I nodded to Shea. I obviously wasn’t going to drown her, but if she caught an elbow to the eye, oopsie.
Noah got on the bullhorn again. “Okay, racers, take your marks.”
Tiffany and I walked up to the line that had been drawn in the sand. Because we were in first and second place, we were the first heat. At the line was Blake with a stopwatch.
“There are obstacles in the water, so in order to win, you need to swim through the four hula hoops, grab the toy seal floaty, and make it back here. Anything goes.”
Tiffany zipped up her wetsuit and grinned. “Sounds fun.”
I was having trouble getting my bubble butt into my wet suit. Finally, with a little help from Shea, I zipped mine up and stood next to Bitchany.
“Ready, Archie?” she sneered.
‘May you die one hundred deaths,’ Sera cursed at Tiffany from her spot in Shea’s hands.
I chuckled and then the whistle blew.
Tiffany took off like her ass was on fire and I scrambled after her, my feet sinking into the sand. The small crowd cheered as Tiffany hit the water and started to kick like a freaking fish. She had perfect form.
I exploded from my place at the edge of the water and dove into the sea. The moment the cold October water hit my face, I had to force myself not to suck in liquid. Tiffany’s foot was right in front of my face and I reached out, grabbing it and yanking. Yeah, it was a dirty trick, but Noah said anything goes. She was pulled toward me and I crawled over her, making it to the first ring. I swam through the purple glittering hula hoop right before she socked me in the back.
I shouted underwater, releasing all my air, and then came up for a fresh breath. Tiffany was ahead of me now, but my legs were kicking like crazy. I needed that freaking floating seal. I could see it in the water bopping with the surf.
‘Take her down!’ Sera cheered from the shoreline.
I often wondered how far Sera and I could be from one another and still have a mental conversation.
With renewed strength, I burst through the next hoop and caught Tiffany just as she was going through the third one. I repeated the same move, yanking her skinny-ass leg and dragging her behind me, then swam through the third hoop with ease. But that time I was prepared for her back punch, and instead I flipped around underwater, her fist inches away from my back, and kicked out with my foot, connecting with her crotch.
Damn. I’d never kicked a chick in the crotch before. I kinda felt bad, but then again it was Tiffany, so the feeling dissipated quickly. She rose to the surface for air while I gunned it through the fourth hoop, and surfaced to find the seal. He was five feet from me—I so had this!
I paddled like crazy, and when my fingers wrapped around the seal’s leg, I cried out in triumph. That triumph was short-lived, however. The moment I spun around to race to the shore with my sweet seal, Tiffany was waiting with a purple glowing spell in her hand.
My first instinct was to duck underwater and avoid getting hit by whatever the spell was, but I’d only made it halfway under when the purple light crashed over my head and my limbs went weak. Tiffany snatched the seal away and blew me a kiss.
“Sorry, Archie.”
Rage boiled just underneath the surface of my skin as I slowly paddled to stay above water. Like a drunken thousand-pound seal, I had no grace and no speed. Tiffany took off like a freaking Olympian swimmer while I struggled to even move forward with the spell attacking my body.
My body… An idea struck me then. Noah had said we’d have to swim through the four hoops and get the seal, then get back to shore. He didn’t say swim back to shore. I suddenly wondered if Tiffany’s spell extended to my wings, which hadn’t been out at the time she’d spelled me.
Acting quickly, I unzipped the top portion of my wet suit to expose my back, yelping as cold water rushed in, making my breath hitch. Once the wet suit was at my waist, I snapped my wings out and flapped above the water.
Hell yes.
The crowd on the beach roared.
Tiffany was about twenty feet from the shoreline when she popped up, to get a breath of air, and heard the cheering. She probably thought it was for her. How cute.
When she dipped back under, her hand carrying the seal came up above the waterline, and I swooped down to get it. It was a bit tricky, pivoting my slow-ass body forward to grab it with my fast wings, but when my fingers wrapped around the seal’s tail, I yanked as hard as I could.
Tiffany broke the surface, screaming at me, but I didn’t stick around to see her wrath. I beelined for the shore, where everyone shouted and clapped there. Lincoln was grinning ear to ear, but not as much as Shea. As I landed on the sand and walked slowly across the finish line, I could already feel the spell on my limbs wearing off.