He reaches for me right as something huge and black thrusts up through the water, connecting with the remnants of the boat. One piece flies through the air, smacking me in the side of the head—
Everything goes dark.
I COME TO AS I’M FALLING. The bottom has fallen out of the world, and I’m tumbling downward with my eyes squeezed shut. I can’t make out where I am or what’s happening as I hover there foran endless moment before gravity takes over. I splat down, landing face-first onto something hard that leaves my bones rattling and the rest of me feeling like one giant bruise.
An unintentional groan pours out of me as I lie there, feeling something rough rub against my skin. At least I’m not dead. Or I’m pretty sure I’m not, since the blow to the side of my head has my brain working sluggishly. I would have thought I’d be in less pain if I were.
Slowly, I peel my stinging eyes open and blink through the blur that comes from having them blasted with seawater. My hair is plastered against my face, making it difficult to see properly, and I can’t seem to move my arms. But I can just make out that there’s something tangled around me, thick fibres that are restricting my movement when I try to shift my arms and legs.
I’m struggling to piece things together since my brain feels like it’s been replaced by a soggy towel. But I think... I think I’m caught in something. I wriggle my arms and legs, feeling rough fibres rub my skin.
It’s a net. I’m stuck in a fisherman’s net.
I’ve had a dream like this before.
Usually, it ends up with my being hoisted into the sky and a handsome fisherman who then ravishes me. I’m fairly certain that’s not what’s about to happen here. The net tightens around me, and I roll with it, landing in a pile on the deck with my arms trapped under me.
“Is she breathing?”
“Cap won’t be happy if we dragged a body onboard.”
I wriggle again and open my mouth to speak. My voice comes out a hoarse croak, and I choke on nothing as I try again.
The netting loosens, and I let out another groan as the friction lessens and it feels like I can suck in a proper breath. My ribs screamat me, but I ignore them, pushing up on my aching arms until I’m able to get to a seated position.
With my hand shaking from the effort, I push my tangled mane of hair out of my face, wincing as I pull at the multiple sore spots on my skull.
My brain feels like an over-watered sponge right now, struggling to absorb information so it’s all spilling out everywhere.
Then there are hands all over me, carefully prodding and probing as Aster kneels at my side. His movements are frantic until I capture his hands and squeeze them.
“I’m all right,” I rasp.
“One minute you were there and then you were in the water. I don’t know what happened, I—”
“I’m all right,” I repeat the words as I peer through my tangled mess of hair at the figures standing over me. Even without the saltwater in my eyes, their expressions would be hard to read.
“Reva?”
I stare up at Torin’s grizzled features. The blonde hair that’s tied up in a knot behind his head, the scrubby beard and the scar that runs along from his temple to his cheekbone. The guy is massive, both broad and tall, with a solidity to his bulk where he’s almost popping out of his damp clothes.
“Here—” He holds his hand out and I grab it to stop myself falling flat on my face.
As soon as my fingers touch his, he sucks in a sharp breath, and his hand drops mine like a hot potato, and he clenches his hands into fists.
“What was that?” He glowers at me, stretching and clenching his hand over and over. “You burned me.”
“What?”
The blonde mountain pulls his sleeve to his elbow and glares down at a small mark on his skin. “You marked me.”
“I didn’t do anything to you.”
But my gut twists horribly as I stare at the mark on his forearm. The same location as Aster and Kit’s.
Another damn mate mark.
Although this time, I don’t feel the same zing of connection as when the other two got their marks.
