Blood in the Water Read Online Free PDF Page B

shake the thought away, as
distractions now could get me killed, and squeeze Ruble’s
waist.
    “ Left! Left and below us. Close.” The light is flowing now,
stronger, showing me the way. Ruble looks over his shoulder as he
turns the vessel, his dark eyes alight with excitement, and we skim
to a halt, floating calmly for a moment. He grins at me, and then
quickly scans the water.
    “ Ready to go under?”
    Do we get scuba gear?
    I twist
my glowing fist into his combat jacket and shut my eyes. “Sure
thing. Just ... one question. How do I close the breach under
water?”
    He crows
laughter, eyes crinkling as he makes a downward motion on the
bubble in front of him. Looking closer, I can see that his hand is
over a circular area that appears thicker, about twice the size of
his palm. It spreads out into the skimmer wall, like the heavy end
of a glass fishing float.
    “ You really never listen to anything, do ya? Works the same,
just wetter.”
    I furrow my eyebrows at him, and then sigh, letting it
go. I’d probably argue that point if we
weren’t about to get eaten.
    Suddenly the water laps up around the base of our bubble,
moving up the sides, pressing against it. I feel like I’m in a
translucent plastic submarine, but before I can protest we sink,
the Thames closing over our heads, sending a shiver down my
spine. It’s a good job I’m not
particularly scared of water. My
white-knuckled grip on Ruble’s clothes can’t be comfortable, but he
doesn’t make any effort to loosen it .
    Under
the surface, it’s dark almost immediately, the sky seeming far away
and glassy above us. We’re moving quickly, and a rush of water
spins us a little, but Ruble fights to keep us on course, dragging
his hand left, right, up, and down in patterns so fast I can barely
follow them. I feel his muscles clench as he forces the board to
obey his feet. He’s alternating between looking down, following the
mist emanating from my hand at his waistband, and scanning our
surroundings. The Warplight illuminates the water around us, like a
searchlight, the calling of the breach marking our path to the rip
in reality.
    I can
just make out the huge forms of Sea Serpents undulating in the
murky distance. They don’t seem to have noticed us yet but my hands
are streaming Warplight, guiding us to the rift that has allowed
these beasts entry from their home world, and I don’t know how long
we’ll be able to keep our presence a secret. I want to speak, to
fill the oppressive silence the weight of the water has caused, but
my mouth is dry and sticky with fear. A condom is drifting next to
us, resembling a translucent jellyfish. Gross.
    Well, this is certainly an adventure. Join the Protectorate,
they said. See the world, they said. Drown at the bottom of the
disgusting Thames, they didn’t say. At least needles don’t float. I
wonder if mystical healing works on hepatitis.
    “ There!” Ruble hisses, his dreadlocks brushing my cheek as he
turns, spinning the board around with his feet. It spirals so
rapidly I lose my balance, just a bit. My right elbow hits the
bubble and ... passes straight through, resistance no more than the
surface of the water itself. It feels like I’ve submerged it into a
cold bath.
    Gasping, I jerk back. My wet elbow drips water onto my feet,
the liquid pooling on the solid board below and sloshing around my
boots. It doesn’t run over the sides, though; the barrier seems to
stop water in both directions, but let it in if it’s attached to
me? Magic.
    I take a
huge breath, suddenly nauseous, and tilt my head back in the hopes
it will stop the heaving of my guts. Maybe six feet above us, the
surface is an extremely faint source of illumination. Terror
presses in on me, and I wrap my other arm round Ruble’s waist,
hiding my face in his leather-clad back. He smells like cinnamon
and fresh sweat. I inhale deeply.
    “ Just gimme a second.” My voice is muffled against his jacket,
hands knotted together in the