Sea Spell (Waterfire Saga #4)(90)

“The cellblocks are behind that,” Sera continued, pointing to the prison’s inner wall “They were built like a labyrinth to confuse any escapees. Guards used a series of levers to shift the hallways and staircases every day.”

“Abbadon could be anywhere in there,” said Becca.

“There’s a courtyard in the center of the cellblocks where the prisoners could exercise. It has a domed ceiling made of thick panels of glass set into metal frames. If I were an enraged homicidal monster, I’d try to lure us there,” Sera said.

“Why?” Ava asked.

“Easier to kill us. More room,” Becca said.

Sera nodded.

“So, I guess that’s where we’re headed,” Neela said with a sigh. “Because why stop swimming straight into the jaws of death now?”

“Any idea how to get inside?” Ling asked.

“The entrance is there,” Sera said, pointing at an arched doorway. “We’ll have to figure out the way to the courtyard once we’re inside.”

The six friends all cast illuminatas as they swam through the doorway. Becca hooked arms with Ava.

“If we’re going to defeat Abbadon, we have to find its weak spot,” Sera said, leading the way down a dark, narrow hall. “Astrid, did Orfeo tell you anything about Abbadon while you were with him?”

“Like how to kill it?” Astrid asked, sardonically. “No. He kept me busy practicing songspells pretty much nonstop.”

“While I was Lucia’s prisoner—” Sera began.

“Wait…what?” Astrid said.

“I’ll give you the details later, but I spent some time in Alítheia’s den—”

“Miromara’s big scary bronze spider?” Astrid asked. “The same who I saw clanking through the camp?”

“That’s her,” Sera said. “She told me that Abbadon’s made of immortal souls.”

“Immortal souls. As in, can’t die. Ever. Which means there is no weak spot,” Astrid said. She sighed. “Is it too late to change my mind about this?”

“Abbadon is so powerful. If only we knew where its strength comes from, we might be able to block it,” Becca said.

The mermaids fell quiet as the cells loomed into view. Their doors were made of iron bars sunk deep into the stone walls. Large padlocks secured them. The illuminatas did little to dispel the gloom.

“Maybe the souls give Abbadon its power,” Ava said, resuming the conversation.

“And a talisman,” Ling added.

“But it doesn’t have a talisman. There are only six,” Neela countered. “The black pearl’s still on Orfeo, and Coco has the other five.”

“No, there was one more,” Ling reminded them. “Orfeo had a talisman before he had the black pearl.”

“The emerald!” Becca exclaimed.

“Exactly,” Ling said. “When Sera and I were in Atlantis, we talked to a vitrina. She told us that Orfeo destroyed his original talisman—an emerald given to him by Eveksion, the god of healing. He ground it up and put it into the wine of the people he sacrificed to make them healthy and strong.”

“But he didn’t destroy it. He couldn’t have,” Becca said. “The talismans are gifts from the gods and can’t be destroyed. He only changed its form.”

“So, Abbadon’s not only immortal, it’s powered by a talisman?” Astrid said in disbelief. “We’re chum, merls.”

She was at the front of the group, swimming backward as she talked, when suddenly a hand shot through the bars of a cell. Fingers wrapped themselves around her neck.

Astrid’s eyes widened in terror, a gasp escaped her. It felt as if those icy fingers had wrapped themselves around her heart.

“Hey, get away from her!” Neela cried.

She raced to Astrid and pried the fingers off her neck. As she was pulled clear of the cell door, Astrid could see a face pressed to the bars, framed by a mop of shaggy hair, frosted by ice. Dark eyes burned with malevolence. A vicious grin revealed a mouthful of rotten teeth.

“What is that thing?” she rasped, rubbing her neck.

“A ghost,” Sera replied. “The Carceron was in use right up to the destruction of Atlantis. There would have been prisoners in the cells when Merrow and the others herded Abbadon inside.”

“So they…they would’ve—” Ava started to say.

“Drowned,” Sera finished. “When Atlantis sank.”

“Wow. This just gets better and better,” Astrid said.

More faces appeared at cell doors. Astrid drew her sword.

A ghost saw it and chuckled deep in his throat. “What are you going to do, mermaid? Kill me?”

“Stay clear of the cells,” Sera ordered her friends. “Swim in the center of the corridor. Becs, keep a tight grip on Ava.”

As the mermaids swam past cell after cell, the ghosts inside called to them, trying to get them to come close, promising them that they would soon become ghosts, too. Looking up ahead, Astrid could see that the corridor ended in a T. She was relieved when they finally reached the end of it.

“Which way, Sera?” she asked.

“To the left, I think.”

“Um, nope. Not happening,” Astrid said, pointing down the hall.