Page 30 of A Sea of Secrets
“Just answer the question!” I shouted.
“Don’t move,” Noah called. “Movement sucks you in further.”
“Exactly!” I exclaimed, then laughed like a madman and jumped into the sand.
At first, it was immovable, but as I wriggled, I felt myself sink deeper into its embrace.
“Zane! You’re gonna get yourself killed!” Ace shouted, reaching out a hand for me to grab.
Aww. What a sweet dude Ace was, all worried about me.
“I have a hunch! And I’ve always been a bit of a thrill seeker,” I replied with a wide grin, ignoring his hand. “This is going to work, trust me. You just gotta take a leap of faith!”
The sand gave way, and it engulfed me like a whale scooping krill into its humongous mouth. There was nothing but sand around me, pressing in and squishing me tightly.
Okay, maybe I was wrong. Maybe this was the end of me.
I was going to be buried alive.
I may have been getting crushed, but I was sinking deeper than an anchor, too. I had to ignore the part of me that screamed ‘this was a bad idea’. Nope, I locked that part of me into a treasure chest to plunder later. The grinding noise was still goingon above, and Noah, Ace, and Kayden were shouting my name, too.
If I died, it would break their hearts, the poor dudes.
I was actually surprised that I could hear them. I would have thought the sand in my ears would block all sound, but apparently it didn’t. Weird, but I wasn’t complaining.
Their shouts were freaking me out a bit, so I decided to ignore all the noise and chill, letting my body move naturally. I let my imagination take over, sending my mind to another place. Instead of sand, I was swimming through the ocean, Pip and Delilah by my side as we explored through tunnels and over coral reefs.
I swear I could feel myself moving through the ocean, catching currents and surfing the waves with my besties. I was riding a huge wave, the gnarly thing towering over me when my board flipped, and I fell into the sea. Except that when I hit the water, I kept falling and falling, deeper and deeper until my butt hit a hard rock.
“Ouch!” I exclaimed, opening my eyes and rubbing one of my tender cheeks. “That hur— Ha! It worked!”
Jumping to my feet, I grinned excitedly and looked up to where the sand was suspended above me. Whatever floor had been there was now replaced with a magical shield that held the sand up. I cupped my hands around my mouth and shouted to the dudes above. “You gotta get in the sand and do your best interpretation of a seaworm!”
Muffled shouts found their way to me, and I took that as them listening to what I said, or at least understanding to some degree. Excitement filled me as I wriggled, my body like a wave as I continued to shout for them to follow anyway. “Become the sea worm.”
A dark shape appeared above me, the sand shifting to allow Ace to pass through the shield. He fell to the ground, cursing like a sailor when he landed.
“Ace!” I grinned, helping him to his feet. “You trusted me! I knew we were besties. Actions speak louder than words and you have shouted our bromance to the world!”
“I wouldn’t go that far,” he grumbled, rubbing his head.
Look at him, trying to hide his emotions because they were too big for him. I was gonna teach him how to embrace all his feelings one day and wear down his walls like a wave against a cliff.
I looked up to the sand, only to find a panel of flooring had now returned to cover a portion of the shield. Oh, no. “The floor is coming back.”
“Shit,” Ace hissed, then shouted to those above. “Get your asses down here now!”
“Not everyone is gonna get through!” I added quickly. Thuds and muffled shouts sounded from above and I glanced at Ace to see him raise a brow at me. “Should have kept my mouth shut.”
“Ya think?”
Fighting continued above, followed by another shape appearing in the sand. The Potential who had been hiding on a shelf fell through, landing hard on her shoulder. She cried out, her arm visibly dislocated. Another section of the floor appeared, the escape route growing smaller. I offered a hand to her, and she gave me a tight-lipped smile as I helped her to her feet. We were in a competition, but I wasn’t a complete jerk.
Noah came through next, much to my relief. I launched myself at him, wrapping my arms around him, and hugged the dude close. “I’m as happy as a clam to see you.”
“Kayden shoved me in,” he said, patting me on the back and then shrugging me off him. “He should be next.”
He wasn’t.
