Her eyes narrowed. “How’s that possible? Are you some new tourist attraction? The Loch Ness Fishboy since they can’t find a huge dinosaur?”
Juno leaned closer, his voice dropping to a conspiratorial whisper. “No. I’m from the Isle of the Sea Serpent. My brother and I—and our friend Zohar, he’s a dragon shifter—we’re trying to help Nessie get back home.”
She blinked. “Excuse me?”
Juno bit his lip. Now that he thought about it, he was pretty sure he wasn’t supposed to let the humans know about other worlds. He should have asked Dolph about that. Still, they already knew about Nessie, so it couldn’t be that bad.
“I told you. My brother, Zohar, and I are trying to help Nessie return home to the Isle of the Monsters. We think Nessie is one of her lost creatures.”
“I don’t believe you.”
He shrugged. “I’m not lying.”
She sipped her soda, eyes still on him. “Prove it.”
Juno frowned and looked at all the adults. Luckily, there weren’t that many, maybe a dozen, counting the crew. Still…
“I don’t think I should. I need to get back in the water,” he said, scanning the deck. “I need to help my brother and Zohar.”
“You want to go back in the water?”
“Yeah. The water’s my home. Well, not this water, specifically, but our quest to save Nessie is down there, not up here.”
“Why should I help you?” she asked, lifting a skeptical brow again.
“Why wouldn’t you? Don’t you want to help Nessie get home?” Juno asked with a puzzled frown. “Plus, we need to get home so we can help Zohar find his friends—and before our mom and dad find out we came to this world.”
She studied him, shook her head, and muttered, “You’re really weird.”
He laughed. “You already said that. So, are you going to help us?”
“…Fine. I’ll help you. But only if you prove you’re from another world first.”
Juno hesitated, then nodded slowly. “Okay. Hold up your cup.”
She looked at him like he was joking.
“I’m serious.”
She raised the soda.
Juno scanned the deck—tourists distracted, crew yelling about the motor. He leaned in close, shielding her cup with the edge of his blanket.
He took a breath and slowly spread his fingers.
The thin webbing between them stretched, shimmering faintly. Tiffany gasped, her eyes wide as moon saucers.
A soft glow trailed down his neck, and for a brief second, delicate scales shimmered along his skin—green-blue and iridescent—before fading again.
“Watch,” Juno whispered.
He looked at her soda.
The liquid rose—slowly—defying gravity as it lifted from the cup in a smooth, glistening column. It spun, twisted… and transformed into the shape of a tiny octopus, its arms waving cheerfully.
Tiffany let out a soft squeak.
The octopus winked, then rippled back into dark soda and fell with a plop back into the cup.
