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Pointing toward the surface, she smiled and raised her hands above her head.
The sleek lines of her belly made me hard.
The curves of her breasts made me desperate.
I couldn’t move as she kicked toward the surface with the knife cutting through the salt, moving as gracefully as the shark she’d just stroked.
Chapter Forty-Eight
*
Aslan
*
(Moon in Arabic: Qamar)
“WHAT THE FUCK WAS THAT DOWN THERE?” I demanded, hauling myself onto The Fluke and hooking my mask on the staircase. Seawater dripped off me as I fought against the buckles and straps wrapped around my waist.
Neri had already removed her mask and monofin and stood in a puddle of her own making, wringing out her hair with both hands. Nudging her chin at the table, she said, “It had a hook in its mouth.”
My eyes narrowed. “How could you possibly know that? It looked like it was ready to eat you.”
Tossing her hair over her shoulder, she padded toward me and unbuckled my weight belt with practiced fingers. Placing the cumbersome thing on the table beside the large rusty hook she’d salvaged, she went behind me and turned off the oxygen, grabbed the tank, and waited for me to shrug it off before stowing the scuba gear against the table leg.
Turning back to face me, she gave me a shy smile. “Would you believe me if I told you I knew why it’d appeared and that’s why I went to get the knife?”
“To protect yourself?”
“No, to cut any twine that might’ve been caught it its gills. I’ve had a few sharks where the hook gets lodged in their jaw but the line goes through them. It’s a delicate operation to remove it all.”
“You mean to tell me you’ve done this before?” I raked both hands through my hair, raining ocean. “Fucking hell, Neri.”
“Of course.” She shrugged. “That’s how the sharks know to find us.”
“What?” I laughed under my breath. “That’s insane. They’re an apex predator. They don’t seek out human company, just like we don’t—”
“They’re not violent, Aslan. They’re mostly gentle and super intelligent.” Linking her hands, she murmured, “There’s a woman who’s been diving with sharks her entire life. She noticed so many had hooks that one day, she decided to remove one. After the initial shock wore off for the shark, it came back for pets and to say thank you. Without fail, that shark always turns up whenever she dives, visiting her and showing its gratitude, and...it also told others what she did. Just like the ones I’ve helped have told others on this reef.”
I paced in front of her, my mind racing. “I don’t believe this. I thought—”
“Sharks seek out remora fish to eat the parasites off their skin. This is the same thing. Is it so hard to believe that they know the sound of the boats that help them? That they’ll come for help, knowing we’ll give it?”
I stopped pacing, glowering at her. “How many hooks have you removed?”
She grinned. “Only twenty-two so far but the other woman, Cristina Zenato, has removed over three hundred.”
“Twenty-two—” My voice caught. “Twenty-two times you’ve put your hands in a monster’s mouth.” Stalking into her, I grabbed her wrists and looked at her hands. Such delicate, fragile hands. “You expect me to believe that your parents allow you to do that? That they don’t dress you in chainmail and forbid you from going near a shark?”
“It was Mum who helped me with the first one,” Neri whispered, her ice-blue eyes darkening. “I’m fine, Aslan. I know you were worried, and I probably should’ve waited until you were back onboard before doing it, but...I wanted to share it with you.” Her voice turned husky. “Having you dive with me...I never thought that would happen. I know I didn’t really give you an option to say no this morning but...I want to tell you how much it meant to me. To share that world with you. The world where I most belong. To show you that your family is safe down there, amongst all that magic and colour.”
“Neri, I—”
The air suddenly crackled around us. My heart beat thickly.
It was a mistake to touch her while my rage flowed. I shouldn’t have grabbed her when all instincts screamed to protect her...from herself.
Having her sway toward me. Having her eyes scream an invitation. My anger quickly exploded into lust.
