calculate how long it would take them to get to us.
“Caramel toadstool, dear, I’m sorry, but that may not be our only problem,” said Ai-Ma. I realized the old crone was looking in a different direction. And from that direction, there was the far-closer shape of a giant flying chariot pulled by six enormous, bridled snakes. The chariot itself glowed a magical green, and I didn’t need binoculars to know who was inside.
“Sesha and Naga,” I breathed, catching sight of my birth father and brother in the flying chariot. And then I was distracted for a minute from the doom that was gaining on us from multiple directions by Naya’s flying thumbs.
“We’re about to be attacked from multiple directions and you’re texting?” I shouted. “Stop that already!”
“I’m texting Mati, Tuni, and the PSS!” Naya said, her thumbs never stopping motion. “We’re going to need some backup!”
“It’s time for you to go, dung cakes,” said Ai-Ma firmly. “Me and the moody horsie and Miss Moyna Sunshine here will handle whatever comes our way.”
“No, I’m not going to leave you …” I said, but it was too late, because with a fierce shove of her giant hand, Ai-Ma pushed me over the edge of the cliff and into the water.
“Good luck, toadstool beetle dung! Go rescue our boy!”
Raat reared and neighed, as if wishing me good luck.
I fell like an ungraceful stone, cannonballing into the waves. The impact was terrible, like I’d run into a wall of bricks. But then I was under the water, fighting my instincts to swim upward. I let the serpent side of me take over and imagined myself able to breathe comfortably underwater, pictured myself slithering, instead of desperately swimming, down to the bottom.
Somehow, the ocean was so bright with golden light that I could see even deep under the waves. Conscious of the soldiers, the snakes, and the camera crew potentially all chasing me down here, I swam as fast as I could. How long could Naya and Ai-Ma hold everyone off? How long would it take for Mati, Tuni, and the PSS to get Naya’s text and come?
But I couldn’t help them now. I had to get to Neel. In fact, if I could get him out quickly enough, we could both be more use to Ai-Ma and Naya than just me alone. I kept swimming down, my chest practically exploding from the pressure, my eyes and throat burning, my brain telling me I needed a breath. But just when I didn’t think I could make it, just when I thought I’d let go and drown, there, among the stingray and schools of silver fish, was the huge, gaudy TSK hotel fortress that I’d seen on Lifestyles of the Rich and Monstrous. The outside was super tacky, the entire building made to look like it was made of snakes. Through the undulating motion of the water all around me, the building seemed almost like it was breathing. But that was just my vision playing tricks on me and my oxygen-deprived brain.
There was a curving driveway with tacky golden statues, and underwater limos driving up to it. I swam furiously toward the revolving doors, pushing my way past a number of flashily-dressed fish monsters with cigars and jewel-encrusted wristwatches.
“Hey, watch it!” they protested.
I burst into the bright lobby of the hotel. I was dry because of Ai-Ma’s spell, but dragging in breaths like a drowning person. I noticed that the doors, walls, pillars, everything, were stamped with that TSK symbol—the Ouroboros—the rounded snake eating its own tail. There were serpents and demons and ghosts and talking fish all over the place, streaming in and out of the casino, throwing their luggage carelessly toward the overworked bellboys, talking in loud voices. Luckily, no one gave me a second glance, and from a quick look in one of the lobby’s gilded mirrors, I could see why. I looked like myself, but myself as a serpent. I gave a shiver. Is this what I really was inside? Would I ever turn back? I didn’t have any answers, but I realized, I also didn’t have any time to think about it. Because I knew I had to find Neel before Sesha, Naga, and the Raja’s guards got here.
I tried to move faster, but it was hard. I shook my head, trying to get over my dizziness, and the weird feeling that everything in the hotel—the walls, the gold-encrusted chairs and sofas, the ornate pillars—were kind of waving around. I shook