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A second later, Dev cannonballs in werewolf form. They both swim circles around the sharks. I watch, not hesitating, but getting a feel for their movements, for the sharks and how they whip their tails. I set one foot in front of the other, preparing to launch myself off the platform.
"Aliana!" Chase's voice rings out with concern.
I turn to gaze into his emerald eyes, which are full of both fear and reprimand.
"You don't know how to swim."
I shrug. "Doesn't look that hard."
"I'll help," Tesq offers, and his lava hand clasps mine, going dark and cooling at my touch.
Together, hand in hand, we jump off the platform into the water.
And then we sink like fucking stones.
I had no idea water could be so heavy. That if enough of it piled on top of you, it could weigh as much as a brick.
As Tesq and I slide down, down, down, I start to panic. I glance over at my gentle giant, and as if he can read my mind, he pulls me into his body. I think he's going for a hug, but his hands move down to my legs and find my feet. His palms slide under my feet and then he shoves me upward.
I shoot through the water like a rocket: up, up, up.
Bursting past the surface, I fly up into the air and arch above the water. For a second, I feel like a seagull, a bird coasting above the waves. But gravity does its thing, and I'm yanked back toward the water, smacking into it face-first.
Ouch!
If it weren't for Dev's arm shooting out and grabbing me, I may have sunk right back to the bottom like Tesq, who is glowing slightly orange sixty feet beneath me. But Dev's furry forearm contracts around my chest and holds me aloft so that I'm bobbing on the surface, inhaling the scent of saltwater and wet dog.
I cough out the liquid I've inhaled as Dev murmurs, in a voice softer than he's ever used before, "Don't worry. I've got you."
In any other circumstance, I might fight the overgrown beast. I might rage or snark at him and his controlling nature. But my lungs are still aching from the pressure of deep water, my breathing is shallow, and, in this moment, his overprotectiveness is exactly what I need. So I cling to him.
His furry claws rub gently over my spine. Up and down.
After I've cleared the water from my lungs and conquered my out-of-control heartbeat, I find the ability to speak.
"Tesq?" I query, wondering if the other Terror needs a rescue from the awful pressure of that water.
"He's stone. He doesn't have to breathe all the time. He's fine," Creep calls out.
I'm glad it's the elf-like monster who answers me because I trust him and take his word for it.
I also glance down and see my gargoyle walking slowly along the bottom of this giant tank, bending and touching the various plants with a very Tesq-like curiosity. My anxiety retreats, and I look into Dev's glowing red eyes.
Instead of the usual fire banked in them, right now they resemble gently glowing embers. There's something more tranquil there, and I'm not certain if it's this space or the water or what exactly is soothing the dominant Terror. But I'll take it.
So I let myself float aloft in his arms as he maneuvers us both so we're doing belly-up backstrokes around the pool. It's peaceful, so much so that my eyes start to close.
But then I see a gray triangle shape emerge from the water, heading toward us. I stare at it, trying to understand what it is, tapping Dev on the chest and pointing.
"Get behind me, mate." He issues the order, but he's already moving me so that I'm piggy-backing and his body is between me and the threat.
The shark shoots toward us with a speed I wasn't expecting after Creep's claim that they're slow.
Lie.
That fucker's so quick my eyes can hardly take him in. My pulse blasts through my veins, recognizing a threat when it sees one.
Immediately, I wonder when Em last fed his pets.
