I rolled my eyes. “Thanks, Captain Obvious.”
In a flash of green magic, Victor transformed from a ferret back into his wiry, tattooed human form. He grinned manically at me, his gold teeth glinting in the firelight. He let out a high-pitched cackle. “Ludolf’s got ya tail! Yers in trouble now!” He clutched his skinny middle and devolved into giggles.
I lifted my palms. “Really? I thought I’d been called down here to receive a lifetime achievement award.” My tone dripped with sarcasm.
“Oh, no.” Sacha’s heavy brows drew up and together, his face full of concern. “No, Jolene.” He always spoke in such a low, slow voice. “You’re in trouble.”
I pressed my eyes shut tight for a moment before answering the well-meaning block of a man. “I know, Sacha. I know.” Still, my stomach twisted at hearing someone else speak the lame truth out loud.
Neo, who’d been leaning against the wall, one knee bent, pushed off it and started down the tunnel. “Let’s go. He’s waiting.”
Goose bumps prickled my arms. “Goody.”
Skipping, Victor led the way, though he held no torch, just plunging ahead into the darkness. I followed behind Neo, and Sacha fell into step behind me. I sighed. As if I was going to make a break for it. I’d shown up hadn’t I?
The bottom of the tunnel was also round, the stone bricks on the sides dry, but the center part a few inches deep with foamy, dark water. A few rats and cockroaches scurried along the outskirts, chirping about the best garbage patch and arguing over whose turn it was to guard the eggs.
Our footsteps splashed and sloshed as we moved further on. I rubbed my arms, goose bumps prickling them with a mix of nerves and cold. Though it was late summer, the underground tunnel grew chillier the further on we went. The torchlight cast our shadows along the curved walls and gleamed off bits of metal debris and shards of glass.
I glanced right and left as we passed round openings that led to other stone passageways. How extensive was this labyrinth? I gulped. And would I make it out alive to tell Heidi and Will about it?
“Stick to the main tunnel.”
I glanced behind me at Sacha. He raised his brows. “For your safety.”
I sniffed and faced forward again. My safety, huh? Were there giant alligators down here or something?
Clank!
I jumped at the loud sound and glanced up. A round sewer grate emblazoned with the wave and trident symbol of the Water Kingdom rattled overhead. Footsteps and voices sounded, and the dinging of a bell. We were passing under a busy street—which one?
Were we near my home? I thought of my little corner of the Darkmoon District that I’d always thought of as one of the seediest parts of Bijou Mer. I looked around me at the stone tunnel. My shabby apartment was seeming pretty spiffy right about now.
We walked on for what seemed like hours. Now and then voices sounded, faintly, from down the tunnels but we saw no one. I was almost grateful when my dread began to turn to annoyance.
Arms folded, I called up to Neo. “So… ol’ Ludolf really likes to build the suspense, huh?”
From up a ways, he stopped and held still, but didn’t answer.
I trudged forward, my feet splashing through the sludge. I curled my lip at the splattered hem of my jeans. Great. Now I’d have to do laundry. I scrunched my nose. The water reeked of well, sewage. More likely I’d have to burn these pants to get them clean.
I glanced up at the curiously frozen Neo. “I mean… are we ever actually going to see him or is this just your cute way of taking me on an underground tour of the city?”
“Shh!” Without turning around, he shot his hand up for me to stop.
Behind me, Sacha’s footsteps halted.
I paused too but frowned. Snakes. Could a girl not even make a joke around here anymore?
Somewhere, a water leak drip drip dropped into the stream at our feet. I frowned as I became aware of another noise—a quiet rushing. Then frantic footsteps.
Victor, who’d disappeared around the next bend, sprinted back toward us, his skinny, tattooed arms pumping. “Tide’s early!”
Neo, wide-eyed, whirled around and addressed Sacha behind me. “Where’s the last side tunnel?”
Sacha jogged a few paces back, craned his head, then shook it at Neo. “Not for a while. Well, except for the chute.”
“Snakes!” Neo gritted his teeth.
The roaring grew louder, and my breath quickened. “Uh—what’s going on, guys?”
A line of rats sprinted past, hugging close to the curved wall and heading back the way we’d come.
“Squeak!” Run!
Neo pointed behind me. “We took a shortcut, and the tide’s come in earlier than expected. Go! Hug close to the wall and try and find a handhold.”
“A what?!” I scoffed and threw an arm toward the rounded wall. “It’s curved!”
But since he and Victor were already sprinting my way, I turned and ran too. Neo soon caught up with me and we ran, side by side, the rats outdistancing us.
“A shortcut?” I huffed, arms pumping and feet sloshing through the waste water. “Nice.” I scowled at him.
He glared back at me. “Like you know anything about the world down here.”
The roaring grew louder, and he paled, his expression stricken. “Hold on tight—don’t let go.”
He threw himself against the wall, as did Victor.
I stopped and threw my arms up. “To what?!”
A wall of water rushed around the bend and headed straight for me. Oh, shell.
A heavy hand clamped around my shoulder and yanked me backward. My back and head slammed against the stone bricks as Sacha threw a beefy arm across my collarbone and pressed me back against the wall.
“Bubble spells!” Neo gasped.
Several flashes of light followed, green, blue, and red, as the men cast the spells encasing their heads in bubbles that would allow them to breathe underwater. Using magic—which I didn’t have.
The wall of water burst through the tunnel and slammed into us. The torches extinguished,
