Hypnotizing Beat

by Katherine McIntyre

  Do or dive time.

  Danica sucked in a massive breath and jumped.

  She launched into the water like an arrow, the cold water surrounding her at once. Her eyes took a moment to adjust to her newfound terrain of crystal blue and roving predators. The bubbles took even longer to clear as she kicked her way forward, unwilling to pause to get her bearings for even a second. She didn’t have that sort of time. The water surrounded her, the pressure gluing to her skin, her chest, her throat. Danica thrust her legs back to propel herself through the blue expanse even faster.

  Two blacktip sharks flicked their tails, and their noses tilted in her direction. Fuck.

  Her body adjusted to the water pressure as she continued to swim deeper and deeper. Her limbs lost the initial heaviness and motion came more naturally, even with the prickle of fear stabbing her in the neck. She focused on the massive anchor nestled at the bottom, trying to ignore the small crimson fish floating by her and the sandtiger shark that swam around the bend on the other side of the reef. With multiple sharks already taking notice, if they decided she made an interesting target, she couldn’t compete against their constant movement and sheer speed. As it was, she’d struck their curiosity.

  Her chest strained. She wanted to inhale so badly. The pressure of those inquisitive stares burrowed into her all the more.

  A moment later, bubbles flooded above, trickling down to obscure the view, and the whoosh of the shifting water rippled out. Trevor entered the water behind her. The banshee cast a large shadow, but his entrance drew more attention than hers. The black tip sharks swished their tails as they veered closer, those primeval eyes honed in on the current intruders in their water.

  Danica’s throat burned. The subtle need to take a breath began to squeeze her chest. Not now. She kicked down, swimming faster and faster toward the bottom. Each stroke took far more effort the lower she descended, like she’d strapped weights to her arms and legs as she swam. The sandtiger decided to investigate, gliding through the water with insidious ease. Unlike the black tip sharks who wove in larger circles around her out of curiosity, the sandtiger swam toward them head-on. She couldn’t stop now. Damnit. Not unless she wanted to resurface for a breath.

  Danica’s heart slammed, hard enough to pop right out of her chest. The shark zeroed in on them.

  Those teeth would rip her to shreds.

  She forced her focus ahead to search for a glimmer, a wrinkle in the water that would only be visible to fae. Her gaze snagged close to the coral reef. Something seemed off right before the structure, but it was either a trick of the eyes or a hazy mark shifted to a shade paler than the rest.

  She had to take the chance.

  Trevor’s long legs had him swimming beside her within seconds, but in those seconds, the sandtiger shark gained on them, faster, faster, faster. Unlike her slow movements in the water—the kicks that fell short, the overhead swings like she plunged through mud—the shark sliced across the space with terrifying efficiency. It moved like a butcher’s knife through butter. Panic gripped her by the throat, uncontrollable spasms, but she couldn’t stop. Not now.

  The coral reef lay feet away. Feet away and they could escape the sharks.

  Except two more sandtiger sharks wound around the massive coral structure with the symmetry of hunting partners.

  The sandtiger veered close enough for her to spot the gold flecks in those ancient eyes and the darkened scars ripping up the flesh along its snout. The maw was massive. One bite would shred right through her leg. Kick. Kick faster. Danica clawed through the water like a berserk beast.

  Even if the sharks were fed on a schedule and used to divers, that didn’t take the wild out of an animal or the urge to hunt out of a predator. Her throat burned, the need for a breath pulling her apart at the seams.

  Trevor darted ahead, his movements erratic. The swish of his long legs caused him to burst farther down. He must’ve spotted the same wrinkle. They both raced for the spot near the base of the coral reef.

  Danica kicked faster. Calm abandoned the building the moment she dove into the tank. Bubbles blurred around her, but that wouldn’t stop the shark. She needed to get to the pocket in the Otherworld, now.

  The sandtiger shark veered around her, so close she could reach out and touch. Its unblinking gold eye gleamed. The jaw opened, placing those teeth on clear display, tons of jagged, messy razors that would shred her to pieces.

  Too close.

