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  Destined to Drown

  Flames of the Sea - Book 1

  Nadia Heaton

  Copyright © 2019 by Nadia Heaton and Southern Heat Publishing

  All rights reserved.

  No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  Contents

  Nadia Heaton

  Destined to Drown

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Nadia Heaton

  Preview - Sacred Spite

  Chapter 1

  Get a Free Vampire Story

  About Nadia Heaton

  Destined to Drown

  Flames of the Sea - Book 1

  Nadia Heaton

  1

  Bethany dove down deeper, getting a closer look at the beautiful coral formation. She always loved diving in the Caribbean – the waters were so clear, and the fish were as bright as jewels.

  Her trainer also said it was good practice for her. Bethany was going into her second Olympics for swimming, and while most of her training was done on the surface in a pool, different types of swimming helped to train muscles that might not be used as much in her regular training.

  A bright blue angle fish darted past her, and Bethany blew out another breath of air before starting to follow it. The fish swam to a small clump of seaweed and disappeared. If she didn’t have breathing equipment in her mouth, Bethany would have smiled. It was so peaceful and beautiful down here; it was her paradise.

  She wished her sisters were here, but they all refused, point-blank, to go anywhere near the ocean. Bethany knew it was a witch thing – they didn’t like salt water at all – but she still wished they could see this. On the other hand, it was nice, sometimes, being on her own. She sometimes felt a little left out around Lisette, Fleur and Tristan.

  Though they were technically only her stepsisters, they’d grown up together, and Bethany felt as close to them as she would to blood siblings. Though blood may not matter much to her, it did matter when it came to magic. Her younger stepsisters had inherited the ability to use magic; she hadn’t.

  They’d never intentionally left her out, but it still sometimes hurt a little — watching them use magic when she couldn’t. Lisette sweetly insisted that Bethany’s swimming abilities were magical, which always made her smile.

  A flash of movement caught Bethany’s eye, and she turned to see a manta ray. The thing was huge, bigger than any ray she’d ever seen, but somehow still graceful as it swam through the water. It started to move away, and Bethany followed at a distance, far enough so that she didn’t scare it, but close enough to keep it in sight.

  There was something almost mystical about it. Things deep underwater often seemed a bit mystical, but this was more than that. Bethany could swear it was glowing slightly, its movements almost looking like beckoning motions.

  It swam faster and deeper, and Bethany kicked her flippers harder, tilting herself downward to keep up with it. She wanted to call out to it to wait, which was silly, of course – it was an animal, it couldn’t understand her, even if she could speak through her breathing equipment.

  Still, something told her that this ray was different.

  It got dark as they got deeper underwater. Bethany knew that this was deeper than she should go, but she couldn’t tear her gaze away from the ray. It was mesmerizing, and she didn’t want to stop watching it.

  She must have gotten too close, because the ray now seemed spooked. The amazing creature was swimming faster, probably trying to get away from her, taking refuge in the deeper waters where she couldn’t follow. Only she did follow. All practical concerns fled her mind as Bethany was almost magnetically drawn to the ray.

  This was insane, she needed to stop and return to the surface… but her feet kept moving, and her body stayed angled down. As much as she knew she needed to stop, Bethany was too drawn to the ray. She was sure that if she kept following it, something special would happen.

  Usually, she was more logical about this kind of thing. Bethany had seen many beautiful and wonderful creatures underwater, but she had always kept her head. Not this time. If she didn’t know any better, she’d say the ray was magical in some way.

  The water pressed on her ears, but she ignored it, popping them every couple of seconds, determinedly swimming after the ray as fast as she could.

  It was so dark now that she was struggling to see, but she kept on after it.

  A harsh beeping startled Bethany away from her chase.

  Oh no.

  She glanced down at her tank and saw that the sound was exactly what she’d feared – a warning. Her oxygen tank was running low. She looked up and couldn’t even see the light of the surface.

  Bethany knew she’d messed up, and messed up bad. She had ten minutes of oxygen left, which wasn’t nearly enough. As deep as she was, she would need to take at least twenty minutes to come up safely.

  She’d only had the bends once, and only mildly. Even that mild case had been horrific. Bethany couldn’t believe how irresponsible she was. It wasn’t just pain she needed to worry about – if she came up fast enough to make it before her oxygen ran out, she’d have bends so badly, she’d be surprised if she didn’t pass out from the pain.

  The only question would be whether or not she would wake up before her oxygen ran out. . .before she drowned.

  Terror raced through Bethany’s heart, which of course didn’t help. A heightened heart-rate used more oxygen, and that was the last thing she could afford right now.

