A hideous screech echoed up behind us. “Get back here, you raggedy bitch!”
“Faster!” Cress shouted behind us, pushing me. “She’s following!”
The terrifying clatter of bones on rock sounded like it was coming from all around us; I glanced down and watched the sea witch as she squeezed her enormous body up through the trench, knocking old bones loose, her silver-blue tentacles stretching towards us, reaching closer and closer.
“I’m going to filet you alive and make shish kabobs out of your ass!” she screamed. “Howdareyou use my own powers on me? That friggin’hurt!”
Donovan tugged me hard, pulling me up. “Take her,” he ordered Cress. She grabbed my hand and kicked away. He whirled around, tugged a metal object out of his leather pants, put it to his lips, whispered, and tossed it down into the trench just as one giant tentacle shot out, coming straight towards him?—
The metal thing flashed bright green and exploded.
The sea witch screamed.
“Go!” Donovan roared over the rumble of rockfall around us; the trench was collapsing. I kicked harder than I’d ever kicked before as the walls on either side of us gave way, tumbling inwards, sucking us down. Oh good grief, this was hard. I was too tired; we were going to be buried under a million tons of rock under the sea…
We popped out into the clear, brilliant blue open ocean, leaving the muffled curses of the sea witch behind us.
Chapter
Twelve
My feet squelched, making fart noises in my fancy shoes as I power-walked back to the office. There was nothing I could do about it, though. I’d wrung out my skirt and jacket as best as I could. The fabric of my shirt still clung to me.
“Chosen,” Donovan murmured from beside me. “You do not have to go back to your place of employment.”
I swallowed roughly, a sickening fear churning in my gut. “Yes, I do, Donovan. You don’t understand. I’m so late. I’msolate.” My hands shook. I was going to get fired. “Please… just let me be.”
“As you wish.” He drifted back behind me.
God, I was tired, bone tired, exhausted, and absolutely sick to my stomach. Only five minutes ago, I popped back to reality in the bathroom at the Karaoke Cove, panting in fear and absolutely soaked from head to toe.
My phone was dead. And I had no idea how long I’d been out for.
The whole thing had obviously been the wildest hallucination—the worst one I’d ever had. But this part—the aftermath—was like a nightmare, one of those recurringdreams where you’re late for something important, a flight, or an important client meeting, but your phone isn’t working, the calls won’t connect, you can’t find the right contact in your contact list to ask for help…
I raced down the block, arms pumping, heading for my office, and saw the digital clock outside the bank flash the time in big red numbers. Five-oh-nine.
Oh, no. No no no.
I’d been gone for almost five hours. I disappeared at lunchtime and hadn’t gone back. The workday was already over.
I was going to get fired.
No job, no money. No money, no apartment. No apartment, I was homeless, living on the streets, trying to survive in shelters…
No. I had to get back to the office and put things right. Everyone else would have gone home, but Yvette would still be there. She was putting in extra hours to smooth the transfer from her Department Manager role to Executive. I had to find her, I had to explain?—
What? What the hell was I going to tell her? That I’d lost my mind in the ladies at a scummy basement karaoke bar, blacked out, and splashed around on the wet floor like a dying fish for five hours?
I had to try. I had to trysomething. Panting, I rushed into the lobby of the building, dodging the last of the office workers pouring out of the elevators, skidding on the smooth black marble floor. I slapped my security pass on the reader, waving at Luis as he called out to me from the desk. “Susan! Hey, Susan, Wait! You have to sign?—”
“Sorry, Luis, I have to run!” I bolted for the elevators, hit the button for my floor, and tapped my foot impatiently as we rose upwards.
Emptiness surrounded me. Even Donovan and Cresshad abandoned me. I couldn’t feel them next to me. I was alone.
The doors dinged and slid open. The floor was in almost complete darkness—there, Yvette’s light was still on in the corner fishbowl office, right on the other side of the floor. I could see her sharp salt-and-pepper bob bent over her laptop.
I hurried over, dread sinking into the pit of my stomach. How was I going to explain myself?
