Rolling in the Deep: Hawaiian Heroes, Book 2 (31 page)

“It’s all right, tita. Sorry—I got you into this.”
Daniel’s voice faded, his body leaning more heavily against her.

Claire hung on to him, clutching the speargun in her free hand even as she fought the shivers racking her body and the black shadows that danced at the edge of her consciousness.

She had never experienced true terror, but she did now. All around her, huge, deadly shapes twisted and lunged, brushing past her as the water turned murky with blood. And there was nowhere to go, nowhere to hide. Their only refuge was full of flame and steam, and the shore was as distant as the moon with two wounded men on her hands.

“Helman—your brother died by lava,”
Daniel said.
“You—you will die by shark.”

The biggest shark took Helman, lunging forward to grab him in its huge mouth, serrated teeth closing on his head and shoulders. Helman died with a sound Claire knew she would never forget, a horrible gurgle, cut off sharply, with the sound of air hissing from his tank. A stream of bubbles rose around him, tinged bright red.

Yellow and Red Stripes were taken too, but after the first attack, she didn’t look and couldn’t see through the murky water, anyway.

She could hear herself whimpering, but she couldn’t stop. She flinched each time a big body brushed against her in the water, scraping against her wet suit like sandpaper, expecting that this time it would be her they took or Daniel or Zane, hunched close beside them. But they wouldn’t get either of the men as long as she could hold on to the speargun.

She jerked around as a huge bullet-shaped body cruised by, mouth slightly open, eyes fixed on Daniel, who lay in her arms, his head nodding forward onto his chest, while blood continued to pulse from his wounds. She lifted the speargun in her shaky grip, aiming through the clouds of blood.

“Come on, you bastard,” she mumbled. “Just try it. I’ll get you first.”

The shark smiled at her, traces of blood on his sharp, white teeth. She blinked, shaking her head. She couldn’t quite catch her breath. A strange calm descended on her. This was it, then—her tank was almost empty. She was either going to suffocate or be eaten by a shark. Didn’t matter…either way, she wasn’t letting go of Daniel. And Zane, poor Zane was going to die with them.

Then the shark before her began to shift, outline blurring in the water. Oh God, this was another island dream—a nightmare. Or she was hallucinating. Maybe some of those drugs were in the water.

Or maybe, and this last bothered her strangely little, she and Daniel were already dead, and this was some dream of passage. That was it—the shark-man must be a Hawaiian angel.

The man smiling at her was certainly beautiful enough to be an angel. He had soft, full lips; large, ebony eyes; black curls that danced in the water around him; and smooth, golden skin, given a greenish tinge by the water. He wore a crown, necklace and bracelets of tiny shells and pearls. A small, graceful loincloth of seaweed swirled about his narrow hips.

“You may put the speargun down, wahine,”
he said, his voice as soft and musical in her mind as waves rushing onto the shore. She knew he was speaking Hawaiian, but she could understand him.
“I will not eat you.”

“I get that—you’re an angel,”
she managed, trying to catch her breath.
“Him…you have to save him. And Zane. He’s…a hero too. Or at least…he will be.”

She looked down at Daniel, his big head lolling against her shoulder, thick lashes black against his pale cheeks. So much blood; he’d lost so much blood. She cocked her head awkwardly, trying to lay her cheek on his head, but the air hose blocked her.
“He can’t die,”
she repeated through the tears in her throat
. “He’s a hero. You can take me, but not him.”

The beautiful man swam closer, holding out his arms.
“Ah, you wish to save these men. And what will you give me if I do this?”

She felt his hands, surprisingly powerful for such a slender, lithe man, pull Daniel away from her. She let him go, slack with surprise as she looked into the angel’s beautiful gaze. Was the gleam there crafty or beneficent?

“Anything.”
She was surprised he had to ask. Weren’t angels supposed to know love when they saw it? Because it was love; she saw that now, with the utter calm of having been through the worst and lost it all. Of course she loved Daniel Ho’omalu. Why else would she have kept coming back for more, trying to batter through the thick reef he’d constructed around his heart? Why else did she feel as if she were the one whose life was bleeding away into the sea?
“Anything.”

