Awaken (23 page)

“How long does it last?”

Zeke hesitated. “I’m not sure. Depending on
what they did to it…”

I exhaled sharply, looking up at Noah.

He was watching me, his face tight with
pain.

“So what do I do?” I asked Zeke, not taking
my eyes from Noah.

He paused. “Come back with me. My people have
doctors. They can take care of you. Fix whatever damage the
Sylphaen’s drug did.”

I turned back, staring at him.

“We can help, Chloe.”

My gaze dropped to the sand beneath me. Of
their own accord, my hands and tail moved, keeping me balanced in
the water.

It wouldn’t be forever. It wouldn’t even be
for a day if I had anything to do with it.

And then I’d come back.

My gaze moved to Noah.

And I’d stay.

I drew a quick breath and then my tail
propelled me upward. With a splash, my head broke the surface again
and my arms moved instinctively, holding me above the waves.

“Chloe,” Noah started, forging through the
water toward me. He caught my shoulders, keeping me near him.

“I’m not leaving,” I told him, struggling not
to wince at the burn of the air on my skin. “Not forever. I… it’s
just for a little while. Till the drug goes away.”

Noah stared at me. “They say there’s no
telling how long that’ll take. After what those bastards gave
you…”

I shook my head, gasping at the dense air.
“It won’t be that bad,” I insisted. “You’ll see.”

He nodded, and then let me go. I dropped
beneath the surface, drawing a grateful breath.

“Chloe!” I heard him yell.

I propelled myself back up, and his hands
caught me again as I broke the surface. His eyes searched my face
as though memorizing it, coming to rest at last on my mouth.

And he drew me close, pressing his warm lips
to mine.

My eyes closed. His hands slipped around my
back, sending tingles of a whole new kind through my skin and
making everything but the feeling of him against me fade away.
Desperately, I leaned into him, never wanting him to let go.
Beneath his chest, I could feel his heart pounding, his pulse
almost as fast as mine.

And then gently, he pulled away.

“Be careful,” he told me quietly.

I couldn’t respond.

“Go,” he said. “Before it starts to hurt too
much up here.”

He released me, and my hands moved through
the water, holding me steady as I trembled with the desire to
stay.

“Go, Chloe,” he repeated tightly.

“It won’t be long,” I whispered.

He nodded.

I stared at him for a heartbeat, tears
stinging my eyes and the air burning on my skin. And then I spun,
diving back into the waves.

Saltwater washed over me, taking only the
ache of the air away, and past the surface, I could see Noah
looking at me.

He nodded again.

I echoed the motion and then glanced
over.

Zeke was watching us.

“Not forever,” I said, my voice choked.

“Yeah,” he agreed.

The other dehaians dove beneath the waves and
swam past us. His brow furrowing, Zeke hesitated and then
followed.

I looked back up at Noah. Through the blur of
the waves, he smiled.

The pain of leaving crushing down on me, I
turned and fled after Zeke into the deep.

###

Want to know what happens next?

Be sure to check out Descend Book Two of the Awakened Fate series Coming August 2014!

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The Awakened Fate
series

The Children and
the Blood trilogy
(published under the name Megan Joel
Peterson)

Join my new release mailing list at
skyemalone.com

Skye Malone is a fantasy and paranormal romance
author, which means she spends most of her time not-quite-convinced
that the things she imagines couldn’t actually exist.

Born and raised in central Illinois, she hopes
someday to travel the world – though in the meantime she’ll take
any story that whisks her off to a place where the fantastic lives
inside the everyday. She loves strong and passionate characters,
complex villains, and satisfying endings that stay with you long
after the book is done. An inveterate writer, she can’t go a day
without getting her hands on a keyboard, and can usually be found
typing away while she listens to all the adventures unfolding in
her head.

Website:
www.skyemalone.com

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Acknowledgments

I owe many thanks to the wonderful people who
have supported me in the creation of this story.

To my family and friends, thank you as always
for your encouragement.

To Vicki Brown, thank you for beta-reading
and for your excitement over the series.

To Tarra Peterson, thank you for your
thoughts and input, and for sharing your wonderful enthusiasm about
this story.

To my mother and sister, Mary Ann and Keri
Offenstein, thank you for reassuring me that I wasn’t crazy in
taking on a mermaid adventure series.

To my husband, Eugene, thank you for
discussing countless plot points, reading, editing and formatting –
and for making sure I actually ate food from time to time, in
between writing this story.

And to everyone who has helped spread the
word about this book, thank you as well. You all are a gift and I’m
deeply grateful for the support.

Blurb

Running away from home was never Chloe
Kowalski’s plan. Neither was ending up the target of killers, or
having her body change in unusual ways. She only wanted a vacation,
someplace far from her crazy parents and their irrational fear of
water. She only wanted to do something normal for once, and maybe
get to know her best friend’s hot stepbrother a bit better at the
same time.

But the first day she goes out on the ocean,
strange things start to happen. Dangerous things that should be
impossible. Things to which ‘normal’ doesn’t even begin to
apply.

Now madmen are hunting her. A mysterious guy
with glowing blue eyes is following her. And her best friend’s
stepbrother seems to be hiding secrets all his own.

It was supposed to be a vacation. It’s
turning out to be a whole lot more.