Page 172 of The Moon's Fury

She gave a hesitant nod. The island woman had looked at her in shock when Zarian had translated at dinner that Layna couldn’t swim, and had promptly fetched spare swim clothes. Apparently, the islanders regularly wore swimwear under their clothing, accustomed to venturing into the water at any point in the day.

“Thesihrrockvein is at the cove floor. Do you trust me?”

There was no hesitation in the quick bob of her head.

Zarian’s fingers trailed along her collarbones, setting her skin on fire, before sliding the thin straps of her dress off her shoulders. It pooled around her ankles, leaving her only in two scraps of black fabric stretching across her chest and hips.

His gaze darkened, lingering on her bare thighs and belly, and her skin erupted in goosebumps. Eyes still fixed on her curves, he pulled his sleeveless tunic over his head and shucked his loose, linen trousers. Layna’s eyes raked over the planes of his chest, the ridges of his abdomen, though even the perfection that was his body didn’t stop the nervous flutter in her heart as she turned to the water.

“It’s deeper than the hot springs in Tarakshan, but only by a few feet.” Without another word, perhaps before she could change her mind, he dove in and disappeared beneath the surface. The ripples faded away, and she waited anxiously for him to resurface.

He finally did, six minutes later. She knew because she’d been frantically counting the seconds, her pulse pounding in her ears.

His dark locks slicked against his forehead. He looked elated, at home in the cool water.

Layna took a deep breath.

She could do this.

She eased onto the edge and let her legs slip beneath the rippling surface. The water kissed her skin—cool and blissfullyrefreshing. The heat clinging to her body dissolved in an instant, and with sudden, visceral clarity, she understood why the islanders returned to the ocean’s embrace again and again.

Zarian pulled her in, one arm braced against the rock wall, the other anchoring her tightly to his chest.

“We’re heading straight down,” he murmured. “It’s at the bottom, pressed right up against this wall.” Her heart raced, but she trusted Zarian with her soul. “When I tap your hip three times, that means it’s time to head to the surface. Ready?”

She wasn’t, but nodded anyway.

“Take as big a breath as you can manage, love.”

She sucked in until her lungs refused to expand, then even more after that.

And then Zarian pulled her under.

71

Coolbluewaterlappedat his skin as they descended. Layna’s hair rose up around them, a tangled, dark halo. He kept one arm around her waist and used the other to hasten their descent. She was rigid against him, but otherwise calm.

His feet touched down on the cool sand. It was dim—the water was clear, but there was no direct sunlight in the cave to light their way. Zarian scanned around them, eyes trying to pierce through dark water for large shadows. Sharks didn’t typically wander this far from the open sea, and he had swam around the cove when he first dove in to check. But if one snuck in and found them, even a harmless one, he’d never get her back in the water again.

His gaze slid to Layna; her eyes were wide, darting around the cove floor.

He turned her around, her movements slower in the water, and pressed between her shoulder blades, indicating she should step forward. She took one step, then another, until her palms lay flat against the rock wall.

Two minutes.

His hand found her shoulder, guiding her into a crouch. He kneeled behind her. Her body was tense, practically vibrating from holding her breath.

The face of the rock was rough against his palm. By their feet, a faint, blue light cast a glow, nearly imperceptible if you weren’t already looking for it. Layna turned to look at him, brows furrowed.

He nodded, and she knelt, prostrating on the seabed, face pressed against the soft sand. He followed.

Three minutes.

The rock wall sank inward at the bottom. Cutting through it was a vein of brilliant, pulsing blue.

It was the color of the sky on a bright, clear day, submerged here below the ocean depths. The thrumming blue was calming, almost soothing, oblivious to the chaos and misery it had wreaked in the world.

After a scant moment, Layna rose, kneeling on the ground, her hair floating in the water around them like a cloud.