Charles' Choice (Penny's Choice) Read Online Free Page A

zipping everywhere were another matter. 
    Penny let Thomas tug her along in the direction that Lorelei swam.  The girl now had a tail of shimmering scales poking out from under her dress.
    Wonderful , Penny thought as she held her breath.  Just one more way that I’m inferior to her.
     
     

(CHAPTER 3 ) Breakfast at Poseidon’s
     
    Penny held her breath until she thought her lungs would explode. Did the Nixie realize that she and Charles couldn’t breathe underwater?
    When Penny could no longer keep going, Thomas came up and breathed the stale air from his lungs into her. Charli did the same for Charles.
    Lorelei pointed ahead of them. All that Penny saw was a jumbled mess of seaweed and river junk. Penny assumed that it was just a cover for whatever was behind it. But whatever was behind the mess, Penny hoped that there would be air. She wasn't sure how long she could continue breathing recycled vampire air.
    The desperate desire for fresh air kept Penny from dwelling on the death on Mr. Wolf. While he had generally been a quiet man, he had always been kind to Penny, treating her like his own daughter.
    The mermaid reached the pile of seaweed and pulled it away, revealing a small tunnel. Charles made a desperate motion for air. Lorelei held up one finger. Penny hoped that mean that their destination wasn't much father. Thomas and Charli blew another round of stale air into the humans. It wasn't quite enough for Penny; she started to feel dizzy. Lorelei swam over and pressed her lips against Penny's. The m ermaid's air was fresh and tasted like a fresh ocean breeze. When the mermaid pulled away, she saw Charles and Thomas grinning. Penny rolled her eyes and followed the water creature down the water filled passage. She didn't have time to deal with silly boys and their fantasies. She wanted to get to fresh air that she could breathe on her own.
    After following Lorelei down the tunnel for no more than a few seconds, they emerged in a large underground cavern. Penny emerged and gasped for air. A second later Charles emerged gasping as well. The two humans dragged themselves onto the rocky shore. They sputtered on and watched as the vampires calmly broke through the surface of the water. Thomas and Charli gracefully swam over to the edge and pulled themselves up onto the rocky shelf.
    “You two okay?” Thomas asked, crawling over to Penny. He rubbed her back as she continued to gasp for air.
    “Yeah, but let’s not do that again,” Penny said between gasps of air.
    “Well, you’ll have to do it again to get back to the surface,” Lorelei said, smiling. Her fish tail swished in the water.
    “Great,” Penny said, shakily rising to her feet. “Do we have any further to go?” She looked around barren, rocky cavern. This wasn’t quite what she had imagined as the homeland of the Nixen .
    “Not in the water,” Lorelei said, pulling herself onto the shore.  She splashed the water off her tale and her legs appeared again. She was completely dry except for the hem of her skirt.
    She motioned for them to follow her straight into solid rock.
    “Oh wait a sec,” Charles said grabbing the mermaid by the arm. “We can’t walk through rocks.”
    “And neither can I,” Lorelei said, stopping right in front of the seemingly solid surface. “It’s not solid. Just looks solid.”
    Penny and Charles looked at each other in disbelief. “The things that we see,” Penny said stepping up to the wall.
    “Ah, come on, you’ve walked into plenty of walls before,” Thomas laughed as he stuck his hand through the wall. “We really need to get as hidden as possible right now and the Nixen world is a great place to hide while things cool down top side.”
    “Cool down?” Charles said, snorting. “They killed dad!”
    “Yeah,” Charli said narrowing her eyes in hate, “as far as I am concerned, things won’t cool down till every Brotherhood scum is dead.”
    “Hey, he was my dad too,” Thomas said walking