Sharks. Of course it had to be sharks.
Ambrosia must have realized she’d been spotted, for the sharks suddenly dove deeper.
“Oh no, you don’t,” I muttered. I pulled a lock of mermaid hair from my cloak, as well as a vampire’s tooth. I’d been hoping to snack on that later. A shame.
I wrapped the hair around the tooth, then popped it into my mouth, holding it in my cheeks as a bubble formed around my head. Then I flew my broom just a foot above the water and stared down into the depths of the sea, where I could just make out the retreating tails of the sharks.
I stood upon the broom, balancing with ease as I walked to the edge. I took a breath, then leapt into the ocean.
CHAPTER TWENTY
The water wasmuch colder than I’d anticipated. It stole my breath for a moment before I drew in air from the bubble surrounding my head like a halo. I watched the bone-white dome sink deeper beneath me. I pulled my arms in tight against my body and dove face-first toward the ocean floor, feet kicking in an attempt to propel me faster. But no matter how I tried, I wouldn’t be faster than a shark. Thankfully my cloak was spelled to repel water, and I was about to reach into a pocket for something to hasten my drop when a shape darted toward me from my periphery.
I rolled out of the way as a great white’s mouth clamped over the spot my head had just occupied. As it swam past, I reached out and grabbed its tail, clinging to it. With a grunt, I pulled myself up along the shark’s slippery body until I had a good grip, knees digging into its lower body. My face drew up alongside a gaping hole in the creature’s side, where crabs were feasting on its innards, bringing bits of viscera up to their fluttery mouths with their claws. I looked away and watched the water fly by its dorsal fin as the shark gained momentum, sinking deeper as it was recalled to its master.
Perfect.
Thankfully, the mermaid hair would ensure I adapted quickly to the water pressure. The downside was that it was sapping my energy reserve rather quickly, between that and the spell I’d used on Freya. It was nearly a quarter gone already. It was another minute before I caught sight of the bone dome, and the shark veered to the side, allowing me a good view as we approached.
The skull was massive, large enough to completely encompass the necromancer’s body, and certainly holding enough oxygen to last her a good long while. My own supply would run out once my magic was depleted, so I couldn’t afford a drawn-out battle. Unless this was a decoy. Only one way to find out.
As the shark drew up alongside the skull, I realized that it wasn’t a skull at all, but rather the leathery husk of a creature, its flesh so pale it was nearly white. Its eye sockets had been plugged up with jellyfish, translucent enough to allow Ambrosia to see out of, yet it was hard for me to make her out in the shadowy interior, even with my enhanced sight. A large beak the size of my chest hung open, as if frozen in a scream. That’s when I noticed the tentacles hanging from the head like streamers, impossibly long, covered in suckers that pulsed.
This was the body of a kraken.
“Bloody hell,” I said softly, swallowing hard.
I released the shark and drifted closer to the kraken, reaching into my cloak. I found a naga scale and a tuft of oni hair, then rolled them in my hands and tossed them at the kraken. I would likely only have one shot at this.
I watched the bundle I’d thrown as it tumbled through the water, growing in size and density quickly, then growing fiery like coal, boiling the water around it so that it bubbled. Casting this, the orb at my chest lost nearly half of its reserves to compensate.
The kraken head slowly turned toward the object, but not in time. The bundle slammed into the kraken with the force of a meteor, tearing it open upon impact and ripping it to shreds. A figure was expelled from the monstrous corpse, black and writhing. It seemed alive as eels roiled around a humanoid shape, sinuous ribbons of inky darkness. As Ambrosia righted herself, she looked up at me, head covered by a jellyfish, trapping enough oxygen to get her to the surface and perhaps to grapple with me.
Ambrosia lifted her arms, and I rolled aside as her pet sharks charged once more. If they’d been regular sharks, I was sure they would have hit their mark, but as they were merely puppets to the necromancer, they weren’t as graceful, only as comfortable in the water as Ambrosia herself was. Which clearly wasn’t much.
I propelled myself toward the witch, and she spun, her eels uncoiling and darting toward me, bodies sparking with pulses that I realized were electricity. That was easily remedied, neutralized by Yggdrasil bark, which I crumbled in my hand and spread out before me. As the eels passed through it, they lost their sparks. By the time they reached me, grazing my skin with their slippery flesh, they had no ammunition left in them to harm me. That didn’t stop them from trying, however. Even without teeth, one of them fastened itself to my leg, the force of its bite enough to elicit a gasp. I kicked it off just in time to see the sharks return. But Ambrosia’s attention was divided and the sharks became confused by the mass of writhing eel bodies, attacking them as if they were me.
I was gasping as I turned back to Ambrosia. But she wasn’t where she’d been a moment ago. She was kicking furiously, making for the surface overhead.
I pursued her with renewed determination. My legs were longer and more muscular than hers, and I hoped they’d give me enough of an advantage to catch up with her quickly. I was nearly upon her, my hand reaching up to graze her feet, when I felt something coil around my leg.
I glanced back to find the kraken tentacles reaching for me, suckers pulsing in anticipation. One slithered up my torso and began to squeeze. What remained of its head trailed behind it, littering bits of flesh for fish that swarmed the area below.
I grunted as the tentacle contracted, but I knew if I could just reach Ambrosia, I could end this, and her control over the dead would cease.
The pressure became unbearable, and I cried out as my ribs cracked.
But I’d grabbed hold of Ambrosia’s ankle. Furious with pain, I yanked her down, grabbing her around the middle and squeezing as tight as I could. When she went to suck in a breath of air, I yanked the jellyfish from her head, and she swallowed seawater instead. She was choking, thrashing to get away from me and reach the surface, but I held on tight. Distracted as she was, the tentacle that had been crushing me loosened its grip, and I felt relief course through me as the kraken fell away, floating like a ghost back to the ocean floor.
All at once, the fight went out of Ambrosia, and I knew she was near passing out. I breathed a sigh of relief, grabbing her around the waist and kicking toward the surface. We’d been much closer than I’d thought, and as soon as we broke out into the air, Ambrosia vomited water. She could hardly move, however, and I swam us over to theKorikowithout a fight, whereupon I was able to swallow a tuft of werewolf fur and elderberries for a shot of strength. Briefly reinvigorated, I climbed up a rope ladder that hung over the side of the ship. Ambrosia’s paltry weight clung to me, as if automatically.
When I spilled onto the deck of the ship, Ambrosia tumbled off of me, groaning with exhaustion. I looked up to find the crew of theKorikostill green-eyed, but motionless as statues, as if the necromancer didn’t have sufficient strength to do anything but hold on to them. Therese stood still across the deck, hugging herself, while Freya continued moving in slow motion, sword swinging in a downward arc, as if she could merely cut through the spell to free herself.
She couldn’t.
I pulled out my dagger and carved a pentagram into the wood of the deck.
As soon as I finished, I pressed my hand into the middle of the symbol as I did every time I retrieved a soul for Lucifer. And as always occurred, a portal shimmered into existence. It would open up to a pocket of Hell to deposit souls, but nothing more. I wouldn’t be able to search out Lucifer if I tried, at least not without getting impossibly lost. That was why an escort like Samuel was so crucial.
