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“Come on,” she said, leading Enrique to the catwalk over the open ocean. It was the same spot where she had littered, dropping the plastic cup at her friends’ urging. It was also where the giant wave had snatched her.
I made a mistake by littering, she thought. I’m sorry.
She’d learned her lesson. More than learned it. Littering in the ocean was wrong. If only she’d done the right thing and hadn’t bent to peer pressure, then none of this would be happening. She just hoped she still had time to make it right.
The waves sloshed up onto the catwalk, spritzing them with seawater. She tasted it on her tongue and breathed it into her lungs. She held the trident in her hand and peered into the dark ocean, filled with angry whitecaps. The wind whipped up, making the sea churn faster. Shelly could feel the power of the trident flowing through her body. She remembered what it had done to the shark.
“Hurry, dive in!” Enrique said, standing next to her on the catwalk. Rain and wind pelted his face and body. “Swim to her lair. Take her the trident. That’s the only way to stop this.”
Shelly wanted to . . . but something was stopping her. “No, it’s too dangerous,” she said. “I can’t give her the trident.”
Fear flashed in his eyes. “What do you mean? You don’t have a choice!”
“Did you see what it did to the shark?” she replied while the wind whipped at her. “If we give the trident to Ursula, then she could use it to do bad things . . . terrible things to everyone.”
Enrique glanced out over Triton Bay—the only place they’d ever called home, with all the people who lived there—then met Shelly’s gaze. He looked grim. “You’
re right . . . but if you don’t do it, then there’s no way to reverse the curse. You’ll turn into a fish for good.”
Fear tore through Shelly. The thought of turning into a fish forever, of leaving her family and friends, terrified her and made her heart ache. But if she gave the trident to the sea witch, then the witch would have the power to hurt everybody she loved—her mom and dad; Dawson; Enrique and his brother, Miguel; Mr. Aquino; Attina and Alana. Even Kendall and Judy Weisberg.
She couldn’t let that happen. She’d made a mistake before—she’d done the wrong thing by littering in the ocean, by letting other people make decisions for her—but now she could make a better choice, even if it cost her everything.
This was her chance to make it right.
Shelly stepped down from the catwalk and backed away from the water, trident in hand.
“I can’t give it to her!” she yelled over the wind and rain. “I have to do the right thing and protect Triton Bay, like my parents. I was selfish before. I can’t make that same mistake again.”
Enrique met her eyes and held her gaze once again. He looked troubled, but he managed a weak smile. Shelly could see that he knew she was right, even if it cost him something important, too.
“I always knew you were special—” he started.
But then a black tentacle shot out of the ocean and wrapped around his chest. His eyes widened with fear, and then the tentacle yanked him off the catwalk and dragged him into the ocean.
Before he vanished beneath the waves, he locked eyes with Shelly and yelped.
And then he was gone.
Shelly reached out for Enrique, but she was too late.
The tentacle had jerked him underwater. Ursula.
Shelly dove after him. She had to save him. As she hit the water, her gills pulled it in, drinking it up gratefully. Adrenaline pumped through her veins while her heart hammered in her chest. The image of Enrique turning into a poor unfortunate soul flashed through her head.
She couldn’t let the sea witch hurt her friend. She was the one who had made the mistake. Enrique was just trying to help. Through the murky water, she could make out two glowing yellow eyes—the sea eels. She couldn’t let them out of her sight. With any luck, they’d lead her right to Ursula’s lair. She just hoped she wasn’t too late to save Enrique.
Clutching the trident, she swam fast after the sea eels, plunging deeper and deeper into the frigid water. Her webbed hands and feet propelled her while her gills processed the oxygen and kept her breathing. Her brain kept replaying Enrique being seized by the black tentacle and whipped underwater. He wasn’t like her. He couldn’t breathe down there.
Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, she spotted the entrance to Ursula’s lair: the bony exoskeleton of some sort of mammoth sea creature with a gaping mouth full of sharp teeth.
She swam through the entrance, ignoring the protests of those eerie voices again.
“Don’t give her the trident!” they wailed. “She’ll become too powerful!”
Something grabbed her legs, but Shelly kicked it away and kept swimming. “I’m sorry,” she whispered, not knowing who she was speaking to, or if there was even anyone there. “I have to save my friend.”
When she emerged in the shadowy lair, her eyes became fixed on the crystal ball. Enrique was collapsed inside of it. At first, she was worried that he was dead. He wasn’t moving at all.
