Her eyes grew wide. I nodded to Dane.
“Someone already tried.” I patted the pearl at my throat. “For this.”
Dane’s eyes narrowed.
“That’s why you came looking for us.”
“Yes. Things are getting dangerous. And our next clue is something I have to do alone.”
Starla handed her clue to me and I read aloud.
Human-made and human-found, find it lying on the ground.
“This is the first one I don’t get. Obviously, something scavenged, but what?” I exhaled, looking into my friends’ thoughtful faces. “I’ve got to go. Stick together, okay?”
“I’ll swim with you to the top,” Dane offered, swimming closer to me.
I shook my head.
“It’s a one-person job, and you know it.”
Dane’s face was unreadable, but I knew he wasn’t happy.
“Swim fast.”
I nodded, then gave Starla a quick hug.
“Don’t let anyone touch her.”
Dane and Rip nodded. Then I shot straight up, going as fast as I could. If anyone was watching me or knew I had two tokens . . . well, I didn’t want to give them a chance to catch up. I was five hundred meters above the seabed when I finally slowed, glancing around.
A mistake.
Stingrays and sharks were patrolling the area above the Trial. I hissed through my teeth. None had spotted me yet, but I needed to move.
Now!
I tried to imagine myself as dark and murky looking, invisible from the swirling sea around me. I knew it was a long shot that I could do camouflage magic, but I had to try something. The water was getting rougher as I approached the surface. I could see it glimmering above me. A flash illuminated the waters around me.
Lighting.
It was storming above.
And I was wearing an awful lot of metal.
I propelled myself upward as quickly as I could. I felt the cold air as I emerged, spinning to look in all directions.
There!
I was falling back into the water when I saw a circlet of gold hovering high above the steep waves, twenty meters to my left. I dropped back into the water and sped toward it, diving down as I went. I’d need to go down to build up enough speed.
I started swimming up again. This time, I could see the token above me, faintly glimmering against the dark and stormy sky. I knew I was aiming for the right place.
I screamed as a stingray’s tail slashed against my back. I froze, momentarily unable to move. The pain was too intense. I was sinking fast, losing valuable momentum. But that wasn’t the worst part.
My blood is in the water.
It would not be long until a shark noticed me. Perhaps only seconds. I had to swim, no matter how much pain I was in.
Swim, Tri. Right now. Swim for your life!
I saw the shark swerve in my direction as I gathered all of my strength and swam for the surface again. I dug deep, finding a reserve I didn’t even know I had. My inner voice was cheering me on as I burst through the air and grasped the circlet in my hand. I was suspended in the air for a moment as the gold lifted away from my hand, settling on my head. A shell fell from thin air into my outstretched hand.
And then I plummeted, falling like a bird without wings.
I didn’t dive back in like a swan. I plunged into the shark-infested waters like a stone or a hunk of meat. I was too stunned by what had just happened to do anything but let gravity do its work for a moment. Then I saw the sharks bearing down on me from multiple directions.
I could see the thin trails of blood spinning out from my back. That stingray had cut deep, and it hadn’t closed up. I was about to be shark bait.
At last, I woke out of my stupor. I dove, harder and faster than I had ever swum before. I had my weapons, but I knew I could never fight off a full-sized shark. Who was I kidding?
I was chum.
But I tried, if only because my friends were waiting. And I wanted to live. I wanted to live and I wanted to win.
I must have reached some sort of a magical barrier because I felt a tingle as my hand passed through. At the same moment, a snub-nosed shark slammed into something hard beside me. An invisible force field, designed to protect us from the deadly predators circling above. The shark had been going for my head, apparently. I turned back just in time to see an enormous shark bite down on my unprotected tail.
I knew it was over in that instant. I would not be Spark. I would not even survive the next few seconds. I wanted to be brave but I wasn’t.
I screamed in terror and pain as my blood filled the water. I was pulled backward, up out of the protected zone. I was pretty sure it was a great white, like Beazil. But this was no friend.
This was my end.
Say goodbye, Tri. You did your best.
Something whooshed by me, and I felt myself released from the razor-sharp teeth. I was dropping again. I landed against a warm body and was quickly cradled in strong arms, with a voice whispering to me again and again to stay with them. To stay awake. To live.
“She’s awake.”
I was lightheaded and woozy. I clutched my stomach, certain I was about to throw up. I saw Dane and Starla on one side of the bed. I turned my head and saw Rip waiting on the other. Annaruth leaned over me.
“Shh, it is all right. You are all right, my brave one.”
She was working on me, I realized. I could feel pain, but also heat. Magic. I could feel my flesh doing something very strange. It was weaving itself back together under her hands.
“Can you put her back under?”
“No, wait.”
Dane squeezed my hand and leaned in.
“What is it?”
“Did we win?”
He choked out a strangled laugh. I realized his eyes were shining because he was holding back tears. I looked at Starla and she nodded. Her eyes looked suspiciously red.
“Yes, we won.”
I lay back down with a smile.
“I’m not dying, am I?”
“No, Tri. You aren’t. But only because Dane saved you.”
I smiled at him. I was feeling unaccountably happy. I winced as the pain rose up again, but I kept on smiling. I honestly couldn’t stop.
“You did?”
“It wasn’t a big deal.”
Now it was my turn to laugh at him. I stopped pretty quickly because it hurt. The laugh turned into a moan. I knew they were going to drug me again, and I had questions, by Triton!
“So, when can I swim again?”
“Don’t worry, you have two days to heal up before the final battle. And now, if you don’t mind, I think you should rest.”
“Can I eat something first?”
I was nauseous, sure, but I was still hungry.
“No, Katriana. Just rest. Rest and heal. You have a lot of Mers counting on you. More than you could ever know.”
“But—”
Annaruth waved her hand over me and that was it. I went out like a light. A two-legger light, not a magical light. Because those generally never turned off.
Darkness.
It was nearly black in the tent when I opened my eyes next. I was alone, my cot partitioned off with hanging cloth sheets for privacy. It was quiet.
After a moment, my eyes adjusted and I saw the shape slumped in a seat by my bed. His hand held mine loosely. His eyes were closed, barely visible under his hood. I realized he was sleeping.
“Dane?”
He didn’t stir. But a shape at the foot of my bed did.
My eyes grew wide when I saw who it was. My hackles rose. I hated that she had seen me sleeping and totally vulnerable. For a moment, I wondered if she had come to slit my throat.
I forced myself to keep my tone light.
“Thalia. Have you come to see if I was okay? That’s so touching.”
A sly smile crossed her face. It wasn’t a nice smile.
“Of course, sister dear. Why else would I be here?” Her eyes slid to Dane’s sleeping form. “I wonder if you even know how devoted he is to you?”
“He’s my friend. I told you. Maybe you don’t know what true friendship looks like.”
“Friendship, my fins. He’s in love with you.”
“If you say so.” I decided to look bored. Her words were making my heart pound, but there was no reason for me to let her know that. There was something threatening in her eyes, though. “Why are you really here?”
She tossed her shining blonde hair.