Across a Wine-Dark Sea by Jessica Bryan

Author:Jessica Bryan [Jessica Bryan]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 17

You can’t hold your breath forever, love. Breathe in. You’ll be pleasantly surprised, believe me.

The words came from directly inside Thalassa’s head, the melodic voice ringing throughout every facet of her mind. The astonishing intimacy of it caused her to gasp, and in that instant she took her first breath of seawater.

When she realized what she had done, she was terrified. The salt water went down easily, though, feeling no different than if she had taken a gulp of air. There was no burning or choking at all. Bemused, she took another tentative breath. The second went down as easily as the first.

Now she became aware of a completely alien sensation— that of water rushing in and out of the newly opened gills on either side of her neck. Just as Dorian had promised, the feeling was no longer painful, not the way it had been that other time. Yet it was so totally foreign that Thalassa hung suspended in the water, momentarily oblivious to everything but what was going on inside her.

Dorian floated by her side, one arm laid supportively across her back. Smiling, he watched his mate, giving her the time she needed to adjust before he took her any farther. The sea beckoned to him, though, and at last—unable to wait any longer—he urged her out of the interlocking chamber’s vast opened doors and into the midnight sea.

Thalassa went unresistingly, overwhelmed by these events so far beyond her comprehension. In Dorian’s abode, the very thought of reentering the sea had continued to arouse sheer terror within her. How he had managed to calm her fears and bring her to this point, Thalassa understood no better than she understood anything else about this waking dream.

The sea was not the cold and suffocating black tomb she had remembered. Her eyes pierced the shadowy gloom with extraordinary ease, and she puzzled over this until Dorian spoke again into her head, explaining their people’s ability to see in the darkness. She stiffened at the shock of his being able to send his thoughts into her very mind. Truly, this was magic of the most awesome sort.

Dorian had told her the merfolk communicated with each other in this way when in the sea. No magic was involved, he had insisted, only physical ability passed on from generation to generation. Yet with the sound of his deep voice resonating throughout her, Thalassa felt differently. Still, her belief that this was further proof Dorian was a god competed against her fascination with the underwater world he was revealing to her.

Behind them, the coral abode rose, curving into the dim shadows. Seen from the outside, Thalassa thought it resembled a huge reef more than a palace, where people moved through magnificently famished chambers, filled with light, air, and warmth. Dorian’s strong arm tightened around her, and she felt herself being drawn into movement as he slowly guided her upward.

As they swam, he loosened his supportive hold little by little. He did it with such subtlety, Thalassa was surprised when she realized she was swimming unaided.

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