Page 75 of The Never Queen

His wings are tucked tightly against his back.

I give him a thumbs-up and he chuckles, several air bubbles floating upward.

As the others swim down to meet us, Kas pulls himself along the outcropping, and from my vantage point, seems to completely disappear into the dark.

With the urgency to breathe pressing against my chest, I swim quickly after him, following the same path until I find a place in the Rock where the outcropping shields an opening.

I guess it’s now or never.

I sink into the cold darkness, blindly feeling around for something to get my bearings. The rock is smooth, but firm on either side of the tunnel, helping to orient me as I swim up.

A faint, dancing light appears above me.

I swim harder, using the tunnel’s walls to push myself along and when I finally clear it, the expanse of the grotto opening up around me, I let out an excited bubble of air.

Up, up, I swim until I’m breaking through the surface and into the warm hush of the grotto hidden beneath Marooner’s Rock.

“You made it,” Kas says and swims over to me. I wrap around his hips, arms around his neck as water drips from the end of his nose.

“Thanks to you.” I kiss him and he kisses me back, his hands coming to the curve of my ass. “Mmm,” I hum against him and I can feel the smile spreading across his face beneath the eager press of my lips.

Behind us, Bash, Vane, then Pan break through the surface. Bash hoots and the sound bounces around the grotto.

“Shut up,” Kas warns. “The minnows won’t glow if you’re being obnoxious.”

Still clinging to Kas, I look around. The grotto is the size of a small pond with plenty of space for all five of us to drift around in the water. About a foot above the surface, the rock flattens into a ledge for sitting or lying, with a few large stone formations making the perfect little seating nooks.

“When will the minnows come out?” I ask. The water is dark, not a minnow in sight.

“Disturbing the water and the quiet makes them go dark,” Kas explains. “It’ll take them a minute or two to get used to us being here.”

Vane swims over to the ledge and hefts himself up, letting his bare legs hang in the water. Pan swims over to join him, but stays submerged, propping just his arms on the rock ledge beside Vane.

I stay clinging to Kas as he treads water.

Bash spreads out his arms and lays on his back, floating.

We wait.

Somewhere in the recess of the grotto, water drips.

Kas leans into me and whispers in my ear. “Any second now.”

I wait some more.

I have a vision in my mind of how these glowing minnows will look and I hope it’s half as amazing…

“There,” Vane says, nodding to my left.

Kas swims us around, but the light is gone.

“Another,” Pan says, almost bored. He’s probably seen this a hundred times and I’m a little annoyed that no one has mentioned it before now. I could be coming here every month on the new moon.

“Over there, Darling.” Kas kicks below the surface, spinning me again.

“I don’t see anything. Are you guys fucking with me?”

“Darling—” Bash rights himself.