Page 84 of Seas the Reckoning

“Knock, knock?” I joke.

The whale’s lips part just enough to let me slip through and past some bristles.

Jackal runs to me through the rush of water that skates across the whale’s tongue.

“Are you all right?”

I nod.

“Yes, there are five sirens out there, of the mermaid and naiad varieties. I had to prove my song was stronger than theirs before they would help us, so I’m not feeling spectacular.”

Jackal growls low in his throat, marching up to the front of Thomas’s mouth. I grab his wrist.

“It’s all right. We’ve come to a truce. They’re taking us to the location where Inktus’s bones are buried, and I think that’s where we can break the curse.”

“Why do I feel like there’s more to this?” he asks.

“Because there’s a catch. We need to swim through an underwater tunnel. It lets out into a cave where there will be air, but I’m not sure how to get you all there. Thomas is too big to fit like this.”

The others have been crowding around, listening in on our conversation.

“I can do it. I can spell some orbs of air around everyone so we can breathe long enough to get through. Another one of my handy new tricks. I figured it could come in handy at the Sea Wench, if any drunken patrons decide to go for a swim and get stuck in a rip tide or something.” Starla stands with her hands on her hips, the assured stance only slightly ruined by the way she wobbles while standing on a whale’s tongue.

Exos scowls.

“How much magic will that use up? What kind of state will it leave you in?”

I’m with the gargoyle, and I hate that I have to ask some additional questions that make me sound selfish.

“What about breaking the curse? We can’t say for sure how much energy that will require. You’re just now getting back to yourself after a day of resting.”

She laughs.

“I don’t know that I’d call sitting on a whale’s tongue resting. This experience is so unique I can’t even think of a good comparison.”

“Even so, Starla. I can’t let you⁠—”

“Leena, you are my best friend in this whole wide world. As such, I know you’re already well aware that nobody lets me do anything. I am getting us all in that cave. I’m not leaving you cursed. And I’m not going in without backup, just in case those other sirens decide to pull a fast one on us. Which means bringing the guys along. Pickles included. I don’t think he’d like being stuck in here alone.”

I shift on my feet, doing my best to keep my own balance.

“There’s not going to be any arguing with you, is there?”

“Sure isn’t! We’re wasting daylight the longer we stand here. Or moonlight. Or whatever time it is out there by now. Hard to tell from inside a whale. But we’ve got things to do and places to be.”

I throw my arms around my best friend.

“Your friendship is one of the best things to ever happen to me,” I tell her.

“Hear that, Jackal? I’m the favorite!” she teases.

“I said one of!” I protest.

Jackal just grins and flips Starla a good-natured middle finger.

They bicker more than Cannon and I ever did, but they love each other just as much. After meeting the councilman myself, I’m even more thankful than before that she had him by her side during her summer and holiday visits to England.

Pickles barks, and I kneel down.