Chapter 16
“How are we getting through that?” Emory asked, staring at the wall of water cascading down the cliff face.
They all stood at the base of Crystal Cove, looking up at the roaring waterfall.
“The cave is behind the waterfall,” Ronin said. “The entrance is about six feet wide, and I know there’s a ledge along the right wall of the cave. But the water is too forceful. You can’t just walk through it along that ledge.”
“I can help with that,” Tempi said. “I can push the water to the left long enough for everyone to run through.”
“Perfect,” Ronin said. “I was going to offer to do the same thing, but just using my water magic.”
Tempi grinned at him. “Water or air magic, at this point, I don’t think it matters.”
“How long can you hold it, Tempi?” Mason asked.
“Long enough for us to get through,” she said. “As long as we move fast.”
“Ready, Princess Muffin Top?” Adeline asked.
Princess Muffin Top sat on a nearby rock, wearing a tiny pair of swim goggles Adeline had produced from her bag. Where she’d gotten cat-sized swim goggles, Ronin had no idea.
“I’m ready,” Princess Muffin Top announced. “But I want it on the record that I am participating under protest. Cats are not meant to be near waterfalls. We are meant to be near fireplaces and plates of fresh tuna.”
“Noted,” Mason said. “Let’s move.”
Ronin could hear Tempi whispering under her breath as she performed the spell...
and then the right side of the waterfall started moving.
The cascading water shifted to the left, exposing the narrow stretch of ledge along the rock wall and the cave entrance behind it.
He was right, there was just enough room for them to shuffle across.
“Go!” Tempi shouted.
Mason went first, pulling Adeline behind him.
Emory sprinted through next, laughing as mist hit her arms. Cassie and Princess Muffin Top were next, and then he followed after them.
He turned just in time to see Tempi step inside and lower her hands, causing the water to slam back together with a roar.
They stood inside the cave, slightly wet and breathing hard. The space was much larger than he’d expected. It was a wide chamber with a high ceiling, and the walls were slick and dark. The roar of the waterfall echoed off the stone, and the air was cool and damp.
A cave this deep should have been pitch black...but it wasn’t.
The entire chamber glowed crimson and pink.
The shimmering light rippled across the walls and ceiling, shifting with the movement of the water.
But as they moved deeper inside the cave, Ronin realized it wasn’t the movement of the waterfall.
It was something else. The color was coming from below...
from the pool of water at the center of the cave.
He stepped closer to the pool’s ledge and looked down. “I think we found it.”
“I think you’re right,” Tempi said.
“It’s real,” Emory said. “It’s actually real.”
Mason leaned over the edge as well. “Is this just another way to get to the ocean?”
“I’d say so,” Ronin said. “During low tide, I bet we could almost see the bottom.”
“Chop, chop,” Princess Muffin Top said, clapping her front paws together. “I’m not getting any younger.”
Ronin moved to the edge of the pool that filled the center of the cave. He had a feeling the water was deep. He could see the current, but more importantly, he could see something shimmering in the water about fifteen or twenty feet down. “There’s definitely something down there.”
“What are you waiting for, Merman,” Princess Muffin Top said, waving a paw at him. “Strip and go get my ruby!”
“I don’t understand,” Adeline said. “I’d say that’s a chest down there, which makes sense. But how is the Crimson Heart making the inside of the cave glow?”
“Only one way to find out,” Princess Muffin Top snapped. “Stop yakking and start swimming, Merman.”
Ronin pulled off his shirt and kicked off his shoes.
Feeling a little self-conscious, he tugged down his shorts until he stood in just his boxers.
He did his best to tune out the catcalls and whistles as he dove into the water.
The shift happened immediately, like it always did.
His legs fused, and his tail formed in seconds.
As he swam down deeper, he felt the familiar pull of the ocean settle into his bones.
The water was cold and clear as he swam, his merman form cutting through the current with ease.
The crimson glow grew stronger the deeper he went.
It didn’t take him long before he reached the bottom of the rocky ocean floor, and wedged between two large rocks on a natural stone shelf, sat a three-foot iron chest encrusted with barnacles, salt deposits, and rubies.
He wrapped both arms around the chest and flicked his fin, propelling him upward.
When he was ten feet from the surface, he nearly yelped in surprise when Princess Muffin Top suddenly appeared next to him. Her fur was plastered against her, and she had on those silly goggles. Laughing to himself, he continued to the top until he broke through the water.
