I lurched forward, and three of the Enders rushed me. They circled and I spun my trident out, keeping them at bay. The sand beneath my feet pulsed and my anger made a perfect conduit to the power laying below us. Requiem tsked at me. “Please, give me some credit.”
He flicked his hand and the water sloshed forward and around me. I held my breath, even though the earring would allow me to breathe. Vertigo engulfed me and at first I didn’t understand what was happening. I was high above the beach, but still looking through water. Requiem had sucked me into a waterspout. I stared down at those on the sand, their words slurred and distorted.
“Send her to the cells. Let her be with the other traitor,” Belladonna sobbed out. “I can’t look at her.” Well done, Bella, I thought. That was a perfect move. Putting me in with Ash, we could find a way out. At least, I hoped that was what she was thinking.
Dolph let out a scream as two of the Enders picked him up, dragging him out of the boat in total disregard for his wounds. That he was even still alive was a testament to his sheer stubbornness. Finley stepped out of the boat and held her hands out. “Chain me, then. You filthy sea worm.”
Requiem dropped to his knee in front of her, whispered something I couldn’t hear through the sloshing of water, but his lips looked to form the word ‘Mary and me.’ Who was Mary and why would her name make Finley cry? Requiem looked at me as Finley covered her face with her hands.
With a wave, the water pressed around me, forcing its way into my ears, nose, mouth, and under my closed eyelids until I thought they would pop. I was moving, but I couldn’t do anything. Something sucked me down, spun me as if I were in a tornado and then the pressure was gone and I was on my knees in water up to my chin.
Blinking, relief flowed through me as I stood, the water resting just below my hip. My eyes ached from the pressure, but I could at least see. Though, what I saw was hard for my brain to put together. I held a hand out and touched the surface in front of me. The four walls were thick glass, distorted and wavy. Movement inside them caught my eyes. Little tiny fish swam between two panes, oblivious to the fact they were a part of someone’s cell. For all intents and purposes, I’d been placed inside a reverse aquarium. The glass was smooth under my hand, cool and slightly slimy.
Slowly, I turned, the water sloshing, echoing in the tiny space. All around me, on the other side of the thick aquarium walls were shadowy movements. Maybe other cellmates? “Hello?”
A voice reverberated to me. “Oh, a new one! How wonderful. What’s going on up top, love? The cells are rather boring, I must say.” Someone, I assumed the speaker, pressed against the far right wall. I sloshed through the water and tapped on that wall, my mind racing. “Who are you?”
“Pardon me, my manners are slipping! I’m the ambassador from the Pit. Name is Loam. Peta, go over and say hello for us.” Loam gave a blurry wave over his head and a tiny shadow leapt above us.
The ceiling was slatted, for air most likely, and set six inches apart from one another, the fish still swimming within the tubular slats, oblivious to the world around them.
But the ceiling wasn’t what kept my attention.
A gray and white housecat glared down at me. “I hate Terralings. Let us be clear about that.” She let out a long low hiss after she spoke.
I glared up at her. “I’m not particularly fond of cats. They think they are so damn smart. When really they are just rude.”
She gave a sniff and she stalked along the edge of the ceiling. “As you can see— ” she hopped onto one of the glass tubes, the fish under her feet scattering—“I am the only one able to move around, so perhaps you are the stupid one, dirt girl.”
This conversation was getting me nowhere. I let out a deep breath and forced myself not to splash the bedraggled cat.
“Is there another Terraling here? Ash?”
Green eyes narrowed and her tail flicked with irritation. “I am not your messenger, dirt girl.”
I held up my hands. “I’m not asking you to take messages. Only asking whether he is here or not.”
Loam tapped on the wall. “The Terraling died last night, I think.”
His words hit me like a physical blow, and I stumbled back. “No. Not Ash.” Grief and shame, complete horror rocked me. How could this have happened so fast? He wasn’t injured when he was sent down, and it had only been a few short hours.
“She’s crying now. Why did you do that, Loam?” Peta growled. “I hate crying. It irritates my ears.”
Loam snorted. “How did I get stuck with you as a familiar? Ah yes, that’s right, no one else wanted a useless housecat. Remember that, Peta. No one wanted you.”
I latched onto the word “useless” and slammed my hands into the wall over and over. Anything to avoid the reality of Ash’s death. “I doubt she is as useless as you! Where were you when Requiem was taking over? Where were you when he was killing his father and threatening his sister? You piece of worm shit! Don’t you dare call her useless.”
From the other side, Loam was quiet for a moment. “We aren’t to interfere. There was nothing I could do.”
“That’s a stupid rule and we all know it. If you’d done something, ANYTHING, maybe you wouldn’t be in this watery hole!” I was screaming, but didn’t care. Who would hear me that mattered? A house cat and an ambassador obviously more afraid of breaking the rules than surviving.
Peta leapt from the ceiling and landed on my shoulder, startling me. Her claws dug into my shoulders, breaking through the madness that gripped me. “Quiet, dirt girl. Be quiet, there are those in here we do not want to come to us.”