Vampirates 1.5:Dead Deep by Justin Somper Read Free Book Online Page B

getting silly. It wasn’t Grace. It couldn’t be. It was just his nerves getting the better of him. He’d be fine. He knew it. João, Loic, and Musimu were there to help him. There was nothing to fear. He had to keep calm.Once more, he repeated the breaths in and out.
    His flippers disturbed the surface of the water and the image of Grace disappeared. Connor shook his head to clear it, then spat into his mask and wiped it clean. He slipped it over his face and then dove down into the water, finding the top of the weighted line.
    “That’s it, Connor,” came João’s reassuringvoice. “Take your time. Melt into the water.”
    Connor no longer found it strange that he could hear João’s voice underwater. All he knew was that its tone was incredibly calming. He found himself easing into a natural rhythm. He reached his arms along the rope, heading down. As his body relaxed, everything felt different. He could feel the slow but regular thud of his heart andevery muscle—from the top of his head down to his toes—as if he were truly at one with the water. Perhaps this was something close to what it felt like to be a fishtail.
    “Well done!” said João encouragingly at his side. “If you want to let go of the line now, you can.”
    Connor looked at his hands on the rope, just above the weight. There was no time to waste. Hereleased his hands and swam a few strokes. João drew up alongside him. “Very good,” he said. “Your lung capacity is unusually strong.”
    They must be deeper than fifty feet now. The water was bluer than ever. A stingray was serenely floating just ahead of Connor’s nose.
    “Stay calm,” said João. “She won’t do you any harm. You belong here now, just as much as shedoes.”
    Together, they observed the rare grace of the stingray. Connor felt as if he’d been granted access to a new world. It was amazing to think that he’d spent all these weeks above the surface of this very ocean. Up there was only half the story.
    Suddenly, he felt a pressure in his lungs. He frowned. He didn’t want this to end. Not yet. Instantly, João wasat his side. “It’s okay, Connor. It’s nothing to worry about.”
    That’s easy for you to say , thought Connor. His head was pulsing with warning signals.
    “Just another few feet,” urged João. “You can do it! You’re nearly at the ocean floor.”
    Connor hesitated. They said that the body was sometimes stronger than the mind gave it credit for.
    “Concentrate on your breath,” João said in his soothing tones. “Think how good you’ll feel when you reach the bottom!”
    Connor saw a bright yellow school of clown fish sweep past him. He couldn’t stop now. He reached down the line, pulling himself deeper.
    “That’s it, Connor,” said João encouragingly. “Just another couple of feet.”
    Out of the corner of his eye, Connor saw that Loic had come to join them. Was everything okay? Shouldn’t Loic be with Jez? Or had Jez gone back up already? Perhaps his lung capacity wasn’t as strong as Connor’s.
    “It’s all right,” João said, sensing his anxiety. “Everything’s fine, Connor. Don’t stop now!”
    But Connor suddenly sensed that everything was not fine.Then he saw Jez—his eyes shut, his body limp—being carried still deeper by Musimu. As he registered the sight, Connor felt hands firmly grip him on either side, forcing him down.
    “Come on, Connor,” said João in the same steady voice. “Do you want to go deep…or do you want to go dead deep?”
    Suddenly Connor saw the ocean floor. But any senseof achievement he might have felt was overcome by a cold flood of fear. The fishtails hadn’t brought him and Jez down here to perfect their dive technique—they had brought them here to remove any obstacles to Bart staying on The Lorelei . They had brought them here to kill them! Did they really need a new captain that badly?
    But the plan was fatally flawed. Bart wasn’tstupid. He wouldn’t stay with Kally if he