“Very well. It shall be as you wish.”
He waved his free hand, and Claire looked around her with hazy astonishment—the water was clearing, once again blue, the clouds of blood and lava debris gone, swirling away on invisible currents. The last of the sharks disappeared in the blue depths.

In their place, a phalanx of silver-and-white forms streamed gracefully around her, their bright gazes on the angel and Daniel. The nai’a chirred and clicked, chattering amongst themselves or to the angel. 

Through their voices, she heard a low, distant throbbing in the water. An approaching boat.

“They are coming for you,”
the angel said.
“Rise and go with them. Return to your friends.”

“But what about…Daniel?”
she demanded, beginning to struggle for air.
“And Zane? You…promised. Let me take him…them to the hospital.”

He shook his head at her.
“They are both mine. I will care for them.”
And indeed, he held Daniel in loving, possessive arms, supporting Daniel’s huge, muscular frame, while the nai’a clustered around Zane, buoying him up among them. The injured dolphin was with them as well, his friends close at his sides.

“Yours?”
she asked uncertainly.
“W-who are you?”

He smiled, beautiful, arrogant, implacable. He seemed to grow larger as she watched.
“I am Kanaloa, guardian of these seas. And this is the dearest of my ho’omalu, my warriors.”

He looked at her over Daniel’s head
. “He belongs to me. In exchange for his life, you will leave him to me and return to your mainland home. You have no place in his life.”

Claire shook her head. But the nai’a closed in around her, nudging her, pushing her up. And she had no more strength to fight. She could only watch Daniel grow smaller and smaller as Kanaloa swam away with him into the depths, the nai’a streaming behind them, carrying Zane.

She broke the surface, held up by rubbery snouts, and closed her eyes weakly against the bright sunlight, coughing out her mouthpiece, taking deep, shuddering breaths of the air as strong hands reached down to grasp her, pull her from the water and into the boat.

It was Daniel’s boat, and the big, golden-skinned man who pulled her from the water was achingly familiar. It was David who held her, laying her carefully on the bench seat and taking off her dive equipment. His face was grim, she saw against the blue sky. His uncle, silver-haired and equally grim, stood at the wheel.

“He’s…safe,” she managed when David peeled her mask and breathing tube off. “They both—are. K-Kanaloa…promised.”

“Ah, wahine,” David said, his deep voice tender. “Hush, now. Rest.”

“He…he said…I had to let him go.”

“Shh, I know. He’ll take care of Daniel. You don’t need to worry about him.”

At such a cruel affirmation of her worst fear, she was vaguely surprised to be gathered into David’s powerful arms, her head tucked into the curve of his throat.

“She’s wounded,” Homu said. “I will heal her.”

They pulled at her wet suit, stripping it off her. She whimpered as the movement jerked her shoulder. Then a powerful, warm hand closed over it. “Be still, wahine. Let me help you.”

Pain crackled through her shoulder like thousands of tiny needles dancing on her skin, burrowing into her flesh. She whimpered again, struggling, but David held her still. “Shush,” he murmured. “It’s all right, little sister.”

The pain subsided, and the boat roared to life beneath her. But she lay limp in David’s arms. Gone… Daniel was lost to her.

She let the darkness take her.

Chapter Seventeen

Wednesday, June 19
^th

Claire slept again and dreamed of Daniel. 

He was
carried away by huge sharks, all smiling triumphantly, while Kanaloa pointed his finger at her, his beautiful eyes brilliant with scorn.

“You must go from this island,” he told her. “Go back to your home, and forget that you ever knew this man, as he will forget you. You are nothing to him.”

He faded, and she was alone in the vast ocean, terrifying because it was utterly empty.

She woke with a start to find Melia sitting beside her in the lamplit bedroom. Her friend leaned over her, cupping her cheek in a warm hand. “It’s all right, sweetie,” Melia said. “You’re safe.”

Claire frowned, swallowing. Her mouth felt as if it had been swabbed out with cotton. “Where is Daniel?”

Melia handed her a glass of water and waited while she took a long drink. It slid down her throat, cool and soothing. “He’s…not back yet.”

“You know, don’t you?” Claire lay back against the pillows, swamped with memories. “About Daniel…and David. And their family?”

