Free Dangerous Depths (The Sea Monster Memoirs) by Karen Amanda Hooper Page A

would … let’s see, how shall I put this?” Joel looked directly at me and swallowed. “If you pursue this route, it will most likely be your final journey.”
    He definitely knew I was one of the souls trying to enter Harte.
    “Continue,” Pango urged.
    “First,” Joel said. “I need to know if Koraline is one of the merfolk you mentioned.”
    “No,” Pango replied firmly.
    Joel looked apprehensive and concerned. “You give me your word that she is not involved in this madness in any way, and that she won’t go near any gates to hell?”
    “Yes,” Pango said. “And you know I can’t lie.”
    Joel focused on me again and continued. “Harte is a damned realm filled with ravenous creatures and the most negative emotions. Just like this world, the gods had their hand in the creation of Harte, and many gods have enjoyed using humans as their playthings. If their playthings didn’t play by the rules or stepped out of line, the gods had ways of punishing them. One of those ways being a one-way ticket to the eternal nightmare of Harte.”
    My pulse quickened. “There’s another way in?”
    Joel nodded slowly. “But I have never heard of any soul purposefully wanting to go there. Yes, there’s an entrance from our human world, but no return ticket is offered.”
    He didn’t know what I knew. That one sea creature had found an exit, and Uncle Lloyd had told me and Treygan where it was and how to get through it. One exit was enough for me to believe we would make it out alive. I leaned toward Joel. “I already know the risks involved.”
    “Do you really?” Joel crossed his arms over his chest. “How much have you studied about Harte? Do you have any idea what happens there? What horrible, unthinkable monsters or torture devices exist there? No, because no one has ever made it back. Many people claim to have glimpsed the afterlife or Heaven, but how many accounts have you ever heard of anyone returning from a visit to hell?”
    To say I wasn’t scared would have been a lie, and I could have tried to fool him, but my trembling voice would have betrayed me. “If there’s a way in, you have to tell us.”
    “Please, Joel,” Pango urged quietly.
    Joel sighed and walked to the other side of his office. He stood with his back toward us, staring at an old, tattered map hung on the wall. “Come here and I’ll show you.” 
    Pango and I walked over and stood on either side of him.
    Joel took off his glasses and rubbed his hand over his face. “I don’t feel good about this. I’m basically showing you the way into the lion’s den.”
    I pulled his hand away from his face. “We understand what we’re getting ourselves into. You are in no way responsible for what happens. But you would be helping in a way more important than you can imagine.”
    He stared at me for several silent heartbeats. I still wasn’t sure how Koraline knew Joel, but I could see why she trusted him. He had abyss eyes. Uncle Lloyd used to tell me that his wife had abyss eyes. The first time he met her, he knew her goodness had no end because he could see into her soul, and no matter how deep or long he looked, he never saw one hint of bad. Joel’s eyes were the same way. He didn’t want anyone to get hurt. He didn’t even know me, but he was concerned about me.
    “Some things are worth the risk,” I told him.
    “How about dying? Is this worth dying for?”
    A close-lipped grin struggled to surface as Koraline’s famous words echoed through my mind. The words I had died by, and now lived by.
    “Love until it kills you,” I recited with a smile. Joel’s eyes widened with recognition. “Because there’s nothing better worth dying for.”
    Joel slid his glasses back on and squared his shoulders. “The other gateway, the only one a human, or part human, could pass through is here.”
    He pointed to the map. His finger landed on an open area of blue to the right of Florida. I leaned forward to examine the thin lines making a