Authors: Devyn Quinn

Darkness Descending (40 page)

A moment later the child heaved out a stream of bile mixed with water. A splutter followed by a healthy wail rolled past his blue-tinged lips. And then he was breathing, above water and on his own.

Witkowsky gave a quick thumbs-up. “I think he’s gonna make it.”

The man gathered the boy into his arms. “Thank God,” he murmured against the wet mat of hair pasted to the child’s forehead. “He’s alive.”

But not everyone’s eyes were on the rescue efforts taking place. Even as she clung to the ladder watching events on board unfold, Addison had the uneasy feeling that she was being watched. She looked up to see the girl’s gaze fixed upon her. A look half of horror mingling with fascination colored the teen’s expressive features.

Addison winced, giving herself a quick mental slap. She’d just made the worst blunder a Mer could make: letting humans see her in her true form.

The teen raised a hand and pointed her way. “D-Daddy, something’s not right!” the girl exclaimed in a shaky voice. “That lady has a tail!”

Everyone looked. And gaped.

“Holy shit!” Witkowsky exclaimed, eyeing Addison’s exposed breasts and slender hips. “She’s naked as a jaybird.”

For a few beats, Addison couldn’t think to react. The tension throbbed among them for a minute or so. It didn’t take a mind reader to know what everyone on board was thinking.

Sidney Rawlings gave his errant crewman a slap upside the head. “Stop staring. You’re being rude.”

Regaining self-control, Addison belatedly pressed an arm over her bare beasts as she slid back into the water. “Shit,” she grated under her breath. Talk about having one’s stupid hanging out. Even though her elaborate scale pattern afforded a bit of modest cover, above the waist she was still as naked as on the day she was born.

During those gut-wrenching minutes when she’d been underwater, her only concern had been to save the boy’s life. Eager to get him to the surface, she hadn’t given a second thought to making sure she came up in the same equipment she’d gone down in.

It really was a mega-screwup.