I’d expected to be at this for a while, but after several pumps, I stopped as Jessie started coughing and gasping for air. I sat up, hoping to avoid giving her a heart attack the second she opened her eyes, and listened to her heart beat. It raced for several seconds, then slowed as her breathing normalized.
“Jessie, what are you doing here?”
Her eyes popped open and she did a full-body flinch. “Good god! You scared the crap out of me.” She relaxed her limbs and lay there, catching her breath a second time.
“What are you doing here?”
“I’ve come to rescue you. Rhode said you were being held prisoner.”
“You saw her, too?”
“She sent me to help you escape.”
“Escape how?”
“I’m Amphitrite’s avatar. Apparently I’m the only one who can help.”
“And how are you going to use said status to get me out? I’m blocked off from all exits.”
Jessie thought a moment, then shrugged. “I don’t know. I hadn’t thought that far ahead. Are the naiads gone?”
I bowed my head and closed my eyes, and let out a resigned sigh. “At least you came alone. I’d have my hands full trying to protect a bunch of you.”
“I was supposed to come with Jacobi but I refused.”
I snapped my eyes open. Jessie looked at me, unfazed by what she just said. “What?”
“Rhode wanted me to bring him as a trade for you. The naiads said it would really piss Amphitrite off if I just took you and left without giving something in exchange.”
I digested her words a minute. Jessie had disregarded direct instructions from a goddess, yet had found a way to bypass that and reach me. That took some gall, along with a healthy dose of either courage or stupidity. I leaned more towards stupid, since she’d arrived inside the mouth of a water serpent for crying out loud. Rhode had probably wanted to trade prisoners in hopes of pissing her mother off a little less for helping me.
Jessie sniffed a saturated arm and crinkled her nose. “Oh, god. This isn’t water! What am I—oh, gross!” She bolted to her feet and started for the pool.
I stuck my clawed hand in her path. She flung up her hands but managed to stop herself before running into me. “Don’t bother. It’s blocked off.”
“What do you mean?”
“It’s solid, like back in the cave. That’s the exit right there. Now hold still and hold on. I’ll rinse you off.” I held out a finger and pointed to the water vein with my other hand. She looked at vein, then, realizing what I wanted, clutched my finger with her minuscule hands. She studied my features with open wonder, but disgust with her own hygiene crinkled her nose again and made her grimace. I pulled water with a minor hand gesture and gave Jessie the spin-rinse treatment I’d given myself the day I regained my faculties. I had to be careful not to put too much will into my command over water, lest I send her body flying. My demon form was exponentially more powerful.
Once I figured Jessie’s lungs were burning for a gulp of air, I let the water suck itself back into the vein. Jessie took several deep breaths.
“Feel clean?”
She sniffed a sodden shoulder. “I think so. I don’t smell anything anymore.” She took in the cavernous hall, admiring its beauty, like I had the first time I’d come here.
“By the way, I appreciate you not bartering my crew for my release. I know Jacobi has been anything but kind, but I don’t think even Tethys would deserve that kind of punishment.”
“He got what he deserved,” Jessie said coldly.
“That he did. And this brings me to my next question. How were you supposed to get me out, even with the trade?”
“We never covered that in the conversation. When I refused, they just warned me that it’d be very dangerous to help you like this.”
“As I see it right now,” I said dryly, “you’re just prisoner number two.”
She studied me a moment. “Well, I just got here. I haven’t even tried looking for a way out yet. I’m positive I can get you out of here.”
She was so convinced that I almost believed her. I wanted to believe her but I didn’t want to get my hopes up.
“You said this is the exit, right?” She pointed at the pool.
“Yes, but it’s blocked off.” I stepped out onto the middle of the unyielding pool to demonstrate my point. “You’re gonna have to find another exit and hope it doesn’t seal up before you can get through.” The sight of all those halls covering up had dissuaded me from taking another lap around the chamber. Once was demoralizing enough.
Jessie walked up to the lip of the pool and stopped, studying the water and its murky depths. The pool was hollowed out rock with ridged sides and clear water that got very dark in the middle.
Jessie looked up at me, gaze full of empathy. “This must be torture for you. How long—?” She’d taken a step out over the water. Instead of stopping on the surface, her boot sank right through. Her eyes widened and she flung out her arms right before she splashed in.
Alarmed, I ran over to her and kneeled before where she fell through. She flailed her arms and her head popped above the surface. I plucked her up and my giant demon body splashed in to join her.
I reflexively shifted into my aquatic form and one flick of my tail brought us back to the surface. Back to the surface. I looked down the cavernous hall from my new perspective. After all that brooding, holding Jessie had freed me. I cupped her in both hands and waited for her to finish spitting out water and wiping it from her face.
“Well that was unexpected,” she said. “At least this answers how I’m getting you out.”
I glanced into the depths, then down the empty hall. “This can’t be all it takes.”
“Sometimes things are simpler than you’d expect.”
“Not this. Rhode wouldn’t lie to you about it being dangerous to come rescue me. This is too easy. There has to be a catch.”
“Well then let’s leave before danger finds us.”
Sound logic there. I pulled her closer.
“Please don’t put me in your mouth!”
I looked her tiny frame up and down. “Are you kidding? You think I’d put you in my mouth after where you’ve been?” I cradled her against my chest, then sent a tendril of water down the hall and retrieved my trench coat. Jessie draped it over an arm. “Now don’t freak out. I’m putting you in an air bubble, so let’s hope Rhode overestimated how dangerous this’ll be.” I wasn’t counting on escaping without some sort of confrontation. There was no way. Amphitrite would notice before long, if she didn’t know already.
Jessie curled up against me and I held her protectively in both hands, she who’d overcome so many crippling fears to arrive at this moment. I was indebted to her.
I sank below the surface, forming a dome of water against the palms of my hands, encasing Jessie in what I hoped would be enough air to get her to the surface. She tensed until we were fully submerged, then relaxed a little when she realized she could keep breathing freely. I rolled forward and entered the dark tunnel, head first. We went from calm lighting to pitch black in seconds. Worried about how frightening being in this claustrophobic place full of water, I sent a reassuring thought Jessie’s way. Just hold tight. I’ll make this as quick as possible. Somehow, I sensed her suddenly feeling shocked.
Am I going crazy, or did I just hear you speak in my head?
I stopped swimming and looked at my bubble-wrapped cargo. I could sense her electromagnetic pulse more than I could see her vague outline. She was staring up at me with open awe. I guess this explains why Rhode wanted me in demon form.