  Her heart pounded harder, harder. She needed to breathe. Her chest burned so badly her mouth begged to open even if she’d only swallow water. Her ribs spasmed, and her throat squeezed tight.

  Trevor swam in front of her, stretching out his hand for the coral reef feet away.

  In her peripheral, the black tips swam closer and closer, their spurious circles from earlier morphing into a straight line.

  Five sharks and two of them. They’d be sunk.

  That is if she didn’t pass out first.

  Her head swirled, and her chest burned. She needed to breathe. Holy hell, she needed to breathe. Her feet kicked, and her small satchel smacked against her arm as she swam.

  This close, the murky ripple grew clearer. It had to be the pocket to the Otherworld. Trevor reached out, and his arm disappeared. Instead of vanishing into it, he whipped around to face her. His brows drew together in concentration, and his shoulders braced like he was about to fight.

  Not the fucking shark.

  Danica didn’t dare to glance. She didn’t dare look back. She shot toward the ripple.

  A foot away.

  One of the sharks slammed into her leg.

  The force rocked her to the side. Her mouth opened, and the tendrils of air she clung to left as water flooded in. Pain followed, like someone smacked her with a baseball bat. Trevor reached out for her hand, and she seized it, barely able to do much else. He tugged her into the ripple. Danica turned her head in time to see the teeth snap.

  Those jagged teeth snagged onto her leg. Trevor moved too fast. Before the shark clamped down, he yanked her forward.

  One moment, they existed in the tank in Mandalay Bay where a sandtiger shark was ready to maul her. The next, they tumbled into cool, damp, darkness.

  Air exploded into her chest at the same time her leg rioted in pain. Danica slumped to the ground, grabbing hold of her calf to stave off the flow of blood. The teeth only grazed, but already the wound throbbed with a large scrape from the shark’s attempt. Trevor’s quick acting was the one thing to save her from losing a chunk out of that leg. Her shoulders heaved with the breaths begging to enter her lungs, and she slumped in a ragged silence on the rocky ground of what appeared to be a cavern.

  Trevor sat next to her, his long legs splayed out as he leaned back, propped up by his elbows. “Let’s never do that again,” he muttered, casting her a sidelong glance.

  Danica forced a grin, despite the way her leg throbbed. It could’ve been far worse. “How do you think we’re getting out of here, babe?”

  He arched an eyebrow, and his sensuous lips curled into a grin. The man was far too pretty for his own good. “We’ll find another way.”

  She pulled her satchel off her wrist and opened it. The waterproof bag contained all her survival basics—including a swath of gauze.

  Trevor snorted. “Is there anything you haven’t prepared for?”

  Danica wound the bit of gauze around her leg, and her jaw clenched on instinct when she tugged tight to staunch the flow of blood. Darkness surrounded them, and the stale, musty air made her think they must be somewhere underground. “Hey, I take my Girl Scouts seriously,” she said, trying to ignore her throbbing leg and the acid fear at the flash of the shark’s eyes and those ragged teeth. She wasn’t about to argue with Trevor about finding a different route out of this realm if possible.

  He let out a long stream of breath and pushed himself up to sit. “Well, we’ve thwarted casino security and a tank full of sharks so far. My guess is we’ll be tangling with a m
utant rhino guarding Alberich’s treasure next.”

  Danica shook her head, a real grin rising to her lips. She sat forward, her breath reaching a normal, cyclical pace. “Was that an actual joke from the ever-broody Trevor Arceneaux?”

  He lifted a finger to his lips. “Shh, I’ll lose my mystique.” Trevor pushed himself from the ground, and Danica couldn’t help but watch the smooth motion. She zeroed in on those powerful muscles with the way his wet clothes glued to his skin.

  He leaned forward and offered a hand. “Come on, let’s head deeper in.”

  Danica accepted the assist up, his big hand engulfing hers. A shiver ran down her spine at the memory of those broad palms wrapping around her hips. A flush traveled through her body. Focus, girl. The whole purpose of their bathroom sesh was to avoid the distraction of his gorgeous eyes and to forget the feel of his velvet lips on hers. Yet she still held his hand. His dark eyes crinkled with amusement as she pulled herself away.

