Page 27

Chapter 24

*Cough, Cough, Cough*

~DOLLY~

Cough, cough, cough! The sound of coughing overwhelms me, a mix of my own and Arrik’s. I open my eyes to a spinning room, a strong body dragging me across an unfamiliar floor. I roll over where my savior leaves me, still in my pajamas, wet and gasping for air.

Arrik is beside me, also gasping, clutching his chest, gnashing his teeth as he sputters out the words—

“ It’s on fire !”

There’s no fire, and from our drenched state, it’s clear we just emerged from the motel room’s shallow lagoon. But now, the lagoon is nowhere in sight.

Someone looms over us, his expression darker than night through the narrow slit of my eyelids.

“What is this, Arrik?!” Jeb seethes. “What sort of mess have you dragged me into?”

“Plan D,” Arrik chokes out.

Didn’t he mention something about a Plan D back in the nymph world?

This is the last thought that hits me before everything goes dark again.