Read Of Neptune (The Syrena Legacy) for Free Online Page A

moment for Emma’s eyes to adjust to the darkness of the deep water, and when they enter the cave completely, even the occasional glow of lightning from the surface won’t be able to find them. “Better?” he says after a few moments.
    She answers him by trying to swim ahead. He reins her in to his side, closer than is wise, and yet not as close as he’d like. The heat from her body seems to jump at him, even through the cold current and his thick skin. And since when did heat send shivers through me? “Fine,” he says, more exasperated with himself than with her. “We’ll go together. But I swear by Triton’s trident, if you try to get in front—”
    “Side by side is always okay with me, Galen.” Before she can come up with another smart remark, she stops them both. “Look. That is amazing.”
    He follows her line of sight to a row of pointed rocks ahead of them. It reminds him of the entrance to the Cave of Memories. All the rocks spearing up from the ground look like teeth, ready and able to chew anyone brave enough to swim through them.
    And if Emma is impressed with this, he can’t wait until she sees all the caves have to offer. Not only this spring-fed cave, but all of them. The ones in the deepest part of the ocean where the only inhabitants are the marine life that create their own lights to attract their prey. Maybe one day, after things have settled a bit, he’ll take her to the Cave of Memories. She would truly love that.
    “This is the part in a horror movie where you’re supposed to turn back,” she says as they pass the first row of “teeth.” Her voice is light, but when he stops, she clings to his arm. “What? What’s wrong?”
    Gently, he pushes her away from him and drifts a few feet backward. “Do you feel … heavier in this water?”
    “No. Why? Do I look heavier?”
    He rolls his eyes.
    “Well, then what do you mean by heavier?”
    He flicks his tail back and forth, watching as the wake stirs up some muck. “It feels different here. It takes more effort to get through the water. You haven’t noticed?”
    She shrugs. “A little, I guess. Maybe it’s the freshwater. In saltwater, everything is more buoyant.”
    “But you don’t feel a difference?”
    “I don’t think I would have noticed if you hadn’t mentioned it.”
    He retrieves her hand and laces his fingers back through hers. “I’m that distracting, huh?”
    She smiles. “You have no idea.”
    He leans in, intending for the smallest of kisses on her lips. Just something to tide him over, really. Just an innocent, controlled kiss, nothing like the raw passion he almost couldn’t contain this afternoon. At least, that’s what he intends.…
    And then it hits him. A faint thrum of electricity that comes and goes. Prickly and intrusive one second, then fluid and soft the next. There’s no way that’s lightning.
    It can’t be. He’s felt lightning in the water before. It’s almost like a rogue wave that sweeps through, and before you can blink, it’s gone—passing through your body without permission or apology. Yes, it’s tingly. But not like this.
    This feels like … But can it really be?
    He shakes his head to himself. No. There’s no way that I’m sensing a pulse.
    Because Syrena do not have pulses like that. A Syrena pulse is strong, not like the watered-down thrumming he barely feels against his skin now.
    Then what could it be?

 
    7
    IT’S A rare thing to see panic on Galen’s face. So when alarm takes over his expression and his entire body tightens like a drawn rubber band, I’m pretty much on the verge of freaking out. Especially since we’re in the stomach of a foreign cave with sharp teeth, and every time the thunder rumbles behind us, it sounds like said cave is hungry. And by Galen’s face, he’s also thinking we might be the appetizer. “Galen, I know you’re busy being all heavy and everything, but you have to tell me what’s going on, rightfreakingnow.”
    Why is it that