  She tore her eyes away from the ray and angled upward, swimming as fast as she could. Bethany swam until she started to feel a dull ache radiating through her body. She stopped, adjusting her equipment to let her stay level in the water, waiting.

  Ideally, she’d wait five minutes, but she only had seven minutes of oxygen left. After barely a single minute, Bethany started to swim upward again, cursing herself for going too deep and not keeping better track of her oxygen.

  The aching increased, and soon, she was being stabbed by what felt like multiple knives in her spine, her ears, and the inside of her head.

  Fighting the rising panic in her chest, she kept going. She had to or she would die. It hurt, a lot. She was in too much pain even to be surprised when she saw that the ray was still with her. Now, it was following her, and her brain was too fuzzy to figure out why.

  Another glance at her oxygen tank had Bethany working her flippers faster, even though her skin was now scorching and she felt a stabbing pain all over. She forced her body not to contract in pain, because then she couldn’t keep swimming. The Mental toughness she’d learned through years of training was the only thing that made her able to force her body to fight through the ache.

  Her vision was starting to fade. Bethany had never been in so much pain, and she knew she’d soon pass out. A desperate glance above her showed that she was nowhere near close enough to the surface to survive this.

  Bethany’s legs seemed to stop working of their own accord. Moving hurt too much, breathing hurt too much – not that she’d be able to keep breathing that for much longer. Right on cue, her oxygen ran out with a harsh, panicked final screech.

  Bethany tried to pull in a breath, but there was nothing. She stared at the slightly glowing ray that would now be the solitary witness to her death.

  As she watched, her oxygen-deprived, pain-addled brain gave her the strangest hallucination. The ray shifted, transforming in an instant. Instead of a ray, there was now a man, swimming fast toward her.

  Bethany blinked, wondering idly why this was the last thing her dying mind wanted to show her. If there really was a man down here, he would obviously die with her. It was still too far to swim to the top on one breath, even if she didn’t have the bends.

  Her chest was burning fiercely, and panic threatened to overwhelm her. The last of her air escaped in a rush of bubbles, and there was nothing to draw in to replace it. She fought fruitlessly not to inhale water, knowing that such an action could only prolong her life for a couple of moments, but she couldn’t bring herself to give up.

  The hallucination reached her, and the man took her face firmly in his hands, yanking the breathing equipment out of her mouth. For a moment, Bethany thought he was kissing her, but then she realized he was blowing air into her mouth. She gasped it in greedily, frantically trying to keep a grip on her panic. If she kept her head, she just might get out of this.

  The man let go of her, turning back into a ray, though only for a moment, just enough for her to see the animal draw water into its gills, its body extracting the oxygen. When the ray transformed again, the man was back, and his chest was expanded, full of air. Bethany let her breath go and opened her mouth. He once more breathed air into her.

  Either she was dying, and this was one las
t gift from her mind to keep her calm as she went, or she really had stumbled across some kind of shifter, and he was saving her. She’d never really believed shifters were real, but as her sisters were witches, Bethany hardly thought it was out of the realm of possibility.

  The man transformed into the ray once more, then back into a man, and gave her another long breath. How was he not freezing to death down here? He wasn’t wearing a wetsuit, he should have passed out by now. But then, they both should have drowned by all logical laws of physics and nature.

  The next time he gave her air, the man wrapped his arms around her and started pulling Bethany upward. She couldn’t help it; she screamed. The pain of the bends increased as she was pulled even higher. He clamped a hand firmly over her mouth for a moment, transforming. Bethany fought desperately not to inhale until he was human again, giving her another breath.

  He pointed urgently upward, and she understood. She couldn’t survive forever on secondhand oxygen filtered by a ray – a ray’s body needed much less oxygen than hers, and while each breath was a relief, it wasn’t enough. They didn’t have time to go up slowly enough to spare her the pain.

  Bethany closed her eyes as the arms wrapped around her once more. She knew she’d pass out, and could only trust that the man would save her. He was her only hope, so she gave in to him.

  The last thing she felt was a blinding pain before her world went black.

  2

  The first thing Bethany was aware of was the burning in her lungs. She coughed, wincing as the burning increased. Her head throbbed too, and she rolled over, groaning. She realized she was lying on sand. A quick inspection told her it was a beach, and it was nearing sunset. Hours must have passed since her dive.

  “Glad to see you’re awake.”

  She cried out, and turned the other way to see a man crouching next to her. He jumped back a little at her sudden movement. His hair and skin were brown, slightly darker than her own tanned skin. Surely, her vague memories of the manta ray turning into a man had to be a hallucination. But if it was a form of delirium, how had she been saved?

  “Wh–who are you?” Bethany coughed again, and the man helped her sit up, his hand warm on her back.

