Wisteria Wedding by Angela Pepper

Author:Angela Pepper [Pepper, Angela]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2022-01-13T23:00:00+00:00

Chapter 18

I didn't know about Xavier, but if there had been a written list of all the things my aunt and I had prepared ourselves for, a flood of water would have been about halfway down the list. Flooding by water was not ideal, yet it came below flooding by hot lava, which came below a whole bunch of horrible things.

The rushing water sent us all crashing into the back corners of the elevator. I heard a mirrored wall behind me crack as my suitcase slammed into it.

Zinnia and I grabbed our suitcases to our chests, and floated up with the rising water. The flood was moving at a slower than expected rate, probably due to some magical forces inside the elevator in this version of City Hall.

“It's going to stop,” Zinnia said calmly. “Don't be in a rush to exit.”

Xavier gave her a horrified look. “Don't be in a rush to exit the flooded elevator? I don't know about you, Zinnia, but this body didn't come with gills.”

“Wait,” she said. “It should only fill to the top of the doors. There's a channel of air above us.”

“If you say so,” Xavier said.

All three of us floated upward with the water line.

It did stop filling when it reached the top of the doors.

All three of us were head and shoulders above the water line, breathing the air bubble trapped at the top of the elevator.

“There we go,” Zinnia said calmly. “No need to panic. City Hall takes care of its own, in any dimension.”

Xavier said, “I don't feel very taken care of.” He grabbed onto the metal channels at the top of the elevator—the ones that held the acoustic tiles—and eyed the water below him warily. “Did you see something moving down there? One of those timewyrms?”

“The timewyrms are like the mayor,” Zinnia said. “They don't care for water.”

Xavier didn't look convinced.

“At least it's not a bad temperature,” I said. “We won't freeze to death before the air runs out. Speaking of which, we should probably get out of here sooner than later.”

“The air may not ever run out,” Zinnia said. “We have no idea how far the sealed channel above us runs, or what the gas exchange barrier with our regular world is like.”

Xavier said, “If we're heading out, I'll dive down and grab the elevator key.”

“I already got it.” Zinnia showed us the key, which was back on her necklace.

“Great,” I said. “Should we use it to close the elevator doors and head back? Should we try again another day, with scuba gear? I did take those scuba lessons last summer. They say everything in life happens for a reason.”

“No.” Zinnia shook her head and nonchalantly swatted a glowing yellow octopus away from her face. “We aren't turning back now. Dawna didn't say anything about us all coming over with scuba gear and oxygen tanks.”

“Dawna's not very good at cartomancy,” I said, which made Xavier guffaw.

“That's not fair,” Zinnia said. “I could be highly critical of your coworkers, Zara, but I hold my tongue.

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