A ringing dong swept through the water, audible to my ears, and the kraken launched along the hall on his original path with mind-boggling speed. He was gone from sight in seconds.
Talk about timing.
I was assuming that Soleil and Fenton’s red food coloring had been noticed.
Devereaux yanked me from the weeds, blue eyes blazing, and I was certain fear was painted all over my face. Keeping his cover would have taken every speck of his control.
Bain jerked his head, and none of us argued with his urgency. The sooner we got out of here, the better.
Through the cavern. Three turns.
I swam next to Bain, and he jabbed a finger at the map over the same area I’d marked out. He showed me the screen of his watch. 10:03. 10:02. 10:01. Ten minutes of air.
But we were close.
I just didn’t have time to fuck this up.
Following the pink ribbon stretching ahead, I quickened my pace. The ribbon disappeared through a wall to the left. At the next intersection, I caught sight of it down the next hall. Around the next corner, the love line shot straight forward like an arrow.
Gug was beside me. Her jaw unhinged and she shot forward. This time, I saw the massive charm ball she consumed that the Dethnels had hidden in the weeds. I shivered, wondering what the purpose of the ball had been.
Left.
Right.
The pink ribbon directed me upward, and I followed it to the surface. Gug wasn’t far behind. Just shy of breaching the surface, a large hand closed around my ankle. I glanced down at Devereaux, who shook his head and swam past.
He popped his head above the water, then hoisted himself out, pulling off his flippers. He held a thumbs-up under the surface not long after.
We followed him up, and I shuddered all over as my head broke through the water. I ripped out my mouthpiece, relieved beyond measure to breathe in fresh air—the normal way.
We’d entered a dungeon space.
The only access appeared to be from the direction we’d come. Bars filled the doorways, and I went directly to the closest one, peering inside. “Maligni,” I whispered, teeth chattering.
The red-skinned daemon lifted his head to gape at me. “Cerys Concordia. What are you doing here?”
Gug caught up after kicking off her flippers. “Ligni!”
The daemon shot at the bars, stretching through them for his wife. A joyful melody filled my ears as their love line pulsed with happiness.
I sniffed hard.
“We need to go.” Devereaux dropped the bag he’d lugged here. “Let’s exchange the green tanks.”
He handed them out, then strode to the bars caging the daemon in. He grunted and tugged hard, and with a loud grating sound, two middle bars began to bend outward.
My man had muscles.
Maligni squeezed out of the dungeon cell. Maybe starving him had been a blessing in disguise.
I disconnected my tank, then slotted the new green tank into place. Bain and Gug helped Maligni with his vest, giving him a one-minute rundown of how to use the gear.
“How did you get in undetected?” the daemon said hoarsely. “How did you even find me?”
“Cerys can see our love line, Ligni,” Gug said, tears streaming through the slime and caked dirt on her face. “She followed our connection through the canals.”
Maligni glanced at me and bowed low. “Thank you. Thank you so very much.” The daemon staggered into Bain, who grabbed the descendant to keep him upright.