Page 15 of Claimed
“That would indeed be a travesty.” Nevertheless, Stefan kept his arm around Nicki as he swiped for his phone. He connected on the third try.
“Sir,” he said as Nicki went silent in his arms.
“How much of a briefing have you had on Nicki’s physical capabilities?”
Clearly overhearing, Nicki sucked in a soft breath beneath him, and even Stefan blinked. Then his own adrenaline jacked as her hands slid down his waist, swirling to the front of his trousers to where his erection tented his trousers. “Extensive, sir. Everything is well in hand.”
Whether it was something in his voice or Cyril understood that this wasn’t an avenue to pursue, the advisor moved on. “Very well. Let her know there are both wet and dry suits in her size aboard, but the tanks aren’t sized for someone of her frame. She’ll need to stick to snorkeling. Also, there are several otherissues to discuss in terms of what she should and should not do once you reach Alaçati?—”
Nicki stood back with a forced smile on her face. He frowned at her, but she now regarded him far too seriously.
“Problem?” he mouthed, and she shook her head, leaning up to kiss him on the cheek.
Then she was gone.
Nine
Nicki rushed back to her stateroom, her heart squeezing in her chest.
Back off, back off, back off!she implored herself. Her deep breathing didn’t help until she closed the door behind her.
Did Cyril know somehow about her dizzy spells? She put her hands to her face, willing herself to relax as she tried to recall exactly what she’d overheard. The girls wouldn’t have said anything—she knew they wouldn’t have. But if Cyril somehow had reached out to her parents…
No. No he couldn’t have. There’s no way he’d let her continue on the mission if he suspected her heart might go out on her. She was overreacting. Again.
“It’s okay…it’s okay.” Nicki blew out a long breath, smoothing her hands over her head. Stefan hadn’t pursued the question, so all she needed to do was stay out of his way. She’d tell him about her fears—eventually. There was no need to yet. Not so soon after Cyril’s almost-bombshell. Especially since he’d just unloaded all the juicy details of his demigod status. He’d be uneasy around her, too, at least for a little while.
She had time.
Squaring her shoulders, she walked over to the small workstation in her stateroom and booted up her computer. As the screen lit up, she thought about what Stefan had said—and how she felt about it. She knew she should feel something beyond simply that it was super cool. The man could live for hundreds of years! Who did that? Nobody outside of Oûros, she was pretty sure. Hell, he’d outlive her by alot?—
Even as those words hit her brain, she rolled her eyes. Who cared how long he could live? She barely knew the man, and they weren’t a thing. They weren’t even a half-thing. Well, maybe a half-thing. Demi-thing? She grinned. Yeah, that.
With a final chuckle, she shook her head and bent to her work.
They reached the tiny island off the coast of Turkey close to midnight, but a storm had blown up late in the day from the southern Aegean, and the sea was too rough to allow for diving. After she’d finished her blogs for the day, Nicki used the time to go over the gear. She’d need a wetsuit, even for snorkeling. It was only June, and the Aegean would be too cold for comfort if she and whoever tag-teamed with her stayed in the water for any length of time.
Stefan remained tied up with Cyril for most of the night, as far as she could tell. Despite his dismissal of the idea, apparently he was a necessary component to the functioning of the Oûros government. Either way, the following morning Nicki marched resolutely up to the deck, carrying her underwater camera in its case. She wasn’t going to be underfoot, she wasn’t going to be in Stefan’s way. That was her promise, and she was sticking to it.
Stefan hadn’t, however, specifically forbidden her from exploring underwater. So at least this glorious morning wouldn’t be a total loss.
After checking her own gear, Nicki rubbed her sternum absently as she once more studied the last and most importantpiece of equipment, the underwater camera. As Kristos had promised, it was state of the art, featuring all the bells and whistles for shooting high-definition action. So if there were any really fast fish out there, she was ready.
“Everything up to your standards?”
Nicki jumped, though she’d been half-expecting Stefan to check in before he and his team left the boat for the scavenger encampment. Now his presence filled the small deck as he strode toward her. He was dressed in loose pants and a microfiber shirt, as always cool and unflappable, while she could feel her skin begin to prickle beneath her swimsuit and water pants, heat flushing through her in waves.
“It’s great!” she said, too loudly, then modified her tone. “It’s great. I thought you were gone already.”
“I have two teams out already,” he said. “Depending on what they find, I’ll go—or we’ll go.” He eyed her. “Cyril contacted me again an hour ago, saying that the viewership of your videos was at a clip large enough to appear legitimate, and the more we could feed of every stop, the better, as long as we didn’t run into any problems.”
He delivered this information neutrally, and Nicki frowned. “Is that a good thing or a bad thing, that the posts are working?”
Stefan’s lips quirked up. “For your role as cover, I would say it’s a good thing.” He gestured to the equipment. “And for the moment, it affords us a few hours to try out all the toys Kristos sent along.”
Us?Nicki stared as Stefan slicked out of his shirt. She’d seen the man in swim trunks before, but he’d already been in the water at the time. For some reason, having him standing right in front of her, dry and half-naked was kicking everything in her body up a few notches. He stopped, seemingly concerned by her staring. “You didn’t think I’d let you go in alone, did you?”
“What? No,” Nicki blurted. “I mean, I thought you were gone, that one of the crew members would go with me.”