I wanted to scream, NO!

 

Then down by the swimming pool, one of the dracaenae hissed, "What isss he

doing? What isss that on hisss wrissst?"

 

Beckendorf closed eyes tight and brought his hand up to his watch.

 

I had no choice. I threw my sword like a javelin at Kronos. It bounced

harmlessly off his chest, but it did startle him. I pushed through a crowd of

monsters and jumped off the side of the ship — toward the water a hundred feet

below.

 

I heard rumbling deep in the ship. Monsters yelled at me from above. A spear

sailed past my ear. An arrow pierced my thigh, but I barely had time to register

the pain. I plunged into the sea and willed the currents to take me far, far

away — a hundred yards, two hundred yards.

 

Even from that distance, the explosion shook the world. Heat seared the back of

my head. The Princess Andromeda blew up from both sides, a massive fireball of

green flame roiling into the dark sky, consuming everything.

 

Beckendorf, I thought.

 

Then 1 blacked out and sank like an anchor toward the bottom of the sea.