“I got it!” Princess Muffin Top cried. “It’s mine!”
“Can you lift it out?” Mason called down to him.
Even though it wasn’t very big, the chest was heavy.
Ronin treaded water and looked up at Tempi.
But she was already moving closer to the edge of the pool.
She raised both hands and used her magic to lift the chest from his grip and float it across the surface of the pool, water streaming off the iron, and lowered it to the edge of the rocks where the others all stood.
Ronin hauled himself out and shifted back to his human form. Cassie tossed him his shirt and shorts without looking, which he appreciated. “Were you afraid I’d swim away with the chest, Princess Muffin Top?”
The waterlogged cat shook her body, sending water spraying and her fur standing on end. “I wasn’t taking my chances, Fish Boy.”
When he finished dressing, he walked over to where they were gathered around the chest. “Between the iron and the saltwater, this thing isn’t coming open without some magic.”
“Same elemental trick?” Tempi asked.
He nodded and pressed his hands against the seal and drew the moisture from the mineral crust. The calcium cracked and crumbled, and Tempi sent a gust of magic into the gaps, and the lid groaned and separated.
“This is it!” Princess Muffin Top cried. “My glorious moment. How does my hair look?”
Ronin lifted the lid and everyone leaned over to peer inside. Nested in the remains of rotted velvet sat the Crimson Heart.
“It’s beautiful,” Adeline gasped.
The deep-red ruby was the size of a man’s fist and glowed brightly in the dim cavern. He gently picked it up and held it over his head, allowing the magic pulsing within to light up the cave even brighter.
Tempi laughed and grabbed his arm. He couldn’t help but notice the way her silver-blonde hair was now glowing a soft pink from the Crimson Heart’s magic.
She met his eyes, and he put the stone in one hand and pulled her to him with the other...
and he kissed her. Right there, in a cave behind a waterfall, surrounded by their friends and a cat in swim goggles.
“There’s something else,” Cassie said, pointing into the chest. “I see it under the velvet cloth.”
Ronin handed the Crimson Heart to Tempi, then reached in and carefully lifted the rotted fabric. Beneath it was a piece of parchment sealed in wax. He lifted it out and cracked the seal. The handwriting was the same as every other clue. Faded, but legible.
He read it aloud. “My Dearest Eleanora. My Wind Talker. My wife. My First Mate. My equal in all things. You kept my ship when I could not sail. You kept my crew when I could not lead. You kept my heart when I could not love myself. The sea brought us together, but it was your air that kept me breathing. This ruby is ours, but it is not our only treasure. You are mine, and I am yours. Forever and always. That is the only Crimson Heart that ever mattered. Yours, in this life and whatever comes after. Henri DuBois.”
Princess Muffin Top cleared her throat as she balanced on the ledge of the rocky pool.
“The pirate definitely had a way with words. And now, in honor of Captain DuBois and Eleanora, a few words from Old Blue Eyes.” Using her front paw, she pushed her goggles up higher on her forehead.
“I’ve been a puppet, a pauper, a pirate, a poet… ”
Ronin looked down at Tempi. “Is she really singing ‘That’s Life,’ by Frank Sinatra?”
Tempi grinned. “Sounds like it.”
Laughing, he pulled her closer and brushed his lips across hers again. He knew exactly how DuBois felt.
Princess Muffin Top suddenly broke off her song and gasped. “Look!” The cat pointed a paw toward the waterfall. “Look!”
They all turned.
In the curtain of water, two figures shimmered into view.
The man, a vampire-sea witch, was tall and broad and dressed in a captain’s coat.
The woman, an elemental air witch, stood beside him, her silver-white hair so much like Tempi’s, it was shocking.
The vision held for three seconds. Then the light shifted, the water moved, and they were gone.
“Did everyone just see that?” Cassie whispered.
“Yes,” Mason said. “I think we all just saw that.”
“Well,” Princess Muffin Top said as she pushed her goggles back down over her eyes, “I expect a full-sized portrait of me to be included in whatever museum exhibit comes out of this.” She sniffed and lifted her chin in the air. “Preferably in oil. I photograph well, but I look even better painted.”
Ronin reached out and cupped Tempi’s face in his hand.
“We found it,” she whispered.
“We found it.” He winked at her. “Partner.”