Away in a Tentacle Lair

4. Kai

Chapter four

Kai

T he urge to breathe hits me as I duck under the legs of the three divers. If I don't come home with evidence of my work, Granny will have stern words for me, and I am more afraid of her wrath than any man in these waters. Or that's what I tell myself. I just want to get away from the men, and up against the rocks feels as vulnerable as being down here. As soon as the rubbish is gripped in my hand, I swim away from the men toward the shore. Two divers don't care enough to follow, but the third one comes after me. He's the one who made the first two release me, so I don't know what his motives are.

The problem I've got is that the surface makes me vulnerable. I have to get my face out on the waves to breathe, and I can't see under the water while I'm doing that. I've perfected surfacing like a dolphin, letting the back of my head break the surface for enough time to inhale through the snorkel.

This time, I have no air in my lungs to empty the snorkel, so I have to wait until I'm on the surface to abandon it and gasp for air.

My second issue is the waves. The force of the water isn't too strong down here, but up there, I'd be pushed around, and I'm too close to the rocks for that. I must keep swimming until I'm away from the rocks and in shallower water.

In my mind, I have a rock as my marker. When I reach it, I can surface, and my burning lungs can be filled.

A dark shadow looms over me, and I know I'm fucked. On neoprene arm grabs my waist; my instinct to gasp almost gets the better of me, but thankfully, my body rejects the salt water before it hits my throat. I do need to inhale, though. My head is swimming, and if I don't breathe now, I'm dead.

The diver flips me over as he tears my snorkel from my lips. I don't have the strength left to fight him.

Something jabs at my mouth, forcing its way between my lips. Gorgeous, sweet oxygen fills my mouth, and my lungs inhale. It’s the other diver’s mouthpiece for his air tank.

Looking up at the sunlight dancing through the water, I rest against the diver's chest and let him carry me closer to the surface.

Despite breathing rapid gulps of pure oxygen, dark spots form in front of my eyes, and before I know it, I'm on the beach. I jolt and try to sit up, having no memory of leaving the water.

“Relax,” Neoprene orders, his hand on my chest. My eyes find their way to his face, where worried blue eyes look back at me—blue eyes, shaggy blond hair, and a wide smile.

“You're going to be okay,” he reassures.

“What the hell happened?” Jonus appears on my other side, kneeling in the sand. His fists clenched, ready to lay Neoprene out.

“He was underwater for eleven minutes, no sign of surfacing, so I forced him to surface. I saved his life.” Neoprene defends. I can't blame Jonus for being defensive; I'm spaced out on the beach under a sexy diver.

I mean, not that I can tell in a body covered in a neoprene wetsuit, but the cut of the material around his crotch is generous, to say the least.

‘What happened?” Jonus address me, but I'm not sure coherent words come out of my mouth.

“There were two other divers. They pinned him under against the rocks and emptied a bag he had. I pulled them off so he could surface.” Neoprene’s eyes drop down, and I grin like a dopey drunk. “Instead of going up, he went down and just kept swimming.”

“Cranking,” I agree.

“The waves would have smashed him into the rocks if he'd surfaced by the rocks around the mouth of the bay.” Jonus puts my word into a functioning sentence. “Who were they?”

“I don't know, but they were using the research centre air tanks.”

“Get up, Kai. We're going home. Nick is going to be fuming over this.”

Sure. I clench my abdomen and lift my head off the sand. And then I give up.

“Hey, I get that you're angry, but he's in no state to move,” Neoprene defends me. “Help me get him to the café, and I'll stay with him while you do whatever you think is best. I may use the same air tank, but I don't agree with what they did.”

“You good with that, cus? Mill's serving today; she'll keep an eye on you.”

I nod, to some degree, and they haul me up by my arms.

“You know he dives for seven minutes,” Neoprene mutters. “I swear it was closer to eleven when I saved him. They say the brain dies if it's starved of oxygen for three minutes.”

“Ah, that's okay because Kai here doesn't have a brain.” Jonus laughs.

“Haha,” I mutter.

They sit me in a metal chair that's cold and sharp on my bare skin, but Millie is the best cousin and has a blanket ready to wrap around me and a hot chocolate prepared to add to my tab. Mr Neoprene has run off to change in the cafe toilets.

“Are you okay if I go and tell Uncle Nicholas?” Jonus questions because, deep down, he's not a complete arsehole.

“I'm fine.” I'm as safe here now as I am when I come here alone.

And I'm not exactly grumbling when Mr Neoprene comes back to the table instead of hightailing out of here while he has the chance. If Uncle Nicholas decides to go to war with the research centre over this, my saviour is on the wrong side.

“So…” he begins Once his rounded arse is squarely planted on the chair.

“Kai Briareus,” I interrupt, shoving my outstretched hand under his nose.

“Leo Rowland.”

“That's a very stuck-up name!” I giggle. “Leonard Rowland.”

My fake posh accent is totally off, but I can't help it.

“Someone went without oxygen for too long,” he retorts.

He's probably right, I am fucking giggling.

“Just because I can hold my breath doesn't mean my brain wasn't getting oxygen,” I defend, knowing it's a lost cause. I was born in the ocean, and I could swim before I crawled. Mum did the whole submerged baby thing where she ducked me under and expected me to hold my breath instinctively.

“Could you breathe now, please?” Leo urges.

“Sorry. I'm so used to holding my breath.” I giggle again.

What is wrong with me?

“You're a proper water baby, huh?”

“After Mum died, being in the water made me feel closer to her.”

“Maybe you know what sea creature is protecting the reef then?”

Seriously?

I confess that my mum's death traumatised me so much I'd push myself to sit underwater for over ten minutes, and he asks about the wildlife out there. I stand up quickly, scraping the chair back loudly enough to have my cousin running over.