were far enough away to have faded from my limited range. But there was something else…
I held my breath. A magical person similar to the dark elves that had shown up in Woodinville had come onto my radar. He or she wasn’t straight down but over toward the bank, maybe fifteen feet below a row of houseboats. I was positive the dark elf hadn’t been there long. He or she had popped up on my senses as if from behind an insulated door.
I paddled slowly in that direction. The dark elf hadn’t moved yet. Lights were on in several of the houseboats, and a couple was out on their deck in a hot tub. Possibly naked. Wonderful. The dark elf was almost right under them. Still not moving. Waiting for… what? The kraken to get full before trying to collect its blood?
If I swam down there, could I surprise the dark elf? Maybe knock him or her out and get into the tunnels?
The people in the hot tub were looking at me. They probably thought I was a creeper peering into windows at night. Like it was my fault that they were naked in their hot tub above a dark-elf lair.
I waved a paddle and continued past, pretending I lived in one of the houseboats nearby. I turned down an aisle between two rows of them, trying not to get too far from the dark elf.
Even as I tried to find a spot to slip out of the kayak, the dark elf moved. I couldn’t see anything with my eyes, but I could sense the magical aura moving away from the side of the lake. Swimming? Something about a dark elf in SCUBA gear made my brain hurt, but he or she was moving quickly out toward the kraken.
I almost followed in the kayak, but I wanted to get into the tunnels, not necessarily waylay whichever dark elf had come out. Unless it was the alchemist. But would it be? Or would she have sent a minion?
A light went on in a nearby house, and I made my decision. I pulled my goggles over my face and eased over the side of the kayak, almost gasping as the cold water engulfed my body. I sucked in a huge breath, sank down, and swam toward the area where the dark elf had seemed to emerge from the side of the lake.
Not surprisingly, it was as dark as it was cold under there. I activated my night-vision charm in time to avoid cracking my head on the log float under a houseboat and swam under several more houseboats to get to the spot. I tried not to think about them above me—and how I’d have to navigate a maze to get back up to take a breath.
The lumpy sides of the lake came into view, along with debris buried in silt. But I also saw a square hole in the slope, barely visible amid tendrils of seaweed waving in the currents. My lungs were already starting to crave air, but I swam toward it. My senses told me the dark elf was close to the kraken now. If I could slip in without anyone noticing…
Just as I reached the square hole—it was larger than I’d realized, big enough to drive a car through—a door that looked like the seaweed-covered side of the lake itself started to grind shut. Before I could reconsider it, I yanked Chopper out and lunged in, jamming the blade into the door’s path. It slid shut on the blade, sending a jarring reverberation up my arm and making me wince. This was not the proper use for a sword. But Chopper successfully kept the door from shutting.
Using the hilt to pull myself down, I tried to use the blade for leverage. I pushed at the door, hoping to force it open, but I worried about breaking my sword. Even though Chopper was magical, I was sure it wasn’t indestructible.
Precious air bubbles escaped my lips as I shoved. The door opened an inch. A few more inches, and I could slip through.
But I needed air. I glanced up, thinking of releasing Chopper and going up for a quick breath, but the bottom of a huge houseboat blocked me from the surface.
Frustrated, I shoved harder. The door inched open further. I squeezed into the gap and almost thrust myself all the way through before I thought wiser of it. What if I got trapped somewhere without any air?
Though I worried