  Danica ran a hand through her sodden strands as she walked forward, leaning on her good leg. She tugged out the pocket flashlight from her survival pouch and cracked it on. The quavering silver beam glided across the cavern floor, all slate and gravel like she expected. She shone the light deeper in, revealing a tunnel.

  “One way forward,” Danica said, leading the way toward the tunnel. Trevor matched her stride as they headed farther inside. From here on out, she had no clue what awaited them, and nerves prickled under her skin.

  They entered the tunnel, which narrowed down from the vestibule they’d landed in.

  Danica hadn’t taken two steps forward when a rumble sounded behind her.

  She whipped around, too late. Rocks cascaded from behind, creaks and crashes as they filled in the entrance. Trevor stood beside her, and they both stared in horror as their one escape route closed off.

  Danica’s grip tightened around her bag as choking dust rolled toward them. As the rocks filled in the cavern behind them. “Well, I didn’t prepare for this.”

  Chapter Eleven

  Trevor watched as their guaranteed exit disappeared in a rain of loose stones and debris.

  His skin prickled at the sight. He couldn’t even broach the idea of remaining stuck in this pocket of the Otherworld, otherwise the panic pounding in his chest would spread out and infect him. He’d crumple like their avenue of escape had. Alberich kept him locked in a cage once—he couldn’t stand if he’d just entered another prison.

  “Let’s keep moving,” he said, leading the way farther into the tunnel. He only hoped Danica didn’t notice the too-fast way he moved as she followed behind. Her lips pressed tight together, and she kept glancing toward the closed-off exit, as if the stones might tumble out of the way or better yet, vanish. Each inhale of the stale air tightened his throat a little more.

  She moved in closer as they strode forward down the narrow tunnel, slate surrounding them on all sides. If he wanted to avoid claustrophobic spaces, this wasn’t the place. Danica flashed her light up, down, and around.

  “You know, I’ve got some choice words for Marisa when we get out of this,” she muttered. “She made it sound like we’d pop right into some vault in the Otherworld, not a cavern filled with Indiana Jones traps. If a rolling boulder’s about to come careening down the tunnel, let it take me now.”

  Her chatter soothed his nerves, even when he could hear the undercurrent of an anxiousness that mirrored his. The sound of her voice, the rhythm, or even just knowing someone was there with him—all of it settled him. He wasn’t isolated behind bars. The impulse took him, and he reached out to slip his hand in hers.

  Danica opened her mouth, looked at him, and then closed it. She didn’t tug her hand away. The feel of her silken skin against his gave him the grounding to calm down as they continued along the darkened path. Her hand was cold from the water, but he’d begun to warm up, so he gripped hers even tighter. Danica’s small flashlight allowed them to see steps in front of them, but the darkness farther ahead swallowed the fragile beams.

  “You knew Alberich for years,” Danica said, continuing to talk as if chatter could combat the oppressive shadows ahead. “What would he be hiding? I don’t even know what the hell we’re looking for in here.”

  “And I’m guessing you hate every second of not knowing, Control Queen,” he murmured.

  “Bingo. Marisa can set herself on fire for holding back this information,” Danica grumbled, her grip on his hand tightening as they walked along.

  “Don’t like a taste of your own medicine?” The words slipped from him before he could help himself.

  Danica’s gaze flashed his way, slightly visible due to the flashlight’s beam. “Guess I deserved that one.” Her voice sounded smaller, almost as breakable as the silver ray from the flashlight, and Trevor swallowed, hard, at the response. “It’s not like I’m not tired of the bullshit manipulation in the fae courts,” she continued. “I just can’t extricate myself without all those connections forged and deals made wrapping around my throat until I suffocate.”

  His thumb brushed across the pulse point in her wrist, the motion coming across tender. As much as she’d hurt them before, she had never lied. And the more he got to know Danica, the woman beneath all the smooth lines and sharp smiles, the more he understood how she’d always been trapped by circumstance, fighting to stay afloat. He couldn’t keep crucifying her about the past.

