Chapter 3
3
H ollyn had never really considered how vast an ocean could be until she was faced with swimming into it. As she watched the hypnotic movement of the waves rising, crashing, searching, and returning to join the massive blue that stretched out before them. Akamu was suggesting the impossible.
Kai’s voice held a hint of laughter as he said, “Let me get this straight. We have to swim to the Misu people underwater without any equipment or even a return to the surface to suck in the oxygen we need to breathe? Yeah, that makes about as much sense as a screen door on…well…on an airplane.”
Hollyn had really thought he was going to go with submarine, but more than anything, she wanted to hear Akamu slap his knee and exclaim that he was only joking. But he didn’t. He simply stared for a full thirty seconds before pulling his eyebrows together and saying, “Of course!”
Akamu stared as if the idea of Kai and Hollyn being unable to breathe under water was preposterous. It was laughable that he looked so confused.
Hollyn had had enough. “Akamu, Kai and I won’t survive that swim. We have to breathe air to live.”
“But…the King of the Misu can breathe in water. He doesn’t need air to live.”
Hollyn gave Kai a look that she hoped conveyed her concern for Akamu’s sanity. Where had this guy come from? From her own experience, she knew there were creatures who could breathe under water, or in the case of sirens, could swim for long periods of time, rising to the surface for air when needed, but they were a couple thousand miles away from Hawaii via ocean. Did he really expect them to swim that length?
“How about we get plane tickets or charter a boat?” Kai suggested.
“Could we do that without tipping off anyone chasing us?” Hollyn wondered aloud.
Akamu looked horrified when Hollyn glanced his way again. “I don’t understand? We don’t need man-made transportation when we could find a fast current in the ocean and ride that all the way to Hanupali City.”
Hollyn had spent much of her life underwater. It was where most of the treasures she’d hunted to make a living had been found. But she had never gone under the water without scuba equipment, or at the very least, snorkel and mask. But what if Akamu were telling the truth? What if Kai and she could swim through the ocean and get to the other piece of the amulet without encountering any more of her father Grigori’s minions or the man himself? It would be the easiest way to avoid Grigori until they were ready to face him.
Yet, the image of the sharks ripping apart the man who had been working for her father, and she had unwittingly sent to the bottom of the ocean with her words, played in her mind like a scene from a horror movie. It had been weeks ago, but it would be a long time until the image of his death left her mind.
There was no way she was getting back into the water. But it did make her wonder about one thing. Had Kai been able to breathe when he’d dove in after her? She’d burst out of the water, needing to pull air into her lungs, but as she thought about it now, she didn’t remember Kai having the same issue. Yet another piece of evidence that he was a Son of Poseidon, and maybe a lost king of the Misu just as Akamu had said.
Kai sighed heavily in resignation and said, “I think we risk the man-made transportation, Akamu. I can’t imagine that look on Hollyn’s face is going to change. Just the thought of getting in the water is making her cringe in horror.”
Akamu looked resigned as he said, “Fine. But I insist on staying close to the water. We can travel in a boat. No planes.”
Feeling a little guilty, Hollyn let out a pent-up breath she didn’t even realize she’d been holding. “Thank you, Kai.”
Their gazes held, and Hollyn felt a jolt of lightning slide down her spine as he nodded at her. The intensity in his eyes held a familiar look that she couldn’t quite name, but she felt to her toes. How did he feel about this situation? About her?
No! No! No! Where had that thought come from? This was not the time or place to worry about what was developing between the two of them. Yes, they’d had an intimate moment and a few kisses, and, yes, he’d put her before himself in certain instances, but that didn’t mean he felt anything more for her than just an obligation to…to what? To see her safely to the island? He’d already done that. The real question was why he was still helping her? Was he still trying to help her get the amulet for her safety? Or was he still trying to figure out his past?
She shook her head to reboot back to the real issue at hand. Why hadn’t he dismissed Akamu’s suggestion out right?
What did he know that she didn’t? He held back so much of himself, and she had to wonder what he wasn’t telling her. He hadn’t done anything to make her think he planned to betray her, but what if he was simply hiding his true intentions?
There was so much she really didn’t know about him. So much about him that was still a mystery to her but also to himself. Again, she wondered if Kai really did have the ability to breathe under water. He hadn’t seemed as adamantly against the idea of swimming through the ocean as she would have expected him to be. He was…curious.
Kai was willing to go to any lengths to satisfy that curiosity. Would he allow her to get hurt in the process?
She had to acknowledge that if that were the case, he probably would have insisted they follow Akamu into the water. Instead, he was willing to travel on a boat to give her peace of mind.
Kai cleared his throat and looked back at Akamu, breaking the spell between them. “I’ll look for a charter willing to take us on board without questions. It will likely take us a little extra time to get there, but I’ve waited my whole life for answers. I think I can wait a few more days.”