Sea Spell (Waterfire Saga #4)(61)

Opie turned blue, but she didn’t protest.

As Becca was about to swim away, Marco grabbed her hand. “Make sure you come back, Becca,” he said, his voice suddenly husky. “Because I want a shot.”

“At what?”

“At the impossible.”





THE MOON was almost fully risen.

Mahdi could see its light, pale and silvery, shining into the windows of Neria’s temple.

He was waiting by the altar, dressed in his green sea-silk wedding jacket. He no longer had Lucia’s cursed iron necklace around his neck, as she’d unlocked it earlier.

Portia and Vallerio were seated at a distance from Mahdi, in the front row with their relatives, allies, and members of their court. Mahdi’s so-called friends—some high-ranking death riders and court lackeys—filled the other pews.

“Nervous?” Traho whispered, patting Mahdi on the back.

Mahdi smiled. “Very,” he admitted. It was no lie. He was, but not because he was getting married.

He’d asked Traho to be his best man, to ensure his attendance, to get him in the same room with Vallerio so that he could assassinate them both. This was his mission, the one he’d given himself the day he learned Sera was dead. Soon, it would be accomplished.

Months ago, he’d taken the precaution of hiding a small silver speargun in the chimney of the lavaplace in his rooms. That gun was now loaded and holstered inside his jacket. There was a moment in the mer wedding ceremony, after the bride and groom had sung their vows, when their fathers approached to kiss them and congratulate them, followed by their mothers doing the same. Mahdi’s father wouldn’t be here, since Vallerio had murdered him, but Vallerio certainly would be. As he came close, Mahdi would unbutton his jacket and reach for his gun.

He knew he wouldn’t have much time and might not be able to fire more than one shot, so he would aim for Vallerio first; then he’d try to get Traho. Soon thereafter he himself would be killed. There were armed guards in the temple, at least thirty of them.

With Vallerio and Traho gone, Orfeo’s reach would be weakened. That might give Sera’s friends enough of an advantage to triumph in the Southern Sea. He hoped so. It was the only thing he had left to hope for.

He wasn’t afraid of death. It was only his body that would die. His heart and soul were already gone. They’d died the moment Lucia handed him Sera’s ring.

The opening notes of the wedding processional sounded. Court songcasters, mermaids and mermen blessed with the best voices in the realm, flanked the altar. Their song rose in the water.


Suspended in the vast night sky,

Glows a moon so full and high.

Tonight, with sun and earth aligned,

Her magic will two royal hearts bind.




Rise now, cherished wedding guests,

As the moon moves east to west,

Offer blessings, prayers, and heartfelt songs,

For lasting love, both true and strong.



The wedding guests rose and looked toward the back of the temple. Lucia’s cousins, Laktara, Vola, and Falla swam in, enchanting everyone with their beauty. They took their places at the right of the altar. Traho joined them there. A moment later, Lucia swam down the aisle. Mer brides swam to their grooms alone to symbolize that they entered into marriage of their own free will.

All eyes turned to Lucia as she moved toward the altar. Hushed expressions of awe and admiration rose.

She was stunning in her dress made from sliver-thin slices of emerald stitched onto a sheath of dark green sea silk. The jewels caught the moonlight and held it. Lucia’s every movement made the entire gown shimmer. She wore her midnight-black hair long and flowing, and flashed a triumphant smile.

Mahdi arranged his face into an expression of happiness and beamed at his bride. Lucia drew nearer. She was halfway down the aisle now. To Mahdi, she seemed like a specter gliding toward him, a harbinger of his death.

She arrived at the altar and swam to Mahdi’s side.

The priestess directed the bride and bridegroom to face each other. “Deeply beloved,” she began, “we are gathered here today…”

Mahdi barely heard her. He was going through the motions. Waiting for his chance. It would be over soon. All he wanted was to rid the world of the evil in this room.

When Lucia raised her right hand, he raised his. The priestess bound them together by winding a cord of kelp around their wrists.

The songcasters began to chant. Their voices rose, loud and strong, reverberating through the stones of the ancient temple, sounding throughout the palace.

The priestess smiled. “And now for the vows of matrimony,” she said.





“ALíTHEIA, PLEASE listen to me,” a terrified Sera begged, eyeing the spider’s fearsome fangs.

“Why ssshould I lisssten?”

“No reason. None at all,” Sera admitted. “You’ve defended Miromara, but Miromara hasn’t defended you. That stops. Right now. With me.”

The spider considered her words.

“Alítheia, you’re just like those souls,” Sera said. “The ones Orfeo snatched and bound to create his monster.”

The spider narrowed all eight of her eyes. “Alítheia is Alítheia,” she said sullenly. “Ssshe isss like nothing elssse.”