  “So, you throw yourself into a shark tank, instead,” he responded, offering an olive branch. “Seems like a solid strategy.” Her eyes gleamed in the low light of the flashlight, and he caught the curve of her lips with a grin.

  At this point, his bare feet protested the scrape of the stones along the cavern floor, and cave dust coated the soles. Not for the first time, he wished his combat boots weren’t lying on the floor of the food court back in Mandalay Bay. Though, even if they could’ve, he still didn’t want to head back the way they came. One dive in the shark tank was enough for this lifetime.

  “This tunnel better end soon,” Danica complained, thrusting the flashlight forward as if the beam might reveal more than the nearest few feet before them. “Who knows, Alberich could’ve hid something in the walls and we missed it.”

  Trevor shook his head. “The man’s too flashy for that. If he’s ever entering this chamber to check in on his quarry, he’ll want this place to be aesthetic perfection. We’re looking for a centerpiece.” The knowledge twisted in his gut.

  He’d done the same with his pets, long ago. Trevor’s cage hadn’t been on the floor but an elevated pedestal, one of the many in a ballroom filled with glittering chandeliers and polished marble flooring. One that lay neglected most of the time, while they sat in the dark.

  A steady drip echoed from farther down the tunnel. His heart sped in his chest, and he quickened his pace through the corridor. Danica strode along with him, her focus riveted to the darkness sprawled ahead. The echoing plunk offered hope that something existed beyond the surrounding slate and inkstain shadows.

  Danica directed the flashlight back and forth in front of them. The pads of his feet scraped against the rough surface of the stone, and his elbows snagged on several uneven bumps that jutted out. The farther they strode down the tunnel, the more gasps of gray filtered in at the end, followed by shards of aquamarine and citrine light spilling in from the round exit.

  “Think he hooked up some electricity around here?” Danica asked, an amused grin on her lips. Even in the face of insurmountable danger, nothing would stop the woman’s mouth from running.

  “Didn’t you hear? He’s got a whole sound system set up too—this was an elaborate ruse to get a private show from the guitarist of Discord’s Desire.” Even as he said the words, the lightness flaked away to reveal the corrosion beneath. He’d been forced to play again and again and again, not the guitar, but his voice, as his banshee abilities got used and abused.

  Paces away from the exit, the cavern ahead of them sprawled out in greater detail. Danica pulled her
hand from his to skip ahead, closer to the entrance. Like he had expected, Alberich chose a masterpiece of a cave to house his hidden treasure, a slice of the best the Otherworld could offer. Ocean blue stone descended from the ceiling in hexagonal stalactites, and likewise, the stalagmites stretched up to greet like a jaw, the colors shifting and rippling of their own accord. Fairy lights beamed between the stalactites as the pixies of all shades of gold and blue bounced their way through the cavern.

  “You weren’t kidding about this bastard’s ego,” Danica muttered, rifling a hand through her wet strands. “I mean, I should’ve guessed since Alberich Industries’ main building is pretty dick-shaped, but this is just ridiculous.”

  They stepped into the cavern, each sound echoing through the expansive space like a circular arena. The ceiling stretched so high it grew impenetrably dark above, and water stretched across the center of this place like glass. The shallow pond reflected the dancing fairy lights as well as the beautiful blue stalactites, even while the striated stones contributed their own gentle hues. Somewhere, amidst all this glitz, Alberich’s treasure waited to be stolen.

  Trevor strode ahead of Danica, wandering past several large columns of hexagonal stone of varying height in a golden hue that glittered under the shifting fairy light. His fingers traveled along the cool, smoothed surface. That gilt stone surrounded the pool of water like the rim of a bowl. With its central location in the room, he had a difficult time believing the mystery item would be hidden anywhere else.

  He stopped in front of the water and stared out across the glittering expanse. It stretched to the size of a small pond, but based on the easy visibility to the bottom, the water would come up to his ankles and not even close to his knees. He gazed out across the length, searching for some ripple in the water, or some glittering catch beneath the surface.

  Danica slipped beside him, craning forward to peer into the water. “So, what’s your guess, guitar boy? Think it’s in the middle of this muck? I’m happy to go splashing in the kiddie pool after our dive through Shark Central Station.”