Page 95 of Night's Reckoning
“You did three dives today,” he said. “I did two. Also, I want you up here on the radio. I won’t be able to avoid Johari, Cheng, and Kadek, but they won’t be able to hear what we’re saying. I don’t trust any of them, and I want someone up here I can talk to.”
“Four dives isn’t out of the safety realm, Ben. It’s not that deep. We can get Tenzin on the radio so I can go down with you.”
“You’re joking, right?” He adjusted his belt. “Tenzin on the radio? She’d break it.”
“Night dives are no joke,” Fabia said. “It’s a completely different world down there at night.”
“And we already have lights on the area,” he said. “I have a headlamp. I’ll stay down for thirty minutes, max. But I need to be able to dig in there when the other humans aren’t looking. And I don’t want to clue Cheng and Kadek in on it. They’re the ones who have been swiping artifacts as it is.”
“And Johari? You’re going to need her help to move that rock.”
He paused. “You’ve been working with her for weeks now. Have you ever gotten suspicious? She’s quiet and hardworking. She’s pleasant to the humans and respectful of the crew. Nothing about her says she’s a thief.”
“She turned a rock in to me the other day. She thought it looked like it might have had writing on it, so it could have been an artifact.”
“Did it?”
“No. Just some odd scrapes, but I did have to check.”
“See?” He glanced around. “I’m sure Kadek killed Meili. He’s loyal to Cheng and no one else. He’s annoyed by humans and only likes the ones who defer to him in everything.”
“Be careful, Ben.”
“I’m not going to be by myself. You’ll be on the radio. Besides, no one is going to try anything with witnesses.”
“Still—”
“Stop worrying.” He took her by the shoulders, kissed her forehead, and picked up his fins. “Wish me luck.”
“Good luck.”
Ben walked to the edge of the deck and waited for the crew to open the railing so he could climb down and enter the water. He fixed his mask and pushed the microphone button.
“Fabi, can you hear me?”
“Yes.”
“Going under.”
Ben sank beneath the water and was immediately seized by the creeping cold that slipped along his spine. The water was warm, but far cooler than the air above. He immediately flipped on his headlamp and allowed himself to sink to the ocean floor where underwater floodlights marked the edges of the site.
The lights turned the water an eerie blue green; it rippled like a living thing. Shadow and light were starker in the nighttime, and among the fantastical corals and wrecked hull, the three vampires moved at speeds so quick watching them threatened to make Ben nauseous.
“Ben, you all right?”
He pushed his button. “I’m good. For some reason I assumed they’d be slower underwater. Johari’s a little slower, but not Cheng and Kadek.”
“What does it look like?”
“Honestly?” The comparison was too apt. “Sharks. Really fast sharks.”
“You know, I was hoping you were going to say mermaids.”
“Nope. Definitely not mermaids, though I guess Cheng has the hair for it.”
Fabia laughed.
With the grace of apex predators, Cheng and Kadek moved with sinuous efficiency. While they were still removing artifacts, they were hunting as well, searching the perimeter of the wreck for signs of tossed artifacts or scattered debris before they returned to the hull.