  “My name is Jermaine. I was diving and saw you floating in the water. What happened?”

  Bethany frowned at him. His story made more sense than the crazy idea that he could turn into a ray… all except for the fact that there was just a single set of diving equipment in a pile next to her – and it was hers. No one could dive that deep without proper breathing equipment. That is, unless they could turn into a ray.

  Even if they could, it was freezing that deep in the ocean. Anyone without a wetsuit would get hypothermia and pass out before they made it to the top. The man named Jermaine was still looking quizzically at her, and Bethany told him what she remembered.

  “I was underwater, following a manta ray. I lost track of time and went too deep. By the time I realized, it was too late. I was having the bends and started running out of oxygen way before I reached the top. I would have drowned, but then the ray turned into a man and saved me.”

  She was watching carefully and saw the flicker of alarm cross Jermaine’s face.

  “The mind does funny things in situations like that. It’s not surprising that you hallucinated.”

  “It couldn’t have been a hallucination. I would have drowned if I passed out, and there was no one around but the ray. It was you, wasn’t it? You were the ray.” She couldn’t remember what the man underwater had looked like – her memories of him were vague and clouded – but it made sense for it to be Jermaine, especially when he flinched slightly at her words.

  “As I said, you were hallucinating.”

  Bethany shrugged. She wished he didn’t feel the need to lie to her, but she knew that witches were very secretive about their powers, so she supposed it made sense that Jermaine was too. She’d never heard of shifters being real, but then, she’d never heard of a lot of the things her sisters talked about.

  Bethany was curious, but not really afraid. After all, Jermaine had saved her life, so she doubted he meant her any harm. She’d let him keep his secrets and not push further. It was the least she could do; he had saved her, after all.

  Even if she hadn’t been watching his face carefully when she talked about the ray, Bethany still would have suspected that Jermaine was more than just an ordinary guy. There just seemed to be something otherworldly about him, something she couldn’t quite put her finger on.

  “Well, Jermaine, it seems I find myself a little lost. Can you tell me where we are?”

  “We’re on an island, just a little way off the mainland. It’s mostly deserted here, except for a few deer and rabbits. I have a house not far from here. Can you can walk?”

  Bethany hesitated, looking around. The island certainly did look deserted. Was it a good idea, going home with a man she’d just met, when there was no one else around? She sighed. Even if it wasn’t safe, what choice did she have? Stay here on the beach? It was already starting to cool down as the sun set, and she didn’t like the idea of sleeping out here and hoping someone would randomly show up on a remote island and rescue her.

  She cast an appraising eye over Jermaine, evaluating him. He didn’t look deceitful, but then, many of the best liars didn’t. Of course, he had saved her life. He was muscled, but not overly so. Bethany felt herself blushing as she eyed his chest and legs. He was wearing nothing but a speedo, which left little to the imagination.

  “I won’t hurt you,” Jermaine said softly.

  Bethany tore her eyes away from him. She was strong from her training, and she was fairly confident that while she may not be able to wrestle him into submission, she could at least throw him off if he turned violent. She’d have a chance to get away, and that was worth something.

  Judging by his build, he was probably a fast runner, but not as fast as her. Of course, they were stuck on an island together, and it wouldn’t be fun to have to play hide and seek with him should he turn out to be bad news, but overall, she thought she could manage.

  Jermaine was staring at her, his dark green eyes seeming to peer into her soul. Bethany felt herself blushing and looked away.

  “Well, are you going to come with me, or would you prefer to spend the night here?”

  “I’ll come with you.”

  “Good.” Jermaine smiled and hoisted her diving equipment with one arm. Bethany stared slightly as he started carrying it effortlessly up the beach. Her confidence in her ability to overpower him, should he prove hostile, diminished slightly, though she couldn’t help admiring his strength.

  They walked a short distance up the beach, and a small hut came into view. It was made of wood, and had a couple of gothic-looking decorations, giving it a slightly dark look, but despite this, it still appeared warm and welcoming.

  Jermaine opened the door for her and gestured her inside. Bethany looked around as she stepped in. They were in a small living room, with an open plan kitchen. Jermaine dropped her dive gear by the door and went to the kitchen. He started lighting candles, quickly bringing a warm glow to the hut.

  Glancing up, Bethany saw that there didn’t seem to be electricity here. There was a gas stove and a number of candles.

  “You want something to eat?”

  “Um, sure,” Bethany glanced around. “Do you have something I can change into?” She was still in her wetsuit with just a swimsuit underneath – not the most comfortable thing to be in when you’re not diving.

  “Of course. Bedroom and bathroom are that way. You can raid the drawers for anything that might come close to fitting you.”