Page 411 of The Romance Adventure

“Does this have anything to do with the Devil’s Charm?” Ryan asks.

With a slight nod, I answer, “If you believe the legends, yes. Márcia charmed her way into the Devil’s kiss.”

“That doesn’t seem right.”

“And you think if Jerkovic has them captive, we can spring our parents, and he won’t stop us?”

“I’m definitely hoping he will try to stop us.”

Royal squishes up his face. “The odds of this turning out well are shrinking by the minute.”

I clap each of the twins on the back. “Have a little hope. We’ve come this far.”

But the next hour is a perilous trip through a narrow passage, bordered by two cave walls. The Big Boat’s depth finder circuitry goes wonky, so Magnus remains below, keeping watch through the viewing panel. The other two relay the course to me.

It remains misty and I keep focus on what I can—the boat’s wheel, my breath, and the outcome. I remain hopeful that through this tunnel, we’ll find our parents at long last.

The farther we go, the staler the air gets. The darkness threatens to swallow us until I risk a couple of cruising lights, but that only magnifies the mist that follows us like creeping fingers.

“Stay focused,” I mutter and hum an old sea shanty under my breath.

My brothers keep us on course until eventually, the tunnel opens to a lagoon cave with three different passages ahead. No sooner do I speculate about which one to take than the boat starts to spin. I steady the wheel, but a current tugs us into a whirlpool.

“We need more power,” I holler.

Magnus pushes his way above deck and says, “This isn’t good, but from below, I could see a rutted trench, suggesting other vessels take the middle way.”

My brothers fire up all the engines and like a game of tug of war, we struggle against the spiraling water until eventually, we make some headway with the bow of the boat angled toward the center opening.

When we finally make it through the passage, instead of another tunnel, there’s a wooden dock surrounded by jungle-like vegetation. It’s so thick, we can’t even see the sky. The air is heavy, and it’s relatively dark except for a few lit torches.

“Who wants to stay behind on the boat?” I ask.

I expect Royal to volunteer, but Magnus does, which is probably our best bet. If anyone tries to board, he’s the most capable of fending them off.

“Okay, guys, ready to face the Jaguar?” I ask.

“Do Jaguars live in jungles?” Ryan asks.

“I have a feeling this one does.”

We follow a worn path away from the water. It closes around us, shrouding us in relative silence. There’s a short bluff, and I lie down on my stomach with a view of what looks like an archeological dig site and encampment.

Ryan lowers down on my left.

Royal crawls on hands and knees and joins us on my right.

A surge of hope flows through me. “They’re down there.”

“How do you know?”

“Intuition.”

“Does that mean Jerkovic is too?”

“That remains to be seen.”

The three of us creep down to the encampment. Whereas there was some activity when we were on the bluff, it’s now silent, still. We must’ve been spotted. I calm my breathing.