A Thousand Salt Kisses Forever (Third Book in Salt Kisses series)

Ultimatum

I looked up. We had halted in front of an enormous sandy-pink rock, and above this were only more rocks piled on top. Is this the temple he had spent so long building? I wondered, tiredly.

Spirit glided up towards it and I suddenly felt a new train of anxieties rattle through my skull. What if I've missed them? And, if they're still here, how was I going to convince them of my plight? I had not had a second to prepare for anything today.

Spirit nodded to the foot of the rock and I saw a tiny gap below. I looked down mortified; I didn't like potholes at all.

Spirit looked at me and sighed despairingly. "Come on," he whispered, ducking down and disappearing through the gap. I watched on as his tail disappeared. Come on, Crystal, I told myself. What else are you going to do? I took a deep breath and lowered my body, wriggling through the tiny opening. True to my fears, I found myself within a little suffocating tunnel and I clawed at the ground dragging myself through, as sand flew up into my face.

"That was absolutely horrific," I spat, as we finally broke out into open water. I was blinded by the sand, and I hovered on the spot for a moment, picking out the grains from the corner of my eyes.

Eventually, after a lot of frantic blinking, my surroundings began to take shape and through blurred vision, I realized we were on the other side of the rock standing in front of a ring of standing stones. I blinked some more.

Big horizontal slabs of grey rock sat atop two vertical counterparts. They were tall, looming metres above my head, even though I had rocketed quite some way upwards.

"It's just like Stonehenge," I mused, the famous ancient monument immediately coming to mind. I had visited the spot a few times; it was on the way from London to Coney.

There was the sound of a clearing throat and I jumped, turning to my right. My heart somersaulted; an assembly of figures was seated to the side of the stone ring, and I now felt around twenty pairs of eyes fix onto me.

If there was one good thing about being underwater, it is that you do not blush. It is too cool down here. This was helpful in the present situation, as had we not been beneath the sea, I would have flushed a deep scarlet.

"Hi," I whispered, wishing I could crawl back through the tunnel.

I suddenly felt a hand on my back and as I looked up, I felt overcome with relief. Llyr was by my side and I floated straight into his arms.

"I'm so sorry," I said in his ear, trying to fight back the tears. "It has been a nightmare."

"I have been so worried about you," he said, sounding emotional himself. "All day I have felt your sorrows. I wanted to come and get you, but..." he trailed off, looking up at the crowd.

I looked over at the silent pack; they were still and the water around them placid. The first thing that struck me about The Ichthyocentaurs was that they looked a lot more new-age than what I was expecting. My eyes were immediately drawn to a thin-faced mermaid with long dreadlocks stagnant around her head. She wore a necklace of cone-shells, wrapped tightly around her entire neck and then twisted downwards into loops around her twig-like upper body. I imagined she must eat nothing but seaweed. Next to her, sat a wizardly looking mer, with a long plaited beard and a shaven, tattooed head.

They looked like a bunch of hippies, but yet, there was nothing chilled or Zen about their vibe; in fact, there was a coldness instead.

Llyr looked over at Spirit. "Thank you," he said, frowning a little. I would have filled him in as to how we came to arrive together but there was no time for catch up.