Page 11 of Depths of Desire
And then Nico is there, pulling me up, his grip unrelenting.
I cough, gasping. "What did you do that for?"
“Swim, princess. Swim as fast as you can, or we’re going to get sucked under when the ship goes down.”
There’s another large explosion. I let out a yell as fire shoots from the gaping hole on the side of the ship.
“Swim!” Nico yells.
He doesn’t have to tell me again. I start swimming for all I’m worth.
CHAPTER FOUR
Every instinct in me screams to scoop her up and fly to land, to put as much distance between us and the wreckage as possible. But I can’t. That would mean giving away my secret, and if there’s one thing I know for sure, it’s this—we never give away our secret. My brothers would kill me.
I glance back at the dying ship.
Flames lick hungrily through the massive hole that was blown in the hull. The boat is being devoured from the inside out. The ship groans, her frame buckling under the weight of water flooding in through gaping wounds. There’s no telling how many holes are in her, but it’s enough. She’s going down.
I turn back to Luna. She’s pushing herself hard, arms slicing through the water with determined strokes, but she’s not fast enough. The ship behind us lets out another tortured, metallic wail, and then—Boom! Another explosion erupts, this time partially underwater. I know exactly what’s coming.
Without hesitation, I wrap myself around Luna, my body a shield against the force of the blast. The shockwave slams into us, the impact ripping through my muscles like they were tissue paper. The water surges, a rolling force that knocks the breathfrom my lungs. For a split second, everything is silent. Then I realize—Luna is gone.
Under me.
Underwater.
Sharp, electric panic surges, and frantically, I reach down, grab her, and yank her to the surface. She bursts up, coughing, sputtering, gasping for air.
“What the hell was that?” she demands, water streaming down her face.
“Another explosion.”
She coughs some more and then croaks, “And what? You thought it was a good opportunity to drown me?”
I don’t even have the energy to argue. My body is still healing from that blast. It’ll take me another minute or two before I’m back to full strength. Instead of answering, I just wave her forward.
She glares at me but keeps going. Always so damn stubborn.
A moment later, I join her, putting an arm around her to help her along. I just hope she doesn’t notice how fast we’re going.
Finally, I slow us down. Flames reflect off the dark waves, and I turn to look at the ship. It’s bad. Fire is pouring from the parts of the hull not submerged, and I know the oil is leaking into the water. It could easily spread, and then we’ll be swimming in flames.
"Why are we stopping?" Luna asks, her voice thin from exertion. "Do we have to swim all the way to land? I won’t be able to do that."
"No, Luna," I tell her." I have someone coming to pick us up. Just tread water for a minute. Can you do that?"
She gives me a look. "Of course I can tread water." She’s staring at the ship, her expression tight with confusion. "Why would someone blow it up?"
I don’t answer. Because I’ve been wondering the same damn thing. God only knew what the cargo was—both the legal and the not-so-legal, including my family’s contraband. I did not look forward to telling Renzo that we lost an entire shipment of blood. He was going to be beyond angry. This was the first shipment to new clients. A good-faith shipment that was meant to cement our business relationship. That relationship was currently going down along with the ship.
Still, any number of people could have had a reason to take that ship out, including our competitors in the blood trade. Although blowing the ship up was reckless, if that’s who it was. The last thing anyone wanted to do was bring attention to the fact that vampires and all manner of magickal creatures existed. Destroying the cargo vessel was way too public. There had to be something else on that ship. Something that somebody wanted gone.
Then I hear it. Sirens. I glance toward the horizon. Fireboats. Emergency responders. They’re closing in fast. We need to get out of here. The last thing I want is to be picked up and thrown into a mess of questions I don’t want to answer.
I check my watch. Where the hell is my ride?
Nico.
