Page 109 of Love & Heart Braking

I put on my mask which was the only part of the apparatus that made sense.

“Forty-five minutes, right?” I asked. That didn’t seem like nearly enough time to get in, and yet I didn’t want to swim in that water for even five minutes.

Bain and Dev set their watches.

“Here,” Gug said to me. “Fenton said these will help us sink.”

She hooked a belt around my waist, and my eyes widened at the extra weight. “Do I want to sink?”

“Do you want to be on the surface?”

Usually, yes. But… fair point.

She clasped a belt around her weight, too, and the others did the same.

Devereaux checked his watch. “Showtime.”

He took the lead again, moving farther left and carrying the swimming shoes that reminded me of a mermaid’s tail. Flippers, Fenton had called them.

I slipped after Devereaux.

He picked his way toward the moats, stooped low. Not long passed before he perched on the edge and put on his flippers before easing into the water with hardly a splash. He turned and held a finger to his lips.

I nodded, joining him quickly and quietly. I pulled on my flippers. We had to keep as silent as possible. Master Dethnel was at the fashion show, and hopefully he’d normally be the only kraken on the property who could sense movement through his suckers, but the other Dethnels would be able to see and hear under the surface far better than us.

I slithered into the water, holding my mouthpiece high. Devereaux gripped my hips and helped me down. Murky, thick sludge covered me to the neck. Gross, gross, gross.

I fitted the mouthpiece inside my lips and sucked. The black case on my chest inflated like real lungs. I listened to the whoosh of air.

Strange.

I could get used to it though. Kind of had to. These swimming shoes, on the other hand, felt totally cumbersome and awkward.

Bain entered next, helping Gug in after. He studied the map again, eyes darting, then nodded twice and took the lead.

He disappeared beneath the mud.

Ew, the underwater part.

Wrinkling my nose, I set off after Bain with Gug behind me and Devereaux bringing up the back.

Huh, now I was moving, these swimming shoes weren’t so bad. They made coasting through the thick water much easier. I kicked and pulled myself along using the weeds on the bottom. Slowly, the weeds lowered out of reach as the depth increased. I only had Bain’s waving flipper to guide me, the water was so muddy and filthy.

He eased up, and I paused until he moved onward, turning right. After some time we turned left. Then right. The water cleared more the deeper it became. The mud was gathering in a thick layer on the top or sinking to the sludgy floor and leaving the middle section clearish.

I could see Bain’s body now and the ribbon from Gug, which was shooting off to the right.

Bain stopped ahead and pulled out the map to take another look.

Another three turns and the sheer expanse of the underwater passages became evident. While close to the surface, the canals were only six or seven feet wide, aside from a few larger, circular entrances that might be where the krakens entered and exited, ten feet beneath the surface, the narrower canals opened into enormous halls lined with long green weeds. The kraken were huge, so I guessed they would need large thoroughfares in their home. Two krakens wouldn’t stand a chance of squeezing past each other in the space, despite the size.

The hall opened into a cavern, and like Bain ahead of me, I automatically slowed at the yawning, black water that extended one hundred feet or more below. Unlike the halls to this point, this part didn’t open to land above either. There was no way out once you were in the middle of the cavern.

Trap.

Were the others thinking the same?

Bain glanced back at Devereaux, who joined us at the front and peered into the depths. He tilted his head, then nodded.

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