“She wanted to convince Medusa to help end the war.”
Spio opened his mouth, but nothing came out, so he closed it.
“Medusa refused to help,” I said. “But the trek wasn’t a total waste.”
Given that Spio was Lysi’s closest friend, I decided to relay everything the queen had told us about Adaro.
“So he never did find his father?” said Spio. “Dang. I’d feel bad for the guy if he wasn’t such a jerk.”
I said nothing. It was hard to imagine any universe in which I could feel sorry for Adaro.
We found another air hole and surfaced. There was no arrow—but it hadn’t been long, so maybe Lysi hadn’t breached here. We kept going.
“Now you’re going to find him, right?” said Spio. “You’re going to get him when he can’t fight back?”
I hesitated. Our plan was to go back to Kori Maru, first. But did we need to? The Reinas had been no help to us, anyway.
We’d spent enough time waiting. It was time to take action.
“Yes,” I said firmly.
Spio raised his webbed fists in victory. “Any idea where he goes?”
“All we have to go on is his pattern of attacks, which isn’t even much of a pattern.”
As we swam side-by-side, I drew an invisible outline of the Pacific Ocean with my fingers and did my best to explain where Adaro had targeted so far.
“Interesting,” said Spio. “Have you heard of the Bermuda Triangle?”
“Yeah, of course. Why?”
“It would appear there’s some kind of similar triangle of death in the Pacific Ocean. Except this one ends in people being eaten by a giant serpent.”
“I wouldn’t call it a triangle.”
We found another gap ahead and surfaced. There was another arrow. Spio made me high-five him. We adjusted our course and continued.
“Once we find him, I think we should get him with a wooden stake,” said Spio. “Or fire. I don’t know. What’s the most creative way you’ve seen a human die?”
I grinned. Finally, someone to share my dark daydreams with.
Before I could put my gruesome ideas into words, something large hit my senses from ahead. Spio and I stopped. It couldn’t be Lysi; it was much too big.
Several possibilities flashed across my mind, from a ship, to an army, to a massive school of sardines. Then it occurred to me that it was a singular presence.
“Spio, is that a whale?”
He nodded. “Don’t worry. You’ll be safe with me beside you. Not like if you were by yourself. It’s mating season, which means the males can’t tell the difference between you and a female whale.”
I cast him a look of horror.
“Nobody told you?” he said. “Yeah, you need to be careful this time of year. If one comes after you, best thing to do is play dead.”
When I kept staring, he said, “I’m kidding, Meela.”
I smiled in spite of myself.
“Come on,” he said. “Let’s dive. We still don’t want to cross paths with it.”
