Page 92 of Shadow Witch

Paige tried to grab hold of her mermaid counterpart’s wrists but failed. The mermaid sliced a hand through the water, drawing blood from Paige’s arm. The red floated through the water as her wounds stung from the salt water.

“Ouch!” Paige shouted as she stared down at the scratches. A second later, they were the least of her concerns. An arm clamped around her neck and tugged her backward.

She gasped as she clawed at it, trying to free herself.

“Time to say goodbye!” the high-pitched voice whispered in her ear with a giggle.

The corners of her vision began to turn dark as she fought to escape. The iron grip around her neck made it nearly impossible. As she struggled to breathe, she came to one terrifying conclusion. She likely wouldn’t survive this encounter.

CHAPTER 21

Paige’s mind spun as she faced her imminent doom. She’d survived so many trials only to succumb to an evil mermaid after getting too high to make good decisions. How was this happening?

Her features twisted, both with pain and determination. She would not be beaten by a mean-looking mermaid version of herself. She’d fight back.

She kicked her feet through the water as she continued to pull against the arm gripping her. It was no use. She couldn’t free herself from the mermaid’s grasp. But she could inflict some damage.

She opened her mouth and bit down into the flesh. The acrid taste of salty blood filled her mouth, turning her stomach. “Ugh,” she groaned as the pressure on her neck let up.

She let the salty water fill her mouth in a desperate attempt to cleanse it. The hesitation cost her. The mermaid smacked her in the back of the head.

“Ouch,” Paige cried before she whipped around to face her nemesis.

“Let’s go, cupcake.”

“That’s it,” Paige growled. “I’m sick and tired of being underestimated. Especially you, with your stupid creepy black eyes. You’re running around trying to look like me but you’re not me. Only I am me.”

The mermaid screwed up her face. “What?”

“Never mind,” Paige said with a shake of her head before she kicked a foot to propel herself toward the mermaid. “Let’s finish this.”

“Oh, I would love to,” her mimic said as she danced backward in the water. “I’d love to finish you with some hollandaise sauce.”

“That’s gross. Ketchup is probably better.”

“I hate ketchup as much as I hate you,” the mermaid growled, poking a finger at Paige.

Paige shifted from side to side, trying to assess the mermaid’s next move. “Yeah, well, I don’t like you much better.”

“Too bad. Time for you to die.” The mermaid lunged through the water toward Paige with her teeth bared.

Paige grimaced as she tried to avoid the creature by shifting sideways. The mermaid smashed into her, grabbing hold of her hair.

“Owww,” Paige cried as she latched onto the creature’s wrist and thrashed in a desperate attempt to escape.

Her wild movements drove them backward through the water. A burbling gasp escaped her assailant a moment later and the dark water clouded with a greenish substance. The pressure on her head let up.

Paige whipped around, her fingers curled into fists as she readied to fight the mimicking mermaid. Her jaw fell open as she stared at the creature, now morphed back into her normal form. Her tail hung limply and her chin grazed her chest. Green blood oozed from her bare stomach where a sharp piece of stone pierced it.

“Oh, that’s…whoops,” Paige said with a shake of her head.

The skirmish in the other part of the cave drew her attention. Drucinda wrangled the other two mermaids toward the entrance. “Let’s go, you two. You’re going back to the underwater kingdom to be placed on trial.”

“Where is your…” Drucinda’s eyes fell on the dead mermaid. “Oh.”

“Yeah, my bad,” Paige said as she grabbed hold of one of the mermaid’s arms.

“Get off me, murderer!” she shouted.

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