Deep Blue (Waterfire Saga, #1)(78)

“Six children the witch sends to defeat Abbadon…Scared little children…stupid and weak…They will not find the talismans…They will die…Their realms will fall…and Abbadon will rise again….” she read aloud. Then she looked at the others. “It hears everything spoken in these caves. It says our names. Where we’re from. Who our mage ancestors were. What our powers are. It talks about everything we’ve talked about for the past few days. About landmarks—the ones Vr?ja gave us to lead us here. It talks about the Malacostraca. Because we talked about them and it heard us,” she said.

“Oh, no,” Becca whispered.

“Look, do you see this word here? Kyrios. And these? Zh?…st?pan…dominus. They all mean the same thing: master. It’s talking to Traho, or Kolfinn, or whoever wants to free it. It’s telling him everything,” Ling said.

“Which means he knows where we are,” Serafina said, fear squeezing her stomach.

“And how to get here,” Becca said.

“If the death riders find the entrance to these caves…” Neela said.

“You mean when they find it. If Abbadon told Traho about the landmarks—the Maiden’s Leap, the bones, the waters of the Malacostraca—then it’s only a matter of time.”

“You have to get out of here,” Magdelena said. “There’s a tunnel beneath our caves. It will take you several leagues south of here. Well away from Traho and his soldiers. Get your things and meet me in Vr?ja’s study.” She left then, swimming rapidly after Tatiana.

Fury rose from deep in Serafina’s heart, like waterfire from the depths of the earth. It pushed out the fear. Traho was forcing them to flee again. He’d torn her away from her home, from the safety of the duca’s palazzo, and from Blu. Now he was tearing her apart from the other mermaids when they’d only just come together.

“She’s right,” Ling said. “We better not be here when Traho knocks on the door.”

“No. Forget it. I’m not leaving. Not like this,” Serafina said defiantly.

“But we can’t stay,” Becca said.

“We’ll go, but not yet. First, let’s really give Abbadon something to talk about.”

“Such as?”

“A bloodbind.”

“Whoa,” Ling said. “Really?”

“Really.”

“It’s darksong, Sera,” Ava said. “It’s canta malus.”

“These are dark times,” Serafina replied.

Canta malus was said to have been a poisonous gift to the mer from Morsa, in mockery of Neria’s gifts. The invocation of some malus spells could get the caster imprisoned: the clepio spells, used for stealing; a habeo, which took control of another’s mind or body; the nocérus, used to cause harm; and the nex songspell, which was used to kill.

“Outlaws use bloodbinds,” Becca said. “So they can never turn against each other.”

“Traho has made outlaws of us,” Sera countered.

“A bloodbind is forever. You break it, you die,” Ava said.

“I know that,” Sera said. “I want to show Traho that we mean it. That we’re all in. Abbadon called us a lot of things. It’s right about one—we’re scared. But we’re not stupid, we’re not weak, we’re not children, and we won’t quit. I still don’t know how we’re going to do this. I don’t know how to use all my powers. I don’t even know how to stop Neela’s nosebleed. But I do know this: I will fight to the death with you, and for you. It’s time Abbadon and Traho and every single lowtide death rider knew that too.”

“I’m so in,” Ling said.

“Me too,” Becca and Neela said.

“And me,” Ava said. “When do we do it?”

“Now,” Serafina said.

“Where?” Becca asked.

“In the Incantarium. By the waterfire. To make sure Abbadon hears us. Loud and clear.”





“HEY, can I borrow that? Thanks!”

Ling got the halberd away from the guard with a magnitis spell before he even knew what had happened. As he was blinking at his empty hands, she swam into the Incantarium, ducked under the arms of a circling incanta, and stuck the weapon’s axlike blade through the waterfire. Serafina and the others followed her into the room. Baby swam behind them.

“Hey! Hey, blabbermouth! Wake up!” Ling yelled, poking the rippling image of the Carceron.

“Great Neria, what are you doing?” an incanta shouted. “You’ll get yourself killed!”

“It’s a strong possibility,” Ling said. She peered at the Carceron’s gates. There was only darkness behind them. “Hey! Are you listening, you sorry sack of silt?” she shouted. “Then listen to this! We’re doing a bind. A bloodbind. You hear that? I said, a BLOODBIND, monster man! Tell that to your boss!”

She backed away from the waterfire and waited. Serafina felt her heart slamming in her chest. At first there was only silence, but then they could hear a low growl. A few seconds later, something moved in the darkness. An arm shot out from between the bars, and then two more. They pushed through the ochi, through the water, and into the Incantarium. Hands opened like dark, sinister sea flowers; the eyes in the center of their palms stared.