Marcus laughed under his breath, slid his mask into place, and settled on the edge of the boat. For a moment he just looked into the depths — a vast curtain of shimmering blue, hiding everything, promising everything. Then he tipped backward and the sea swallowed him whole.
The water wrapped him in its cool embrace, sound fading to the muffled thrum of his regulator. Marcus drifted lower, letting the reef rise beneath him like a living city, spires of coral reaching toward the light, every surface alive with color and motion.