Donovan let out a groan.
“Apparently, yes.”
Hyacinth’s eyes lit up, and her cherry-colored lipscurved up in a big smile. “Oh. Oh, okay. That’s fine, then. If you want to pop into the portal and go and visit the sea witch, you’re more than welcome.”
I frowned. “Something tells me that I suddenly don’t want to go and see the sea witch.”
“No, you don’t,” Hyacinth said, her tone gloating.
“And why is that?”
“She’s going to eat you.”
“Oh.” I hesitated a moment, then shrugged. “I can’t imagine being eaten by an imaginary sea witch would be too painful. Let’s just get on with it, shall we?”
Hyacinth pouted again, obviously not getting the required terrified response. After a minute, she brightened. “If you must go, I’ll take you right to her lair myself.”
Donovan moved close to me, looming over my shoulder. “Cress and I have a plan to infiltrate her domain, Chosen. We were going to break in, steal the stone, and have you close it.”
My irritation spiked. “I don’t knowhowto close stones.” I shook my head, frustrated. “You know, if this was a real-life team project, you would be a terrible team coordinator, Donovan.”
Cress bristled, one hand on the sheath of her dagger. “The prince commands an army of fifty thousand fae warriors,” she snapped. “His leadership is exemplary. How dare you?—”
“When you want people to work together as a team, you have to provide communication and training. In this case, both have been non-existent,” I told her, meeting her furious stare calmly. “We both know you’re not going to stab me, Cress, so maybe take a couple of deep breaths instead, okay?”
Actually, that was a good idea. I took one of my own, hoping everyone would just disappear. When they didn’t,I glared at them. “Look, I don’t mean to be rude, but I have to wrap up this little episode quickly and get back to work. Can we just flop around here in the ladies’ room and pretend to be swimming, and then I’ll fight an imaginary sea witch with my magical powers and get back to work?”
Hyacinth peered at me, tilting her head. “You are quite mad. Did you know that?”
“Yes.” I nodded. “Come on, let’s get this over with. Where’s the portal?”
“Here.” She pointed at the toilet bowl.
I frowned. “Not a chance in hell.”
“You wanted it, girlfriend, so you got it. It’s the only portal in a fifty-mile radius. Why do you think I spend so much time in the Karaoke Cove?” She pointed. “If you want to go to the mer realm, you need to dive into the bowl.”
This was getting ridiculous. “How about you go first?”
She chuckled. “You want these two sexy brutes to come with you don’t you? Well, you have mer blood so you can pass through the portal, but they’ll have to hold on to one of us to go through.” She pointed at Cress, who was still glaring at me. “I’ll tell you what, I’ll take Lara Croft here first, and you follow with her big scary boyfriend.”
“Ugh. Fine.”
She reached out and grabbed Cress by the shoulder. “Let’s go.”
Suddenly, Hyacinth jumped high into the air, leaping towards the toilet bowl, and hit the starfish pendant around her neck at the same time. A pulse of energy punched me, surging through every atom in my body.
I gasped. Before I could believe what I was seeing, there was a flash, and an enormous red glittering tail splashed down into the bowl instead of legs. The bowl expanded with split-second timing; the water sparkled a fiery blue,swallowing Hyacinth, who pulled Cress down head-first with her.
They both disappeared.
I gaped down into the bowl.
Donovan nudged me gently. “We must follow quickly, Chosen, or we may lose them in the currents.”
“Oh…. kay.” My body wasn’t obeying me, though. I couldn’t move.
“Come.” Very gently, he reached out and took my chin, turning my head so I was facing him. “Don’t be afraid. I will protect you.” He slipped his hand into mine, his firm, strong fingers holding me with a sure grip, and jostled me into position in front of the bowl. “Jump.”
