Page 25 of Coral Prince Conundrum (Runaway Prince Hotel #1)

He almost drowned, and now he’s injured. The sharks could have feasted on him. I almost lost the love of my life. “Daryl…”

“Guess…I’m going to need some aquatic aerobics,” he says with a wry, exhausted smile. I let out a pained laugh and then sit next to him.

“Come on, let us get you out of here. I am never letting you near a whirlpool again.”

He shakes his head. “It wasn’t just a…whirlpool.” His breathing is labored. I need him to get back to a hospital, and I hope my medical team can treat a surface-dweller.

“What?”

“Someone…did this to me,” he says in a raspy tone. “And Drakey. Is he dead?”

I shake my head and cradle him close to me. “No. He’s alive, barely. But we need to get you home.”

Daryl coughs. “A water mystic. She…did this to me.”

My pulse pounds at the confirmation that yes, this was an assassination attempt. I nod and say, “Everything will be alright. We’ll…get you home. Home with me. I’ll take care of you, Daryl.”

I hold him close, and Pelly squawks again. I laugh and whistle for her to return home. She flies away, but as she gets to the cave entrance, a water bubble traps her.

Huh ?

In the distance, a silhouette blocks the light of the tunnel. The water bubble flies off, and Pelly’s gone. My precious bird might be dead, and the danger looms closer.

“I cannot let you do that,” my sister says. She waves her hands, and the water beneath us flies up. Daggers of dark ocean water hit the already crumbling ceiling of the cave.

“Priya, what are you doing?”

She waves her hands, her mastery of water-bending ever present. The liquid flying up like a knife is stronger, more precise than I could ever make it.

“What is going on? Stop! The cave could collapse!”

“That is the point,” she says. She steps forward and does her maneuvering again. Pebbles rain down from above, and the walls shake.

“Priya, you’ll kill us!” I shout. I glance back at Daryl, his hands in coat pockets.

“I never wanted to kill you, brother. Only him.” She scowls at us, then continues to shoot water daggers up above.

“Wha…what?!” I step forward, but I refuse to be too far away from Daryl. My pulse continues to rise. “You…hurt Daryl? And Drakey?”

“Small prices to pay.” She maneuvers her hands, left then right, up and down, and her abilities shoot more water upward. “To save the ocean.”

“What?” I rasp. I try to bend the water backward, but my sister is too powerful, too focused.

“Stay down, brother.” She sends a small wave at me, and I’m shoved back.

“Ever since that surface-dweller came into your life, you’ve held back, wanting peace with all other countries.

” She sends more water blasting up. Rocks fall down, and the walls shake; the cave will collapse soon.

“Peace is weakness. Tolerance is extinction for all marine wildlife. The only way to save our kind and the oceans is to reign supreme, the Coral Kingdom’s full domain over all waters.

Martial law on the sea is the only way.”

“That…that is not true. Stop this, Priya, you’re my sister!” I plead and try to counter her water magic, but it’s no use.

“And as royalty, my duty is to the ocean and the Coral Kingdom.” She sends water needles to the cave ceiling.

“That American boy has bewitched you. You have forgotten your duties. I did not want you to have to see me eliminate him.” I try to walk forward, but she pushes me back with another wave.

“I wanted to get rid of him to put you back on track! But now I have to stop you both. I am sorry.”

The cave rumbles, and I turn around; even in the dark, I see giant rocks in the distance splash downward. When I turn back around, Priya sends another large sheet of water up near the cave’s entrance.

“I loved you, brother!” she shouts. “But you’ve been corrupted. You will not do what it takes to protect the oceans! So I will!”

With that, the front of the cave collapses. Priya is gone, and water spews from the rocky walls. The cave is filling up, and it’ll be a matter of minutes before we’re trapped here.

I approach my beloved, and he’s drenched. I pull him down so we’re in shallow, rocky water. His face is barely visible in the dark, but he gives me a feeble smile. Even if I find a way out, he won’t be able to hold his breath long enough.

“I…I am so sorry,” I say, my eyes burning.

“It’s not your fault, handsome. Besides…” He holds up his phone. “I think things have a way of working themselves out,” he says in a raspy tone.

I laugh and cuddle him close. I’m not sure what he means, but the cave rumbles again.

We don’t have much time. Looking down, I gaze at his precious brown eyes.

His face is mere centimeters from mine, and tears roll down my cheeks.

“Daryl, I am so sorry I let this happen to you. I should have asked you to stay, begged you to be with me, for real. Because you’re the one I love. ”

“Really?” He coughs, and the water rises. “You’re not just saying that because I almost drowned?”

I shake my head. “No. I have been feeling it for so long. I want to come home to you.” I embrace him, trying to memorize his scent. “But now, it is too late.”

When I pull back, he opens his mouth. Before he can say a word, I lean in and kiss him, hard. His lips taste as sweet as ever. If these are his final moments, I need him to know how I truly feel about him.

“Wow,” he says when I pull off. “While I really liked that…” We both chuckle despite the cave collapsing around us. “I need you to tell me…”

“Tell you what? That I love you? And I want to rule the Coral Kingdom by your side? That I would move to America, to anywhere, just to be with you? You are my kaluluwa , no one else, Daryl, I swear.”

He shakes his head. “Shut up, Seero,” he says with a raspy voice. “Shut up and tell me you know of a tunnel or something to get us out of here.”

I look around. Perhaps …

“There might be a way out. But I have gills, you do not.”

Daryl laughs softly. The man could drown at any moment, rocks could kill us both, but he finds this humorous.

“I…got a gift from Pelly.”

“Huh?”

“Before your sister could kill me in a whirlpool…” He lifts his hands from the water.

Jojo . The jellyfish is now being held up by Daryl. “Pelly dropped off my new best friend,” he croaks.

My elation is immeasurable. “You mean…?”

“He latched on to me until I could get to this cave. Your marine life friends saved me. So now…” He pulls on Jojo, opening him up, ready to put his head in. “Get us out of here, Coral Prince.”