The Vampire And The Highland Empath Read Online Free Page A

Roque back up.
    “You got him?”
    “He’s heavy,” she admitted, gasping under the burden as water splashed into her face.
    “Hold him a second.” Alex let go and Edeen struggled to keep Roque’s chin above water, more impossible with the rough choppy waves splashing over them. Alex’s face popped back over the side. The lout was grinning. “Clear the boat.” Unlooping his belt, he ran off toward the back.
    Edeen shoved away from the side, kicking furiously to keep both herself and Roque afloat. Damned skirts fluffed up around them, but at least they were not tangling around their legs this time.
    The smoking beast roared, spinning around and with a high-pitched shriek the boat sped back out toward open sea just as Alex dove off the back, a long bag on his shoulder.
    A few broad strokes brought him to Edeen and immediately the majority of Roque’s weight was taken from her.  
    “Hang onto us.” She nodded, salt water slapping her face.
    Alex laughed. “I’m pretty much committed now. Ready?”
    Edeen smiled, liking his unflappable spirit. He reminded her of her younger brother, Col. “Aye.”
    With Roque between them, they took deep breaths and with a nod from Alex, they dove down. Noise and wind and slapping water against rock abruptly shut off.
    They swam downward. Whatever was in Alex’s bag was heavy, weighting them. Edeen hoped it wouldn’t be too hard to pull up once she found the cavern.
    It was dark. The sea water freezing and stinging her eyes. She guided them along the submerged cliff face, feeling for the familiar rounding and smoothing like the belly of a woman swollen with child, which meant the entrance was close.
    Roque’s legs and arms dragged. The water should have revived him. She could barely see. Though bunched together, the men’s faces were little more than hazy orbs in the dark. Roque’s longer dark hair floated in front of his face.
    She gripped her fist tighter in Roque’s shirt, continuing to feel her way down the wall.
    Here.
    Relief burned through her lungs upon finding the small opening that would take them to an air-filled cavern. The need to take a breath was overpowering. A building pressure inside her ribs. They wouldn’t be able to hold their breath much longer. And Roque? Unconscious, he had not been able to fill his lungs before they dragged him under.
    Pausing only long enough to get Alex’s attention, Edeen slipped into the narrow hole and grabbed Roque by the shoulders, pulling him in with her. There was not much space for them both, but that would only last a little while. She wished she had been able to warn Alex about how tight the tunnel was going to get and hoped he was not adverse to cramped dark spaces underwater.
    Dragging Roque behind her, the rock closed in around them. She felt his larger frame snagging along the grainy ceiling. She could not see a blamed thing.
    She pulled and pulled, the walls barreling in so tight she used her feet to push off them.
    The walls opened, seeming to fall away abruptly. She pushed out into a world of air and the sound of splashing.
    Heaving in a painful shallow gasp, Edeen hauled Roque up with her.
    The dark was oppressively thick. Not just the dark of suddenly snuffed out candles, but a darkness that closed in, burying the world.
    More splashing and the grating heave of Alex sucking in air. Then coughing.
    Some of Rogue’s weight was taken from her and the water pulsed against her legs as Alex treaded water for Roque. Several moments passed while they both dragged in air.
    Roque’s head lifted fractionally. Wet hair swiped across her cheek. Thank the gods, he was coming to.
    “We need to get out of the water,” Alex said. Before the cold numbed their hearts. A tremor rolled through her. So cold.
    “There’s a ledge.” Her voice echoed around the cave walls. Water dripped on stone. “We can climb out. My brothers left torches and flint.”
    As long as she’d known this land, the water levels inside the cavern