In Over Her Head by Judi Fennell

Author:Judi Fennell
Format: mobi, pdf
Published: 2010-03-03T16:28:50.138000+00:00

Chapter 21

“Okay,” Erica said before her resolve wavered. It wasn’t like she was going to need her toes if she couldn’t get away. With the diamonds. “But you’re going to have to come get it since I don’t have anything sharp on me.”

She wiggled her toes as added incentive.

“Um, Erica? Are you sure you want to do this?”

Chipper whispered in her ear.

Ol’ Yellow Eyes was almost salivating as he peered over the lip of the hole. He slithered out, all two-and-a-half feet of black-and-white muscle, his tail drawing the bag to the rim. Erica ignored Chipper as she gauged the distance to the bag and the eel’s whereabouts in the dimming light.

“I want the big one,” the moray said.

“You can’t have it. I need that one. Go for the little one on the end.”

The eel seemed mesmerized by her wiggling appendages. He moved back and forth with the motion of her legs like a cobra to a snake charmer’s flute. She didn’t like the analogy.

Erica reached up slowly for the bag, still keeping her focus on the eel. She had to get the timing just right. God, what she wouldn’t give to have her brothers here right now.

But they weren’t, and Reel wasn’t, and, unless Chipper was sporting some lightning-quick reflexes, she couldn’t expect help from that quarter. InOverHerHead.indd 177

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Judi Fennell

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Rhythmically, the eel’s jaws opened and closed. Almost like he was savoring the anticipation. Just get on with it already…

The eel lunged.

Adrenaline pumping through her system, Erica reacted instinctively, kicking her other foot with all her might. The water slowed the action, but the ball of her foot connected solidly with the eel’s head, just above his eye. He went hurtling off, smacking into a colony of fire coral with the underwater equivalent of a thud.

“Hey, you did it!” Chipper squeaked, circling excitedly in front of her face. She swished him toward one of the windows, grabbed the bag, and kicked her legs as fast as she could, aiming back to where she’d come from. When Ol’ Yellow Eyes came to, he was going to be one pissed-off eel.

“See you around, Chipper, and thanks for your help. Oh, and listen to your teacher from now on. No talking to strangers.” She dragged the little parrotfish back into the darkness of the palace corridors.

Phase One accomplished.

Now to get the weapons.

The corridors were refreshingly empty of sea life, which made her job that much easier. Unfortunately, the easy part gave way to frustration when she came to several look-alike tunnels, all leading to dead ends. She kept turning back to try the next one, fraying her already stretched-thin nerves. How much longer until someone discovered she was gone?

Where was Ceto?

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What was going on with Reel?

Where was the damn chest with the weapons?

She wiggled through an opening she probably had no business traveling in, but if her sense of direction hadn’t deserted her, this should put her somewhere in the vicinity of where she needed to be.

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