Rogue Wave (Waterfire Saga #2)(24)

He took Serafina’s hand again, gently this time. He reached into his pocket, pulled something out of it, and slipped it onto her finger. It was the little shell ring. The one he’d made for her two years ago.

“You’re still my choice. Always,” he said. “Even if I’m not yours anymore.”

Serafina stared at the ring, incredulous. “How did you get this?” she asked.

“I picked it up after you threw it away.”

“But you couldn’t have. You weren’t there. I threw it away when I was with the Praedatori. I don’t…I don’t understand.”

Then suddenly she did.

She grabbed the lapels of his jacket and pushed it off his shoulders. Under his right shoulder, just below the outer edge of his collarbone, was a bandage. It covered the place where the death rider’s spear had gone through him.

When he was in the duca’s palazzo.

When he was fighting for her life.

When he was Blu.





MAHDI CUPPED Sera’s face.

“Don’t touch me, Mahdi. I’m mad. No, I’m furious! After what happened at the duca’s, I thought you were dead!” Sera said, slapping his hand away. “You let me believe you were.”

“Maybe it was wishful thinking,” Mahdi said.

Sera ignored that. “How long have you been with the Praedatori? What’s the death rider uniform all about?”

Mahdi was silent.

“You need to tell me. My life’s in danger, Mahdi. I have to know what’s going on.”

“I’ve been a member of the Praedatori for a year. I’ve been pretending to be a death rider for the last few weeks.”

“Why didn’t you say something at the duca’s?” Serafina asked. “Why didn’t you tell me it was you?”

Her head was spinning. Until a minute ago, she’d thought that her betrothed had abandoned her. And that an outlaw had sacrificed himself for her. Now they were both the same merman, and right here before her.

“I couldn’t say anything, Sera. We take a vow—”

“I don’t care!” she said, slapping her tail. “You took another vow. To me. Or you were about to.”

“I only wanted to protect you. It’s dangerous to know things. Knowing things can get you killed these days.”

“It’s more dangerous not to know. I just lunged at you with a knife, Mahdi. I…I could have…” Serafina’s voice caught.

“It’s all right. I’m fine.”

“Is Yazeed in the Praedatori too? Is he alive?”

Mahdi said nothing.

“I’ll take that as a yes. Tell him he’s got to get word to Matali. Neela’s worried sick.”

“I can’t. Yaz is missing in action. He was directing guerilla operations outside Cerulea. His base was raided a week ago. No one’s seen him since.”

Serafina fell silent now, and Mahdi kept trying to explain.

“I wanted to say something. The whole time I was with you, I was wishing I could. But I couldn’t, even if I hadn’t taken a vow. If you’d known it was me, you might’ve made decisions based on my safety, not your own. I didn’t want that. I wanted you to be able to swim away. To leave me behind if you had to. I was also worried about my cover. What if you’d been captured? You might’ve been forced to tell Traho the truth.”

“Never. I never would have told that sea scum anything.”

“Traho can be very persuasive.”

“I don’t care if he tortured me. I never would have betrayed you.

“What if it wasn’t you he tortured? What if it was Neela? What if he cut off her fingers and made you watch? Could you stay silent then? Four days ago, he cut a finger off a child—a child, Sera—to make her mother tell him where her father was hiding. I saw him do it. And I couldn’t do anything. I couldn’t stop him. It would have blown my cover. I would have saved one, maybe—and sacrificed thousands more. I still see her. That little merl. I see her at night when I try to sleep. I still hear her.”

Mahdi leaned his head against the wall and closed his eyes.

“Oh, Mahdi,” she said, her heart hurting for him.

He looked at her, then touched a tendril of her hair, following its curve across her temple and down her cheek. “It suits you,” he said, smiling. “So does the outfit.”

Serafina looked down at her clothing. The illusios she’d cast at the duca’s had finally worn off. She was back to short hair and swash clothes. “Thanks,” she said. “It’s all Neela’s doing. We needed disguises and she came up with some.”

“I was so worried about you, Sera. After we fought off the attackers at the palazzo, we hunted for you. All the Praedatori did. The ones who survived, at least. We couldn’t find you anywhere. How did you get out?”

“Through a mirror.”

“Seriously?”

“Yes.”

“But only the very best mages can do that. How did you—”

“Look, Mahdi, I’m asking the questions right now, okay?”

Sera was wary. The lessons of the last few weeks had taught her not to give her trust until it had been earned. Who was the real Mahdi? Was it the shy, serious boy she’d fallen in love with two years ago? The party boy she’d found passed out in the ruins of the reggia? Or the solemn, selfless warrior she now found herself talking to?