Rogue Wave (Waterfire Saga #2)(71)

Her mother always had the answer. And Sera desperately needed it now. But the bronze face was silent.

“Got it!” Coco suddenly said. The coral crown was whole again. She lifted it off the seafloor, carried it to Serafina, and placed it on her head.

“This was Isabella’s crown but she’s gone, so it’s yours. You’re the regina now. Not Lucia,” she said. She threw her arms around Serafina’s neck and hugged her tightly.

Sera hugged Coco back, grateful for the little merl’s faith in her, and for her constant love. As Sera released Coco, her eyes fell on the plaque that had adorned the base of Isabella’s statue. She could see the words incised upon it. She knew them well. They had been the motto of Merrow, and of every Merrovingian ruler since.

The love of the sea folk is my strength.

That was it. The answer she needed. It had been there all along.

She heard Thalassa’s voice now: A ruler’s greatest power comes from her heart—from the love she bears her subjects, and the love they bear her.

Vr?ja’s: Nothing is more powerful than love.

And Elena’s: Love’s the greatest magic of all.

Love was Merrow’s greatest power. And her mother’s. It would be hers, too. She would fight to the death for her people. She would take her city, and her realm, back. She would stop the evil in the Southern Sea. Not with terror, cruelty, and hatred, like Traho. But with love.

“Thank you, Mom,” she whispered.

“Come on,” she said to Coco, as she rose. “Let’s go. It’s time we got to the safe house and got ourselves organized again. I have a resistance to lead.”

As the two swam off to join the others, Serafina’s back was straight, her head was high.

There was a dangerous new light in her eyes.





IN THE EAST CHINA SEA, a large trawler moved slowly through the water. Rafe Iaoro Mfeme was sitting in a chair on the ship’s aft deck, watching the last rays of the sun paint the sky. His hair was covered by a baseball cap. His eyes were hidden behind sunglasses. A flawless black pearl dangled from a chain around his neck. His right hand was bloodied.

Across from him was a mermaid bound to a chair with rope. Blood dripped off her chin. Her head lolled on her chest. One of her black braids had come loose.

Her sword rested on top of a table. Her bag had been torn apart. Its contents lay strewn across the deck—a few cowries, some transparensea pebbles, a water apple, and letter tiles from a terragogg word game.

“This is getting tedious,” Mfeme said, turning to her.

The mermaid lifted her head and spat out a mouthful of blood. Her lip was split. One of her eyes was swollen shut.

“Sorry to hear you say that,” Ling said. “I’m having a fabulous time.”

Mfeme cracked his knuckles. “I’ll ask you again: where is the talisman?”

“And I’ll tell you again: I have no idea,” Ling said.

“Do you think I’m joking? I’ll cut your ears off and throw them to the sharks.”

“Good. I won’t have to listen to you anymore.”

Mfeme grabbed Ling’s hair and yanked her head back.

“There are all kinds of pain, Ling. There’s the kind you’re feeling right now, but there’s a worse kind, too. The kind you’re going to feel when I find your father, haul him up on this boat, and cut off his ears, all because you won’t tell me what I want to know.”

“Good luck with that. My father’s dead. I don’t know where the talisman is. Even if I did, I wouldn’t tell you.”

Mfeme let go of her. “I’d like to kill you. I’d like that very much.”

“Then do it and stop wasting my time.”

“Unfortunately, I can’t. You’re valuable to me and you know it. You’re smart, Ling, but you’re not smart enough. All this time, and you still have no idea who you’re dealing with, do you?”

“Actually, I do. You’re Traho’s boat boy. His gogg lackey.”

“I’m afraid you have that the wrong way around,” Mfeme said.

He removed his sunglasses.

Ling gasped. His eyes had no irises, no white. They were entirely black.

Mfeme swept his hand through the air and her letter tiles slid across the deck. As Ling watched, they spelled out his name.