Melia nodded, her pretty face grave. “Yes. I know. David and I…but I’ll tell you that story another time. For now, you’re safe.”

Claire scowled at her. “I was attacked by speargun-wielding drug smugglers, found out my—my boyfriend, or whatever the hell he is, can apparently go without breathing underwater and talk to dolphins and sharks. I met a Hawaiian angel—god—or whatever, and a volcano erupted while I was right next to a vent! I think I deserve some answers, don’t you?”

Her voice rose as she spoke until she was nearly shouting. She pressed her lips together, trembling. Her throat swelled, and suddenly tears filled her eyes.

“Oh, sweetie.” Melia slipped from her chair to the bed and gathered Claire into her arms, warm and comforting. Claire laid her head on her friend’s shoulder and let herself go, sobbing so hard she could hardly breathe.

Because she had been through a nightmare, damn it. And while it felt good to be held by her best friend, the arms that held her were not the ones she wanted around her.

“Claire, I’m here.” It was Bella, sinking onto the bed on her other side, and patting her back. Her almond eyes were wide, her mouth drawn down. “We’re both here.”

Cried out at last, Claire allowed herself to be tucked back in the freshly plumped pillows, and her face wiped with a fresh, cool cloth.

“All right,” Melia said, looking at both of them. “Bella, you’re a Ho’omalu. Claire, you’ve been involved in one of their fights. It’s time you both heard my story.”

Both Claire and Bella knew how Melia had met David on the snorkel trip to Nawea, and that while they were here alone, they’d been menaced by drug smugglers. Now she told them how intimately she and David had been involved in the events on the side of the volcano, resulting in the death of Stefan Helman and several of his men.

When she had finished speaking, Bella blew out a long breath. “This is some family we’ve been inducted into, Melia. You by marriage, and me by birth.”

Melia pushed back her hair, her freckled face serene. “You get used to it.”

Bella laughed, and then clapped her hand over her mouth, looking at Claire. “Sorry.”

Claire rubbed her hands over her face, wishing she could scrub her mind into a semblance of order and accept all that had happened, all that Melia had just added. “It’s okay. I guess you gotta have a sense of humor to hang out with the Ho’omalus, right?”

After her rest, Claire felt strong enough to shower and get dressed. She pulled on the first clothes she found, a pair of shorts and T-shirt, and went down to sit on the beach lanai with her friends. They let her sit, chatting quietly around her, their warm voices weaving a web of comfort. The sun was warm, and beyond the reef, the pale turquoise sea danced in the sun.

She shivered in spite of the heat of the day. Now she knew what lay under that calm expanse, knew the terror and mystical power under the Hawaiian seas.

Did the ocean off the Oregon coast hold such hidden mysteries? Did her father and uncles make their living over the kingdom of beings so great and terrible they could command all the creatures there to do their bidding?

Somehow, she didn’t think so. Whatever magic might once have rolled in the chilly deep off the mainland, surely it slept now.

And as for her, did she want to return there, or stay here, despite Kanaloa’s command? He’d told her to go…but, surely, he would have saved Daniel anyhow. She scowled at the surf line washing up on the little beach. If Kanaloa loved Daniel so much, why would he even bargain for his safety?

And Daniel—emotion roiled inside her as she remembered the way he’d appeared among the divers in their full scuba gear. Wearing only a pair of swim trunks, unarmed, he’d somehow appeared more dangerous than all of them with their weapons. And he’d called the drug smugglers’ attention to himself, to protect her and Zane.

She’d known he was a formidable male, but to learn that he actually had supernatural powers, that he’d been the one directing the events at the Na’alele sea caves—it was almost too much to take in. The explosions, the nai’a’s help, even the arrival of the man
ō—he’d done it all
.

She shuddered, reliving the sheer terror of the swift chain of events, culminating in the phalanx of tiger sharks closing in on them with deadly grace. But even badly wounded, Daniel hadn’t been afraid. He’d been reassuring
her
just before he lost consciousness. He was a hero—her hero. And after all that, Kanaloa had pulled him from her arms.

A sudden awareness prickled at her. She turned her head, and her heart leapt.