The Belly of the Beast

Ch. 31, Kiss and Tell

I took a deep breath, memorizing this exact moment, so I could tell Xyla every single detail and answer every question— of which I was sure there'd be many. "You kiss me."

He paused. "You aren't serious... are you?"

I took in the young man before me. Tall, handsome, haunted eyes. Most of the women in the crowd— and a few of the men— were probably imagining those arms wrapped sinfully around them. Why not give the people exactly what they want?

"Serious as a shark attack." Oh come on, not even a smile? I bet the crowd laughed.

"Do I get to know why?"

"No."

I waited. Dagger glanced out at the water, and then back to me, eyes full of indecision. I wanted to laugh, it was all so ridiculous. Then he took a step forward, over the open circle of water, so that he had me pressed against the glass—and the impulse to laugh disappeared as the breath caught in my chest.

He reached forward, one warm hand caught the small of my back, the other tracing a line of fire as he cupped my cheek. He leaned forward, and my eyes closed, as he brushed his lips against mine. A chaste kiss. Even so, I felt it all the way to my toes. I'd been kissed by boys in the Belly, but this was different in every way. Different in all those ways Xyla had tried to describe to me and I had never understood until right now. He pulled back, lips parted, eyes uncertain.

"No," I said, breathless. "I need you to kiss me like... like you're dying, and I'm the only thing that will save you."

He didn't hesitate this time. His mouth crushed into mine, his arms pulling me flush against his body. He pinned me between him and the wall. Even though I'd asked him to, even though I thought I was prepared, the kiss surprised me, overwhelmed me.

Then I heard it.

I unraveled my arms from him with some effort, this time pushing and leading him. His eyes popped open in surprise, but when he saw what I wanted, he stepped carefully over the circle of water, letting me lead till I pressed him against the glass. One of his hands buried in my hair, the other pressed against the skin of my back, holding me to him.

Almost...

The faint buzzing noise grew, and I felt the triumph grow, hot and hungry as his touch.

Without warning I broke away, folded my arms across my chest and dropped into the water.

The cold snapped my ego in half, bone deep, slicing straight to my core. The bubbles cleared just enough to glimpse a group of the underwater-cameras, pointed at where Dagger and I had stood just a moment before. The closest one was only a foot to my left. I grabbed it and jerked it through the water after me, kicking back up for the hole.

My head broke through and I sucked in air, fighting the machine. Its propellers churned white water everywhere—had I been alone I would have lost it. But Dagger reached down, hauling the camera up first and then pulling me free of the water as if I weighed nothing.

My body trembled—with cold and adrenaline both—unable to resist scanning the water, certain that one of the monsters charged straight for our box. But there was nothing but darkness. I wiped water from my eyes, the salt stinging, as I fought back a smile. Bet they've never seen that in a Letter Trial.

The camera lens on the submarine flicked back and forth, its built-in headlight blinding, the propellers churning, unable to escape without water. The camera lens swiveled to focus on my face and I gave the crowd a grin and wink.

"The shark left as soon as the cameras showed up." I lifted the camera and turned it over. "I think it's scared of them. So if we bring it with us, we should be safe." Or we're dead and it doesn't matter anyways.

Dagger knelt beside me. "Can you keep it from swimming away from us? Maybe disable the propellers or— "

I snapped the back propeller off.

"Or just break it," Dagger muttered.

"I'll leave the side propellers, they look like they're mostly for stabilization." I flipped it back over, resisting the urge to take the entire thing apart. "There's some sort of internal buoyancy system I don't want to risk disabling by opening it and we'll have to pull it after us, but it won't be able to get away."

He looked up. "So we swim for the surface?"

I hesitated. "No."

His eyebrows shot up. "No?"

"We swim to the center platform."

"And what do we do when we get to the center?"

"I want to look at the center panel. Then we swim back and come up with a plan."

The two of us turned to look out at the dark water, but without my hands blocking the light, I saw only our reflections side by side. For the first time, we looked like partners.

"Think we'll get that far?" Dagger said.

"Probably not." I shrugged at the same time a shiver shook my whole body. Better than doing nothing though. Even if Yaneli were gone, she'd asked me to fight, and that's what I was going to do. It might have been a trick of the light, but I thought his lips twitched.

"Well, then," he said, "what are we waiting for?"

I steadied my breath and looked down at the cold circle of water, goosebumps raised on my flesh arm. I'd never tested my metal arm in water this deep. "You go first, with the camera. I'll follow."

He stared at the dark circle, then caught my eye, and for one strange moment, I had the bizarre thought that maybe I should apologize for calling him a shitty partner.

Then he dropped into the water, and it was too late.

(SO?!?! What do you think of the plan so far? Better than no plan, I guess ;D I personally like plans that involve kissing LOLZ XD

Also, sorry I'm a day late on updating. Life has been kinda weird lately. It's been super exciting to have my second published novel, THE LAST CITY, out in the world, but I've also been feeling a bit of a post-publication slump. It makes me really thankful to have you guys and this book ongoing. 

As always, thank you so much for being here! Let me know what you think of the story so far! I won't be late next week, but if I ever am, you can always go on my Instagram @h.j.nelson and tell me to get going! lol. 

Have a wonderful weekend everyone. 

Best,

Hannah)