Page 12 of Depths of Desire
My brother’s voice echoes in my head. Shit. I forgot about the meeting.
Renzo, I answer telepathically.Can’t talk now. I’ll explain later.
Are you all right?Renzo’s concern hits me.
Remains to be seen,I say.I’ll tell you later.
Do you need help?
I hesitate. If I tell them what’s going on, it’s going to expose us to a whole new problem.
Not yet, I stall him.But I’ll let you know.
Okay. Standing by.
I look back at Luna. The adrenaline is wearing off. Her lips are pinched and slightly blue. The water isn’t freezing, but after this long? It’ll start pulling the warmth from her bones.
"Come here."
She blinks at me, her body drifting slightly with the waves. "What?"
"Just come here."
She takes a few hesitant strokes toward me, wary.
"What are you doing?" she demands.
"You’re getting cold. I want you to hold onto me."
Her expression twists. "I don’t need your help."
Always a fight.
"Luna, it’s okay. I got you."
She hesitates, then whispers, "Yeah, but I don’t want to drown you. Then I’ll be stuck out here by myself."
I smirk. "You’re not going to drown me."
Her eyes narrow. "More of your ‘special skills’?"
I grin. "As a matter of fact, yes. Just hold onto me."
She huffs out an annoyed breath, but gives in. She wraps her arms around me, and the second she does, her body relaxes completely. She’s exhausted. Dead weight.
She stares at the sinking ship as more emergency boats arrive. Voices call out over the chaos. “Do you think everyone got off okay?" she asks.
I don’t answer right away. Because I know the truth. "Sure," I say.
She looks me dead in the eye. "No, you don’t."
I sigh. "You’re right. I don’t." I keep treading water. The chances of everyone making it off that ship unscathed? Slim to none. Someone set those explosions on purpose, meaning they wanted something—or someone—taken out, and that was a helluva lot of effort for one person. So, my money was on cargo. If someone wanted to take out the cargo that badly, thensomeone else was probably protecting it. They would’ve had men all around it. So no, people weren’t getting off that tub alive. It’s quite possible some of them were already dead before the explosions even started. How else would the bomber get the explosives where they could do the most damage?
I scan the water. If someone on board rigged all that up, then they would be out here treading water, too, waiting to be picked up. The urge to swim all the way to shore intensifies as unease settles around me.
Luna looks around. "Maybe they’re on the other side? Maybe we just can’t see them?"
Startled I ask, "Maybe what’s on the other side?" Was she reading my mind?
