Sea Spell (Waterfire Saga #4)(50)

“Toward the Darktide Shallows,” Regelbrott replied. “Do you think it was Serafina?”

“Why would she leave camp at night?” Neela asked. “She’s knows it’s dangerous in the open water.”

Just then, a breathless groom arrived at the HQ cave. He was holding Sera’s note. Minutes later, Desiderio and the others, plus twenty armed goblins, were speeding toward the Shallows on hippokamps.

Along the way, Ling had stopped to ask other sea creatures if they’d seen Sera. Shoals of cod and mackerel confirmed that a mermaid with short copper-colored hair had been spotted heading away from the camp. When the group arrived at the Shallows, two pipefish said that they’d glimpsed a mermaid riding toward a place called Cuttlefish Hollow. The search party had hurried there, and ever since they’d been peering into every cave and thicket.

“Hey! Abbie found something!” Coco called out now.

The others sped to the merl’s side. She was lifting something from the silty seabed—a dagger. They all recognized it as Sera’s. Next to it was her old Black Fin jacket.

“What’s that doing here?” Yazeed asked.

“Maybe someone used it to track her,” Ling suggested.

Becca’s heart sank. Her eyes swept over the seafloor, hoping for another clue that could tell them who had taken Sera, and where. They fastened on an object near where the dagger had lain. She stooped to pick it up.

“It’s a conch. They’re not native to these waters,” she said. She held it up to her ear and listened to it. Her face was pale by the time she lowered her hand again.

Desiderio took the conch from her. He cast an amplio spell so they could all hear it.

“That’s not Mahdi,” Ling said when the message ended. “It only sounds like him. He never would have asked Sera to meet him alone in a place like this. It’s a trick.”

“I wonder if Lucia’s behind this,” Neela said.

Desiderio shook his head. “No way. She’s too busy looking in every mirror she swims past. Vallerio’s responsible, I just know it. He wanted Sera dead. He found a way to do it without risking his troops—or Guldemar’s anger. And Sera fell for it. How could she be so stupid?” Des shouted, slapping his tail fins against a rock.

Neela, glowing bright blue with emotion, leapt to Sera’s defense. “Because the message made her think Mahdi was in danger,” she said. “That’s why she came here. Out of love. And whoever sent the conch knew she would. Because that’s who she is.”

“Love’s nothing but a loaded weapon. It got Sera killed,” Des said bitterly.

“Don’t say that!” Neela shouted. “Don’t even think it! Sera’s not dead. We’d feel it if she was, Ling and Becca and me. We’re bloodbound. If she was gone, a piece of us would be gone, too!”

Becca, who’d been quiet all this time, finally spoke. She’d thought through everything that had happened, sifting it for meaning, just like her ancestor Pyrrha, a brilliant strategist, would have. “I think Neela’s right,” she said. “Sera’s not dead.”

“How do you know that? You don’t!” Des yelled. “You’re just going to give everyone false hope!”

“Stop it, Des. Right now,” Ling ordered. “I know you’re upset; Sera’s your sister. We’re all upset, but we can’t come apart. We have to work together to figure out the next step, okay?” She looked at the others, each in turn. They all nodded. “Good. Let’s hear Becca out.”

“If Vallerio did this,” Becca ventured, “it’s because Sera’s more valuable to him alive than dead.”

“No, she’s not,” Des countered. “He wants her dead. She’s a threat to Lucia. Portia was about to order Sophia to kill her.”

“Then where’s the body?” Becca asked. “Why isn’t it here?”

Desiderio didn’t have an answer.

“Why would Vallerio have an assassin kill Sera here, then drag the body back to Cerulea and risk discovery?” Becca continued. “He’s always said he placed his daughter on the throne only because Sera was killed during the invasion of Cerulea. If the Miromarans were to find out differently, there would be protests, maybe uprisings. He doesn’t want that.”

“Okay, say Vallerio didn’t kill Sera,” Yazeed allowed. “Why did he take her?”

“Because our fake-out worked too well,” Becca said ruefully. “Vallerio believes we’re going to attack Cerulea. He wants to stop us.”

“He’s using her as a shield,” Yazeed said.

Becca nodded. “I think so,” she said. “I bet he contacts us soon to tell us he’s got Sera and he’ll kill her if we attack.”

“How do we get her back?” Neela asked.

“By attacking Cerulea,” Becca declared.

“What?” Neela exclaimed. “You just said Vallerio would kill Sera if we did that!”

“Only if he sees us coming. What if we launched a surprise attack?” said Becca.

“Becca, dude, have you, like, lost your mind?” Yazeed asked. “There’s no way to spring a surprise attack on Cerulea. The city’s high up, and we’d be moving thousands of soldiers toward it. Vallerio’s scouts will see us coming days before we get there, and—”