Sea Spell (Waterfire Saga #4)(40)

“Magic still lives on land, but humans no longer have the eyes to see it,” Orfeo continued. “The first rays of the sun, the cry of a hawk, a whale breaching…these miracles are all around them, and yet they stare into screens and think that is magic.” He shook his head, disgusted. “A useless species. I won’t miss them.”

A shiver ran down Astrid’s spine at his words. His ominous tone and the threat it implied reminded her of why she was here. Her eyes sought his black pearl. It lay against his chest, strung around his neck on a thin piece of leather.

Orfeo noticed her interest. He removed the talisman and held it out. Astrid looked at him questioningly. Was he really handing it to her?

“Go on, Astrid,” he said. “Take it.”





MORSA’S BLACK PEARL.

A gift from a goddess.

Astrid took it from Orfeo, holding the leather string in one hand, cradling the talisman with the other. The pearl was large, easily half an inch in diameter, and flawless. Some pearls glowed as if lit from within; this one burned with dark light. As she held it, Astrid could feel its power flowing into her. She could sense what it was like to be Orfeo. To have his knowledge, his magic. She envisioned the seas rising at her command, the wind obeying her wishes.

The feeling of absolute power terrified her, but it thrilled her, too.

Give it back. Let it go. He wants you to want this, a voice inside her urged. But the talisman had stoked an insatiable hunger in her. Instead of returning the pearl to Orfeo, Astrid started to close her hand around it, craving to hold it even closer.

Orfeo clucked his tongue and took it from her before she could. “Too much, too soon,” he said, refastening it around his neck.

Astrid felt the pearl’s loss keenly. But as the trance of omnipotence faded, her disgust grew. You had it in your hands! she chastised herself. You could have taken it! Isn’t that what you came here to do?

Astrid knew, though, just as she had when she’d first arrived at Shadow Manse, that even if she’d taken the pearl, she couldn’t have escaped with it. She wouldn’t have made it out of the conservatory, never mind the palace.

She’d have to find another way to get it. And another time.

“Astrid, when you arrived, you asked me why I summoned you here. I told you I wanted to heal you, but that was only part of the reason.”

Her fins flared. She was finally going to get her answer. “And the rest?”

“I want to educate you. I want you to start learning the songspells I’ve collected,” Orfeo replied. He nodded at the shelves. “Choose a conch, child; listen to the spell, then sing it.”

“Why, Orfeo?”

Instead of answering, he walked to a large desk in the middle of the room and from a drawer took out the most beautiful piece of jewelry Astrid had ever seen. It was a bib necklace made of row after row of small, perfect white pearls. Too many to count.

“This belonged to Alma, my beloved wife.” He held the necklace out to her. “I gave many pieces of her jewelry to a very helpful…” He hesitated slightly, then said, “…friend.”

Morsa, Astrid thought. A vitrina in the ruins of Atlantis had told Sera that Orfeo had courted the goddess, and Sera had told Astrid.

“But this necklace was not meant for her,” Orfeo continued. “It was meant for you.”

Astrid shook her head. “I can’t take it.”

Alma had lived thousands of years ago. Her necklace was ancient and priceless.

“I want you to have it. I hunted for it for a long time in the ruins of Atlantis. It was a wedding present to Alma from her parents,” Orfeo explained. “According to Atlantean custom, the pearls symbolize the children the bride and groom will have, and the children those children will have, and so on, continuing a family’s line into eternity. I know how happy it would make Alma if you were to accept the necklace. You are our eternity, Astrid…Alma’s and mine.”

Before Astrid could object, he fastened the piece around her neck. “Go look in the glass,” he said, pointing to the mirror standing in the corner.

Astrid swam over and gazed at her reflection, marveling at how gorgeous the necklace was. Shyly, she touched it.

“You resemble her,” Orfeo said wistfully. “And the children we had.”

“What was she like?” Astrid asked, swimming back to him.

“Beautiful, both inside and out. Kind. Good. Gentle.”

“I wish I could have known her.”

As she spoke, Orfeo’s expression grew darker. Although she couldn’t see his eyes behind his glasses, she had the distinct feeling that they were focused on something far away. Something only he could see.

“One day, you will know her. One day Abbadon will tear down the gates to the underworld and then I’ll take Alma back.”

The name Abbadon hit Astrid like a hard slap. He’s getting to you. He’s winning you over, just as Sera said he would. Fight it!

“The monster must be very powerful to be able to do such a thing,” she said, determined to find out as much as she could about their foe, and not let her friends down.

“The monster is beyond powerful,” said Orfeo.

“And yet he was defeated by your fellow mages,” Astrid ventured, hoping to keep him talking. “He was caged on Atlantis.”