Away in a Tentacle Lair

1. Leo

Chapter one

Leo

I step from the waves, water clinging to my naked torso, giving all the girls on the beach an eyeful; it's a shame I get nothing from looking back.

My heart belongs to the ocean.

It has been ever since I first played with the sea life animal toys at preschool.

Oh, and I'm gay, but that fact gets less sympathy from the girls I'm waving at.

I'm a tall, sexy male; all ladies swoon for these guns. But what I want is a tiny man whose life revolves around me and listening to my endless sea adventures.

I won't find that in Seaspray Cove; chances are, I won't find that anywhere. But I'm only here for the sun and the convention. It's nice to be a million miles from the dreary cold Christmases I'm used to, but I miss being around my family at this time of year.

Nothing says Christmas like an empty hotel room.

It's just this once, and the career opportunities this conference will open up for me will make my next year phenomenal.

“Ocean Research Convention. Be there, ladies, gonna have lots of freebies up for grabs.” I've seen all the car stickers being shipped in, but my wink suggests other things might be on offer.

Whatever gets them through the door, right?

I grab my towel and give my skin a quick rub down before gathering my belongings and heading up the beach to my hotel. There is something fundamentally wrong about a warm and sunny day when Christmas songs are playing in the bar, and yet there is something magical about it all.

After a quick shower in my hotel room, I'm heading out to the marine research centre. It's a chaotic mess of people preparing for the exhibition, but my pass gets me in all areas. Waving it under the guard's nose gets me access to the back rooms where all the fun stuff happens.

I'm putting in the hours here because I'm not wasting a second of this experience and because I'm keen to snag the only job going in this place in a year. Sure, the odds are against me succeeding, but I'm looking at the diving opportunities beyond this that are appearing on the horizon.

I'm going to be rich and famous, giving me the pick of guys willing to be mine.

I head to the back room where The microscope waits. My little lab is set up in a row of others, where I can study everything found in Seaspray Cove during my dives.

The coral samples from around the rock face are the most amazing I have seen in the world. All the interview hopefuls have been told that a species of animal tends the coral, caring for it almost like a farm. If I can work out what it is, the jobs are in the bag.

Clicking the dial, I increased the magnification to maximum. Whatever creature is maintaining this coral is thorough. It must have dextrous appendages or a mouth. Even at this level, the comb is unharmed.

“Well, it's not a parrot fish.” Another scientist walks past.

I won't deny having a list going—everything that has been ruled out is listed—but honestly, we're running out of options. I won't give up, though. We still have another two days, and I am determined to make it to the inner circle of this research centre or at least try my hardest.

In a moment of frustration, I step away from the microscope. The answer isn't in there; it is only in the details.

I flick off the light illuminating my slide and head out of the research centre. The microscope stations were allocated to all job prospects, but I'd like to know if it is just a ruse. The answer to the secrets of life beneath the waves is out there in the water; that is where I need to look for it.

Less than five minutes later, I'm heading back out, only this time I'm in full scuba gear. It's getting colder at this time of day, but the dipping temperature might bring out another creature I've not seen before.

Soon, I'm sinking beneath the waves, where the rush of the city no longer pulls at me. This is where I love to be. If only I could breathe under here, I could stay here forever.

When I swim around into the bay, I become aware of someone else in the water. Another man is swimming ahead of me through the coral in nothing but swimming trunks. He must be freezing, but without an oxygen tank, it also means he's free diving. We're only a few metres under the surface, but he must return to the surface every few minutes to breathe.

Even as I'm thinking of it, he turns and heads up for a lungful of air before coming right back down. When he descends, he sees me, and for a moment we stare into each other's eyes. He's wearing a mask over his eyes but nothing more. Not even a pair of flippers. I maintain eye contact for an awkward length of time, hoping when he returns to the surface I can follow and ask if he is a local. He may know a thing or two about the coral's caretaker.

He breaks eye contact and starts swimming away, staying underwater. Despite my mouthpiece delivering oxygen, I hold my breath, testing my lung capacity against his. I follow as he heads around the rocks, intrigued by his presence.

He doesn't seem so intrigued by me, heading into the shallower water to escape me. I am not so easily deterred, and not just because the guy is hot with great lung capacity but also because he might know the secret of the reef.

“Hey, wait a sec,” I garble my first words as I spit out my mouthpiece. We're in waist-deep water now, and walking is quicker at this point.

“Stop following me,” he yells back.

“My name is Leo.” I must convince him I'm not a threat stalking him through the sea. “I work at the research centre...” Technically. “And I was wondering if I could ask you a quick question?”

“I don't have anything to do with the research centre,” he replies, reaching for a dark bag abandoned on the sand.

“Please, just one question.” I turn away as he starts towelling himself off. Speed is more important to him than modesty, and the shorts come off. “It's about the creatures living in the reef. I wonder if you know what lived down there.”

“Sorry, I can't help you.” He's half-dressed now. The naked peeks of skin in the evening light are over, and part of me is a little sad. The part of me that should be shrivelled from the cold but has found enough blood to stand to attention.

It gets harder still as the diver boy puts on his outer layer of leather pants and biker jacket—not the biker gang leathers, but the kind that hold your body together when you crash at 200 miles an hour. I don't bother following him up the beach; my attention is clearly not wanted, but I listen out for the purr of his bike at the top.

God, what a purr.

Obviously, I'm not looking for an arrogant free-diving biker boy, but if I was…

You'll get nothing good out of that boy.” A voice to my left gets my attention.

“How so? I don't even know his name.” I turn to the short lady strolling along the beach.

“Kai Briareus. His family owns the land over there.” She points a frail finger towards the curve of the bay where the land shrinks into darkness. “They have bad roots in this area.”

“I'll ask someone else about the reef then.” I turn to the woman, assuming she might be up for a stroll and a chat.