Page 165 of Bewitched By the Sea Monster
Pain cascaded off him—I’d felt it all the way here. Internally, he was withering and wailing, in incomprehensible agony. But externally, fluttering his flapper seemed all the movement he was capable of.
I wondered if one of those runes was immobilizing him.
“I think we can arrange a quick check.” OnValiant, standing with his feet laced through the railing, raising him above Alistair and all the other people, was Rune. Blue magic glowed over the tips of his fingers, casting crevicing shadows over his face, leeching out all the features that had made him handsome and boyish.
He slashed one of his blue sparkled hands through the air.
Alistair stiffened. Cried.
The rune on his throat sizzled, ringing his neck like a macabre glow necklace.
He retched, upending bile and fish all over himself.
“Alistair!” His name came out in a breathless whisper.
No one heard me.
They hadn’t seen me either, as obscured as I was inLegacy’sshadow.
“Nope,” Rune chirped and turned to someone on his left side. “That rune is working—he wouldn’t have eaten the girl.”
Jackson’s golden head appeared at the railing, sneering down at Alistair.
I hate you.I wanted to scream at him.
“We’ll find your girl, Jackson,” Rune boomed. “In the meantime…” He raised his glowing hands.
Alistair flinched.
“I’ll make sure he doesn’t do this again. She was pretty, huh, Alistair? The redhead? That’s why you wanted her? I get it, man. But it’s not cool. So, to be kind, I think we’ll remove all future temptation.”
No, no, no.
I didn’t know what that meant.
But thelookon Rune’s face…
Thefearin Alistair’s heart…
STOP!
My mouth gaped, trying to push the word out.
The sea rushed in, gagging me.
STOP!
I raised an arm. But it threw me off kilter and I went spiraling sideways when the ship tried to glug me back under.
Alistair saw me.
His wild, panic-stricken eye rotated toward me.
“Pippi!” he gasped. “Leave.Pl?—”
Rune drew a pattern in the air with his glowing hands.
And that pattern burned into Alistair’s left eye.
