The Deepest Blue(77)

Mayara didn’t reach out yet. She waited to see what Roe would do.

And then she heard it, echoed through the minds of the spirits:

Attack the Silent Ones.

“Clever,” Lanei said with approval.

Mayara smiled. She knew she shouldn’t hate the Silent Ones, especially since they didn’t kill Kelo. Or might not have killed Kelo. But she couldn’t help it. They were the ones who had torn her away from her family and her life. Besides, they could defend themselves. She added her mental voice to Roe’s: Go north, to the islands beyond the reef. Attack the Silent Ones.

She felt the spirits respond. This was a command that they all liked. She was certain it had been tried before, but perhaps not as a distraction.

The earth spirits moved. The air spirits flew. The water spirits boiled up from the cove. All of them flowed north. And the four spirit sisters ducked back into the cave.

Without a word, Lanei led them.

They hurried through the passageway toward the underground lake, and then, into the lake. Roe hesitated at the edge. Mayara repeated what she’d said, “Remember, we’re doing this together. Take my hand.”

Roe took her hand, and together they jumped in. Mayara pulled Roe through the water, swimming strong enough for both of them, following Lanei and Palia.

They surfaced, breathed, and then swam on, with Mayara continuing to pull Roe, who flopped through the water as awkwardly as a baby sea turtle. She wished there had been time to teach her to swim. I’m strong enough. We can do this.

Climbing out of the water, they followed a dark path, lit only by firemoss.

It rose up.

Ahead, Lanei was whispering furiously to Palia. Warnings or threats? Mayara wondered, but there wasn’t time to ask.

In the distance, they could feel the churning of the spirits. The Silent Ones were equipped to defend themselves, and the spirits were under orders not to leave the reef. But they could make life unpleasant, beginning wind storms, tossing waves at the shore, hurling boulders out of the sea. For now at least, there was chaos. If we can just be fast enough . . .

They emerged on the southern side of the island. Palia was breathing heavily, with a wheezing hiss at the end of each breath. Hands on her knees, she bent over. “Are you all right?” Mayara asked. “Can you make it?”

“For my daughter,” Palia said. “Yes.”

“Roe?”

Roe nodded. “Ready.”

Mayara was awed by how strong they both were. Roe, unable to swim, yet going underwater inside caves. Agreeing to plunge into the ocean. And Palia, who was clearly hurting and pushed beyond her limits. Roe wants to see her mother, and Palia her daughter. Just as much as I want to be with Kelo. We all want the lives we were supposed to have.

She wondered if there was anyone out there whom Lanei loved.

Palia dived into the water first, then Lanei. Roe was next, followed by Mayara, who immediately swam to Roe, supporting her in the waves. “You watch for spirits,” Mayara told her. “I’ll take care of swimming.” Any sighting could spell disaster—one spirit could alert the others. They’d have to silence it fast.

The reef was teeming with fish: silver, purple, yellow, orange. Eels slipped between the fans of the coral. The coral itself was overlapping layers of lace. She didn’t fear any of them—they were animals. But a spirit could hide between them. That she feared. All it took was one.

And there was one.

“Mayara . . .”

“I feel it. Palia, Lanei, keep Roe afloat!” She pushed the younger woman toward them.

Lanei and Palia each caught her under an armpit. “Push the water down,” Palia advised her. “Don’t just flail around. Push. That’s it. You call for a wild spirit, and we’ll help keep you afloat until it gets here.”

Kicking, Mayara swam down toward the spirit with a powerful thrust. It hadn’t noticed them yet. She drew her glass knife. The spirit was a translucent wisp, drifting between the coral.

As Roe, Palia, and Lanei crossed the line of coral and began summoning a spirit not from Akena that would be strong enough to carry them to Yena, the little island spirit noticed them—and as it did, Mayara sank her knife into it. She cut off its cry.

She hoped she’d been fast enough.

Silvery blood spread through the water, and Mayara rose to the surface at a distance from her friends. She opened her mouth to call to them to wait for her, then felt a hand close around her wrist and yank her down. She had half a second to suck in air.

Ready with her knife, she spun under water—but it wasn’t a spirit.

It was a woman with a white mask. Her gray robe clung to her limbs, and she was seal-slick gray. Underwater, they both stared at each other.

Dimly, beneath the panic and fear, Mayara had the space to think: She’s a deep diver. Neither of them were fighting for air. She’s like me.

Then another part of her thought: I have to keep her from calling the spirits. She had to give her friends a chance to escape. Instead of trying to pull away from the Silent One, Mayara launched into her, kicking hard against the water to propel herself into her.

She knocked her down, into the reef, holding her against the coral.

Fish scattered.

The Silent One struggled to break free.

Let’s see who’s the deep diver now, Mayara thought. She held the Silent One down, silently urging her friends to hurry. She hoped they had the sense to go without her.