“Let me,” she said, and somehow her voice rang out clear as day through the water.
He nodded.
Suddenly, warning voices sounded.
“Don’t trust her—she lies!”
But then she looked down at her feet, which were fully turning into fins now, and over at Enrique, remembering the sea witch’s threat to turn him into one of her writhing creatures. She had to reverse the curse. She had to help the sea witch.
She grasped the trident.
Though it seemed to be wedged in the sand, at her touch it came loose with surprising ease.
No electric shocks zapped her.
Then, all at once, the barnacles fell away, revealing a gleaming, golden weapon.
She felt great power emanating from the ancient weapon, but also danger.
Suddenly, alarms sounded. Removing the trident must have triggered them. They had to get out of there before the police came. Enrique gave her a startled look. Together, they swam upward. But his oxygen line got snagged on the pirate ship—and came unplugged. He struggled to free himself, unable to breathe. Then, suddenly, the reef shark darted toward Shelly.
The shark looked agitated, too. Like something had gotten into him. An unnatural emerald light flashed in the shark’s eyes. Part of the enchantment to protect the trident?
The shark cracked open its jaws and zeroed in on the trident.
Shelly tried to swim away to help get Enrique to the surface, but the shark latched on to the trident with its huge jaws. It began to wrench it from her hand as she fought to drive it away. Meanwhile, Enrique struggled toward the surface, but Shelly feared he wouldn’t make it without her help. She could let go of the trident and save Enrique—but then the curse would last forever.
She gripped the trident harder. Please help me, she thought.
Suddenly, she felt power emanate through the trident and explode in a blast of green light that blew the shark back through the water. But the shark recovered—and darted for Enrique.
Shelly pivoted and swam toward Enrique, snatching him just as the shark snapped at his torso and missed. But they weren’t out of danger yet. The shark darted around to attack again.
Shelly felt something slip out of her pocket; it was the nautilus. It drifted to the bottom of the exhibit, where it settled in the sand next to the treasure chest. She started to swim for it, but the shark charged at them again. Without wasting another second, Shelly hooked her arm around Enrique and swam fast for the surface. She saw his eyes were closed. He needed oxygen right away. The shark was right on her heels and starting to close in on them.
Shelly tried to swim faster, but even with her fish abilities, Enrique and the trident were slowing her down. She kicked harder, feeling her fins claw against the water. Finally, she burst through the surface and up the ladder, dragging Enrique onto the catwalk with her last remaining strength. At that moment, the shark’s open mouth broke the surface, missing his dangling leg by inches.
The trident clattered down on the catwalk with a metallic rattle.
The alarms continued blaring, along with the emergency lights flashing overhead.
Shelly turned her attention back toward Enrique. “Come on! Wake up!” she yelled, shaking Enrique. He had once saved her. She couldn’t fail him.
He coughed, then flipped over and spat out salt water. He gasped for air and breathed deeply.
“Oh, thank the seven seas,” Shelly said with a rush of relief. “You scared me!”
He coughed again. “Did you get it?” he asked.
“Yes. But us being here after hours must have triggered the alarms. We have to get out of here!”
She helped Enrique to his feet, and he staggered unsteadily on the catwalk.
While the alarms kept blaring, they hurried back to the entrance, but when they got there, the doors wouldn’t open. Shelly tried the keys and the security card. Nothing worked.
“We’re trapped. It must be a security measure,” Enrique said. “It’s probably alerting the authorities.”
She swallowed hard. “Or my parents.” Shelly felt their time ticking away. Her lungs screamed for oxygen now that she was out of the tank. It was getting worse fast. She couldn’t risk getting trapped or caught by her parents. They didn’t have much time left to take the trident to Ursula’s lair.
Any second they’d be busted. And then it would be too late.
“What do we do?” she gasped. They couldn’t escape the way they came in. It was getting harder for her to breathe by the second. Her mind felt sluggish. She clutched the trident tightly.
“What about the shell?” asked Enrique. “The one that takes you to Ursula’s lair?”
“I dropped it in the exhibit, when the shark came after you.”
They both turned to look. The shark was circling the shell. They couldn’t risk going back into the tank—the shark would attack them again. And this time, they might not be so lucky. Shelly met Enrique’s eyes. She could tell that they were both thinking the same thing.
What now?
The alarms continued to blare in the aquarium.
Shelly glanced over at Enrique; he looked afraid. Desperately, she tried to think of another way out—but they were trapped.
Cackling laughter tore through the aquarium, accompanied by the sea witch’s voice.
“My dearie, don’t fail me! Your time is almost up! Now, fork it over!”
Shelly saw a flash of Enrique again as a sea polyp. “No!” she yelled. That’s when Shelly had a wild idea. She grabbed Enrique’s hand while still clutching the trident with her other. She could feel power surging through the weapon. “To the sundeck! It’s the only way out!”
They ran the other way, bolted up the stairs, and emerged onto the sundeck. Wind whipped off the ocean. The dolphins circled in their exhibit. They knew something was wrong.
Overhead, a storm was brewing—and not just any storm—an unnatural storm. Bright lightning pulsed in the dark sky, lighting up the clouds, while the ocean grew turbulent. In the
