Page 164 of Bewitched By the Sea Monster
Alistair said nothing.
“Onyx,” Rune boomed, “is he answering?”
So Onyxcouldhear him?
I’d have to mull that tidbit over later, when I wasn’t being slogged by the sea.
If Onyx responded, her voice didn’t reach my ears. But Rune snarled, “This isn’t good, Alistair. I’m trying to help you out here. But if you’ve taken this fine fellow’s woman?—”
Fine fellow.
Jackson?
Blegh.
“—that’s unacceptable. Tell us where she is. What happened? And maybe I won’t add this new rune.”
Oh, no.
I pawed at the water frantically, trying to swing aroundLegacy. Alistair was on the other side. I felthim. But couldn’t see him.
And the people on the ship couldn’t see me.
I flailed in the bobbing sea, choking on it, and waving my arms, occasionally coercing my waterlogged lungs into jetting out a squawk. But no one noticed me.
Theyneededto notice me.
They needed to stop this.
But no matter how furiously I doggy paddled, the front of the ship never seemed to get any closer.
“Alistair!” Rune shouted.
And this time, Alistair’s response smoothed across my brain. “I haven’t taken her. I wouldnever.”
“Onyx?” Rune snapped. “Anything?”
Ssssuuuuccckk.
I cried when the ocean slurped me into the side of the ship. My head cracked against the wood, and my knees popped as my feet got dragged halfway under. The lifejacket cut into my armpits, chaffing me raw.
“I’m really surprised at you, Alistair.” Rune’s words barely rose above the rushing of water and the creaking of the ship as I flattened my hands against the hull.
“I can’t say I’m surprised at you, Rune,” Alistair bit back, his voice more bitter than I’d ever heard it.
Push, Pippi!I screamed at myself.Push!
It took everything.
Every ounce of strength, shoving against the ship, scraping my palms on the surface. Straining my shoulders until they popped. But I freed myself from the suction.
Go, go, go, go!
I clawed through the water, forcing it to yield to me. To let me pass. And finally,finally,I pushed myself around the front ofLegacy.
And there he was, floating between the two ships. His serpentine body was painfully contorted, with his neck all bunched in a vertical U-shape, pinning his nose to his chest,while his right shoulder lilted into the water, leaving him cockeyed. As he teetered, he squiggled his left flapper in the water, using it as a counterbalance.
Three jagged runes glowed neon red on his head: two curved above his eyes, the other on the tip of his nose. And bright rouge popping against his green scales gave the impression that he was bleeding.
