“Enough,” she said, anger now sparking in her eyes. “I know that you are allied with the black witches. I won’t tell you where Magnus is, so I suggest you forget about that. I will, however, make sure the last hours of your life are as uncomfortable as possible.”

With that, she turned her back to me and slithered along the floor toward a raised platform in one corner that looked over the entire cave.

She reached down to the ground and picked up what looked like a thin tube. Placing it between her lips, she turned to face me directly and blew out in one sharp breath. The next thing I knew, something dug into my shoulder, and then a heat burned and spread through my shoulder to my neck, my chest, until my whole body was stinging. My vision shrouded and after a minute, all went black.

Chapter 9: Rose

Corrine and Ibrahim vanished and went back to check for my mother. When they returned unsuccessful, my father, grandfather and I were panicking.

“Take me back there,” my father demanded.

He stood next to Ibrahim. Before he could vanish, I hurried over to him and so did my grandfather. When Caleb approached too, I turned to him. “You don’t need to come,” I said.

“If you’re going, I’m coming with you.”

And so we all vanished and reappeared back in the area where the monster had smashed into the islet. There were no living creatures around now, from what I could see.

“Allow us to breathe underwater,” my father said, addressing the warlock and witch. “And also make us invisible.”

“We need a plan, Derek,” Aiden said. “If we are all invisible, how are we going to communicate with each other? How will we prevent ourselves from getting lost?”

“We should be tied together,” Caleb said.

“Yes,” Ibrahim said. He and Corrine went about casting the first spell over us—I couldn’t feel any difference once they had finished, but I assumed that I would feel it once I dove into the water. “Now,” Ibrahim continued, “if I am to tie everyone together, we need to decide in what order we are going to be swimming. Who will go in front?”

My father was already ordering us all into a line. He suggested that Aiden go at the back, then Caleb, me, Corrine, Ibrahim, and himself at the front. Standing in this order, I felt something thick wrap around my waist and tighten. It felt like a rope, though it wasn’t visible to the eye.

Next, the warlock and witch made us all invisible. I reached behind me and felt for Caleb’s hand. I squeezed it tight.

“This invisibility won’t help us much,” my father said. “We’ll still be disturbing the water currents and producing a scent and taste in the water. So we need to move as fast as we possibly can.”

My father tugged us all forward and we dove into the ocean. I trusted that Ibrahim and Corrine’s breathing spell had worked—and indeed it had. It was the strangest thing. I no longer felt the need to inhale. It wasn’t a strain keeping my mouth closed because I felt no desire to open it. I wondered how long a spell like this could last on a human body. Hopefully long enough.

I also wondered if Mona had placed this invisibility spell on herself when she had entered the ocean. Kiev should’ve had it done to him too. He hadn’t even given Corrine or Ibrahim the chance to suggest it; he had been in such a hurry to go after Mona.

As we swam deeper and deeper through the dark green weeds, Caleb’s hands rested at my sides. I was still terrified of what we were about to encounter, but his touch brought me at least some reassurance.

The water became less murky as we descended deeper, and soon all the weeds had disappeared. I could barely believe my eyes at what I saw beneath me… a stunning underwater kingdom.

My father stopped swimming, causing all of us to pause. I assumed that he was looking around and deciding in which direction we ought to head first.

It wasn’t long before he started moving again, guiding us all downward after him. My skin crawled at all the creatures that were now in full view. Creatures of my nightmares. Giant sharks, water serpents, more bright red squid, more crabs—much larger than those we had seen on the rocks—and bizarre-looking fish that came in various shapes and sizes. The only thing they all had in common was that none of them looked friendly.

I was petrified that we might collide with one of the creatures head-on. Especially at the speed my father had begun to drag us downward. He didn’t seem to be concerned at all by what we were passing by. Apparently, we were heading directly for the entrance to the kingdom. As we neared it, a merman came into view. He held a tall spear and was prowling around near the pearl-studded entrance gates.

I wanted to ask what on earth my father was thinking as he hurtled so close to him. But before I could, the merman’s spear shot right out of his hand and vanished—I could only assume beneath my father’s touch. The merman looked shocked as he stared around. Then the man vanished too.

Oh my God. My father is taking him hostage.

I just hoped that this would not end in disaster.

“Where do you keep your prisoners?” My father’s voice drifted through the water.

There was much hissing and protesting on the part of the merman, but it seemed that my father was not letting up.

“Tell me,” he growled. “And I might just spare your life.”

I could hear the sound of a struggle and we were all pulled forward and backward several times before my father finally overpowered the creature.

“All right,” the creature gasped. “I will lead you.”