE SUN pounded down on his shoulders. The fact he wore a black dive shirt wasn’t helping matters, but there was no way he was taking it off. Apparently the bite wasn’t as deep as he first thought since he wasn’t seeing blood all over himself.

He took a deep breath, and the tang of salt in the air stung his swollen lips. Gentle waves rocked their boat—just another day on the ocean, right? Unfortunately that couldn’t disguise the horror he’d faced earlier. White sand beaches and hot, sunny weather—what better way to spend a vacation, right?Right?

Wrong.

“Kannon Michel Thomas!” Charles, his dad, sat on the floor of the boat glaring at him. “Do you have any idea how badly you scared me?”

Bet you weren’t as scared as me.Everyone in a five-mile radius knew how badly he’d scared his old man because he resorted to using his full name.His full name. He was eighteen for God’s sake, and his old man used his whole name. His life was over.

“Why? What possessed you to go that far out?” His dad folded his arms over his chest.

“I’m sorry, Dad.” Kannon flopped back on the deck. Time to face the music. “I didn’t mean to. I thought I saw some interesting rock formations and—”

“And you just had to investigate. I get that, but in the meantime you scared ten years off my life. We’ve had the talk about being safe while snorkeling years ago. Do we need to go over it again? One minute you were close by and the next you were just gone.”

Kannon looked down blinking steadily.

Sighing, Charles hugged Kannon. “Okay, okay. I’m sorry I yelled. I was terrified when I couldn’t find you.”

Oh man, his dad must have thought he was on the verge of tears. Actually, he really was, but not for the reason his dad thought. Kannon wrapped his arms around his dad, hugged hard, and then backed off. How uncool would it be if someone actually saw him hugging his dad—even if the old man needed the hug? Hell, who was he kidding? He knew he needed it too.

“I know, Dad, I’m really sorry. I didn’t realize I’d gotten that far out.” Well okay, that wasn’t exactly true. He had totally planned to sneak off. He’d just gotten more than he bargained for.

“There are sharks, and jellyfish, and… and other things out there that can kill you.” His dad rubbed his shaved head. “I know you love the water, but the ocean can be deadly.”

Dude, you have no idea.Kannon shaded his eyes and squinted at his dad. “Please don’t be upset with me. You’re right. I shouldn’t have gone so far off.” Yup, now he felt lower than a sea slug’s belly.

“You’re a teenage boy, of course you didn’t think.” His dad lightly ruffled Kannon’s wet hair. “I might have gotten a little upset when I couldn’t find you, and maybe I overreacted a little bit. Just promise me you won’t go out so far tomorrow. As tempted as I am to restrict you to the resort’s pool area, I won’t.”

Kannon fought to hide the horror he felt. “Oh, ah, I thought we were going sightseeing tomorrow.” The last thing he wanted was to go back in the ocean.

“Well, we can if that’s what you want. Tell you what. We’ll talk about it over dinner. I imagine all that exploring has got you hungry.”

Kannon scooted over to where his dad sat. All he wanted was to get off the water and back to their bungalow. “Yeah, I could eat a whale.”

His dad’s sharp crack of laughter echoed over the boat. “Boys,” he mumbled. “Hollow from the toes up.”

Before the boat motor started, Kannon could’ve sworn he heard what sounded like an angry slap of a tail against the water. He wasn’t tempted to look. Nope, not even remotely. He was terrified of what might be looking back at him. Trepidation licked along his spine.

His mind still questioned what he’d seen while under the waves, but his lips stung from the kisses, and his shoulder ached where that, that… thing bit him. Good thing his dark dive shirt covered the mark. His old man would’ve had a cow if he’d seen his shoulder.

What would he have told his dad?Oh that? That mark? Well see, this merman came out of nowhere, dry humped me, then bit me. Excuse me while I binge on raw seafood. Don’t my scales look extra scaly today? Sorry my fin got in your way. Will this shirt go with my gills? I’ll be flopping around in my room if you need me. Oh, and how was your day?

What he saw just couldn’t exist, could it? His growling stomach shoved all thoughts out of his head. Well, almost all thoughts. It stood to reason his close call would’ve taught him something, and it did.

Stay away from the ocean.

CHAPTER ONE

FIFTEENYEARSLATER

KANNON WALKED through the old, run-down house one last time then shut off the lights. He’d buried his dad that morning, and now this chapter of his life was over. After locking the front door, he strolled down the sidewalk that stretched in front of his childhood home. He and his dad had grown apart ever since he developed a fear of the water.

His dad never did understand Kannon’s sudden phobia of the ocean. When he asked about it, Kannon refused to talk about why he felt that way. He had to give the old man credit, though. He’d tried. The fear got worse after he left for college.

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