Page 84 of Dancing with My Elf
Gianna’s mother dove for Gianna. They hissed and grabbed each other as they thrashed, and water cascaded over me.
Gianna rose from beneath the waves, and that’s when I saw her in siren form. With the long, sleek tail, she was possibly even more gorgeous like this. Her mother rushed toward her, and Gianna propelled her tail to the side, thwacking her. The powerful smack generated a massive crest of water that fell over me, knocking me under.
As I clawed for the surface, Gianna’s mother swam away. I broke through to oxygen and gulped it, choking on that unexpected submersion.
Something dragged me back under.
Panic clawed at my throat as I struggled to reach the surface. The muted glow of the moonlight on the water faded as I was dragged down. I turned to fight my captor. It was that blasted demon, Jakob. He smirked, clearly pleased with his plot to drown me.
I reached for a weapon. A disturbance in the water forced us apart, allowing me to escape.
It was Gianna. She’d whacked him with her powerful tail. They thrashed in the water. A swash of red swam before my eyes. No. Please don’t let it be Gianna.
I scrabbled for the surface, the immense pressure to breathe squeezing my throat.
When I pierced through, I gulped. After several heaving breaths, I braced myself to go back under to help Gianna.
Someone grabbed my arm, and I gasped.
“It’s me, Gianna.”
I turned to her. “Are you okay?”
She grinned and held up the blade I’d trained her to use. “Thanks to you.”
My eyes bulged at her. “You killed him?”
She tipped her head. “I think so. Let’s just say some of his insides are now outsides.” She furrowed her brows. “How about you? Are you hurt?”
“I’m fine.” I blinked at her. “What are you doing here?”
“Nova told us about your call. We’re all here to help.”
I swallowed, unfortunately sucking in the unpleasant taste of saltwater on my tongue. “All of you?”
“Yeah.” She nodded toward land. “Sebastian and Diego are fighting demons on the shore.”
“What?” My eyes bulged wide.
“Others from the Network are here as well. Nova’s getting everyone up to speed, and they’re coordinating a counterattack.”
How long was I swimming? I squinted at the land. Bolts of light and energy shot across the sky. Roars and shrieks pierced the air. It was like I’d woken up to a battle.
My gut turned as turbulent and hellish as that portal. Any of my nightmares about demons combined and magnified into one epic cinematic collage. Demon after demon poured in and spread chaos. It was as if I was as small and helpless as a child again, hiding under my bed while my father was killed by one.
Was Lucas all right? I glanced up and tracked him flying in the sky. Only he wasn’t alone now. Enormous gray beings engaged with flying red creatures as massive as them. The gargoyles from the Network had recovered. But more demons must have come through the portal.
“Gianna, we have to cover the portal.”
“How?”
“I have a net that we use for captures. We need to spread it over the top.” I turned back to the funnel. It wasn’t as high now that the demons and sirens weren’t fueling it with their dark energy, but still too high for me to attempt to cover on my own.
After I quickly explained the plan, Gianna held onto me and swam us over. We glided incredibly fast with her tails and fins propelling us through the water.
I pulled out the silvery mesh that had magic bound into the strands. While I held one side, Gianna held the other.
“Ready?” I directed. “One. Two. Three!”
