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Something shot past me. A dog?
No, a wolf. It opened its jaws and clamped down on the tentacle wrapped around my fin. The tentacle immediately loosened and I shimmied free while it flung the wolf through the water.
Ah, hell. Ten bucks said that was Krishna. This struck me as exactly something that kid would do. He’d pegged me for a bleeding heart after I’d snapped at Selina on his behalf, and he’d latched onto me like we were going to be friends forever. That wasn’t true, of course, since I didn’t plan to keep in touch with anyone after I left this place, but I had to admit, it was nice to actually have a friend.
And said friend couldn’t breathe underwater. I needed to go after him and get him to the surface while fending off a killer octopus.
No sweat.
Fluttering my tail, I charged through the water, catching up to Krishna, who was trying really damn hard not to pull in a lungful of water. Grabbing him around the stomach, I swam my heart out toward the surface.
Only to be snagged by that damn kraken again.
I gave the wolf a shove that would hopefully get his head above water, and my brain finally kicked into gear. I pulled on my magic, sending a lightning bolt at the offending tentacle.
It immediately jerked away, and I hightailed it toward the surface again, only to be waylaid yet again before I could get there.
This time, though, it was an arm, wrapping around my midsection, dragging me toward the mossy water’s edge. My head pushed through the waves, and I glanced over at Asmoday, who was swimming one-handed toward shore. A soaking wet, bedraggled wolf was already sitting in the grass, waiting for us.
Asmoday’s finger brushed the underside of my boob, and I shoved his arm away. “I got it from here,” I said icily.
“I was just trying to help,” he said, totally fake-innocent.
“Uh-huh.”
He climbed out and leaned back on his elbows, breathing heavily, all damp and sexy with his shirt clinging to his torso and water streaming down his face and neck.
“Come on out,” he said.
“No way,” I replied. No way was I giving him an eyeful of my wet boobs with nipples that were currently standing at attention, admiring how good he looked soaking wet.
A fluffy, dark purple towel landed in his lap. I glanced over to the bridge. Mrs. Caldwell stood there, arms crossed, brow furrowed, mouth pinched.
“I am really quite curious as to the reason why you three chose to take a dip in the moat,” she said, and then snapped, “Asmoday, Krishna, get up here. Daruka, get dried off andget dressed.”
Krishna, his tail between his legs, hurried to her side. Asmoday climbed to his feet at a much slower pace. “Are you okay?” he asked, sounding genuinely concerned.
“I’m fine.”
“Did it help?”
“Getting attacked by a kraken?”
He chuckled. “Taking a swim. Until you were attacked. Did you feel better, at least for a minute?”
I shifted my gaze to the side. How did he know?
“I get it,” he said. “I’m the same way.” He nodded at the tree line. “I was heading out here for the same reason. To de-stress.”
“Asmoday,” Mrs. Caldwell called out, her tone like a whip that propelled him into action.
“See you inside,” he said, and then he finally strutted—of course he did—up to the bridge to receive his dressing down from the school administrator.
I grabbed the towel, wrapping it around myself as I rolled onto shore. Lying there, letting the sun do its thing, I repeated that brief conversation in my head.
And I hated myself for liking the fact that we had something in common.
CHAPTER11
