Rogue Wave (Waterfire Saga #2)(3)

His venomous words struck at Serafina’s heart like a stingray’s barb. Mahdi, the crown prince of Matali, a merman she’d loved, had betrayed her for another and the wound was still raw. She looked down at the floor, paralyzed by pain. She forgot why she was here. And where she was going. Her will was ebbing away. A suffocating grayness descended on her like a sea fog.

With a purr of pleasure, Rorrim plucked a small, dark thing hiding between two vertebrae. The dankling screeched and flailed as he popped it into his mouth.

“So delicious!” he said, swallowing. “I shouldn’t have any more, but I can’t help myself.” He ate another, and then said, “You’ll never defeat Traho. He’ll find you sooner or later.”

The brightness in Serafina’s eyes dimmed. Her head dipped. Rorrim plucked more danklings, cramming them into his mouth with the heel of his hand.

“Mmm! Divine!” he said, gulping them down. A rumbling burp escaped him.

The rude noise broke through Serafina’s lethargy. For a few seconds, the gray lifted and her mind was clear again. He’s taking me apart. I can’t let him, she thought desperately. But how can I fight him? He’s so strong….

With great effort, she lifted her head—and gasped. Rorrim had doubled in size. His belly was hanging down to his knees. His face was grotesquely bloated. A grimace twisted his mouth.

He’s eaten so much he’s in pain, she thought.

She heard another voice then—Vr?ja’s. It sounded in her memory, loud and clear. Instead of shunning your fear, you must let it speak, the witch had told her.

Serafina would. She would let it shout.

“You’re right, Rorrim,” she said. “What Vr?ja’s asked of me is impossible.”

She was throwing her heart open to a monster. If she failed, he would devour it.

Rorrim snatched another dankling and chewed it. He burped again, wincing. His belly touched the ground now. “Perhaps a slight pause between courses would be wise,” he said. “A moment, please….”

Sera didn’t give him one.

“I’m afraid I won’t find my uncle. Or my brother,” she said, all in a rush. “I’m afraid of the death riders. I’m afraid for Neela, Ling, Ava, and Becca. I’m afraid Astrid’s telling me the truth. I’m afraid she isn’t. I’m afraid of Traho. I’m afraid of the man with no eyes….”

Rorrim was grabbing fistfuls of danklings now. His arms were so fat, he could barely bring his hands to his mouth, yet he couldn’t stop eating. His greed overwhelmed him.

“Do you know what else I’m afraid of?”

“Oh, gods, stop. Please!” Rorrim begged. He took a step back, lost his balance, and toppled over. He tried to get up, but couldn’t. His legs and arms kicked wildly, like a flipped-over turtle’s. He was helpless.

Serafina bent over him. She was shouting now. “I’m afraid I’ll lose my mind if I see any more suffering! I’m afraid more Ceruleans will be killed! I’m afraid of villages being raided! I’m afraid Traho will hurt Vr?ja! I’m afraid Blu is dead! I’m afraid for the merfolk trapped on Rafe Mfeme’s ship!”

Rorrim closed his eyes. He whimpered and Serafina stopped yelling. She straightened, surprised to find that the gray fog had disappeared. She had bested Rorrim. Her fear had become an ally instead of an enemy.

Smiling, she opened her hand. The beetles were still inside it. “Silverfish! Come!” she shouted, as loudly as she could.

But no silverfish appeared. Serafina realized what she was doing wrong.

She shouted again.

she called.

The liquid silver stirred. Two long, quivering antennae emerged from it, followed by a head. The creature crawled all the way out of the liquid and Serafina saw that it was huge. Twice as big as a large hippokamp. Silver drops fell from its long, segmented carapace. A pair of enormous black eyes regarded her.



it said.



Serafina said.

The silverfish nodded and Serafina climbed onto its back. The creature folded its long antennae down so she could hold them like reins. Sera found her seat atop the silverfish just as she would if she were riding her own hippokamp, Clio. Her tail hugged its side. Her spine was straight and strong.

“To Atlantis? You’re traveling to your own death!” Rorrim cried.

“I’m going to Atlantis to prevent death. Mine and many more,” Serafina said.

“Idiot merl!” Rorrim bellowed, flailing his arms and legs furiously. “The Opafago will eat you alive! They’ll crack your bones open and lick out the marrow! If you aren’t scared, you should be!”

“I’m not scared, Rorrim…”

“Liar,” Rorrim hissed.

“…I’m terrified.”





Serafina told the silverfish.

The creature stared at her with his big black eyes.

he said.

Serafina looked at the mirror again. The silverfish had taken her a very long way down the endless Hall of Sighs and had deposited her here. The glass in front of her was broken with jagged edges, and attached to its frame on only two sides. If she sucked in her stomach and turned sideways, she might be able to swim through it, but she wasn’t sure and she didn’t want to take any chances.

Every mirror in the Hall of Sighs corresponded to a mirror in the terragogg or mer world. The other side of this mirror was somewhere in Atlantis, in some ruined room, but where?