“My suspicions have been confirmed,” he said. “Vallerio has been plotting a move—a big one. He’s sent death riders after two of the talismans—Nyx’s ruby ring and Pyrrha’s gold coin. Soldiers left today—Tidesday—for the Mississippi; more are leaving for Cape Horn tomorrow. Mfeme’s transporting them in two of his ships. Get your operatives out of there immediately. I’ll send another message as soon as I know more. Stay safe, all of you.”
The message ended. Everyone was silent. Sera, furious, rose and swam around the cave.
“How does my uncle always know things he can’t possibly know?” she asked. “No one knows the locations of the talismans. No one but us.”
“Correction: no one knew the locations but us,” Yaz said.
“Why is Vallerio going to the Mississippi and Cape Horn?” Neela asked. “Why not the Abyss, where Sycorax’s puzzle ball is?”
It was Sophia who voiced the terrible thing they were all thinking. “Maybe he already has the puzzle ball.”
Sera’s heart sank at this possibility. How would they defeat Abbadon without all the talismans? And it seemed that Vallerio was about to close in on two more. Mahdi said the death riders had set off on Tidesday—that was already four days ago. “We’ve got to do a convoca. Now. Ava and Becca are in serious danger,” she said, sitting back down.
“It’s too risky,” Yaz said. “The moon’s waning. The Karg’s bad for casting. Songspells don’t carry properly here because of the iron in the rocks. Someone could listen in.”
“I don’t have a choice, Yaz,” Sera countered. “They could be swimming straight into a trap.”
Yaz ran a hand through his hair. “Okay,” he finally said. “Give it everything you’ve got.”
Sera, Yaz, Neela, and Sophia all joined hands. Sera found that her convocas were tighter and stronger if she cast them as part of a circle. She sang the words of the songspell.
I send my voice
Throughout the waters,
Trying to summon
Merrow’s daughters.
Our minds are one,
Our hearts bloodbound.
Great Neria, help them
hear this sound.
But nothing happened.
“Come on, Ava,” she whispered. “Where are you, Becca?”
She cast again but still couldn’t get her friends. On her third try, she got a choppy image.
“Becca!” she shouted.
“Sera, Neela? Is that you?” Becca asked blearily. She’d been asleep.
“Yes!” Sera said. “Hold on…I’m trying to get Ava….”
On her fifth attempt, she succeeded. She was overjoyed to see Ava, but her happiness turned to alarm as she noted how gaunt her friend looked.
“Ava, where are you? Is Baby with you?”
“He’s here, querida,” Ava said.
“Good,” Sera said, glad to hear it. That nasty little piranha was Ava’s fierce defender.
“I’m at…off the…” The sound crackled. Ava faded, then came back.
“Listen, I have to be quick,” Sera said. “I just received bad news. Vallerio found out where Nyx’s ring is and Pyrrha’s coin. He sent troops to get them.”
“What? How did he find out?” Becca asked.
“I have no idea,” Sera replied. “I do know that the death riders left Cerulea several days ago. They’re on board Mfeme’s ships, which means they’re moving fast.”
“How long until they get to Cape Horn?” Becca asked.
Sera looked at Yaz.
“Five days max,” he said.
“I can beat them,” Becca said.
“Becca, what if you’re wrong? What if they capture you?”
“I can do this, Sera. I…”
Becca faded out, then came back.
“Be careful, Becca. Please,” Sera begged.
“I will…soon…okay? Signing off.”
And then she was gone. Ava’s image was fading, too.
“Ava, where are you?” Sera asked.
“In the mouth of the Mississippi. I’ve still got a ways to go to reach the Okwa Naholos’ swamp.”
“Not good,” Yaz said. “By my calculations, the death riders will get there in six days themselves, maybe five if they push hard. Get her out of there, Sera.”
“Ava, did you hear Yazeed?” Sera shouted. Ava was blurring.
“No! What did he say?”
“He said you need to get out of there!” Sera yelled.
Ava snorted. “And let Traho get that sick ruby ring? I don’t think so, gatinha. It’ll look way better on me than it would on him!”
“Ava, it’s too risky!”
“How many days have I got?”
“Six, then you also need time to get out of the swamp.”
Ava shook her head. “Sixteen? What are you worried about? That’s plenty of time!”
“Not sixteen, Ava! Six!” Sera yelled frantically.
“Lost you, mina…Don’t worry…can make it…”
The convoca faded. Ava was gone.
“Oh, gods,” Sera said, her voice breaking. “She’s chum.”
Sera was silent for a moment, as she tried to regain control of her emotions. Her mind worked its way back to the question she’d asked before.
“How did Vallerio find out? How? Of everyone in this camp, only we know the location of the talismans. I’ve kept it that way on purpose.”
“Maybe somebody cast an ochi on us,” Yaz ventured.
Sera shook her head. “There’s no way. This cave is swept for gândacs every day.”
“According to Mahdi, Baco Goga was seen around the palace,” Yaz reminded her. “You told us so yourself.”
“Yes, but he wasn’t seen here,” Sera said.
“He could have turned someone in the camp. That someone may have overheard one of us and reported the info to Baco.”
The mere thought of a spy in their midst sent a shiver through Sera.
Yaz saw it. “Where’s your jacket?” he asked.
“I have no idea. I’ve been looking for it for days,” Sera said distractedly.
Both mermaids had acquired new jackets after using their old ones to bandage Sera’s tail, but it seemed Sera had lost hers. Sophia unbuttoned her jacket now and handed it to Sera.
“I can’t take that, Soph,” Sera said.
“Actually, you can,” Sophia replied. “We can’t afford for you to get sick.”
“Thank you,” Sera said, shrugging into the garment. “I don’t know how Vallerio’s getting his information, but he can’t be allowed to capture Ava and Becca.”
“How do we stop him?” Neela asked.
Sera had an idea. “We’ve got troops now, so let’s use them,” she said. “We don’t have a super trawler to get our soldiers where they need to go, but we can cast velo spells. And enlist the help of whales, too. In a battle of goblins against death riders, I’d back the goblins any day.”
“This is a real long shot. You know that, right?” Yazeed said.
Sera laughed wearily. “What isn’t a long shot, Yaz? I am. You are. This entire camp is. I’m getting used to making long shots work. We’ve got to protect Ava and Becca,” she said.
As Neela and Sophia started to work out how many goblins should be sent to the Mississippi and Cape Horn, Yaz consulted maps to determine the quickest routes.
Sera started out for the munitions cave. Her troops would need crossbows and arrows and she wanted to see how many of each had arrived.
As she swam, worried for her friends but emboldened by her plans, she met the truth head-on. There was no point in waiting for the fickle gods Trykel and Spume to help her. If she wanted the tide to turn, she’d have to turn it herself.
“YOU LOVE HER, don’t you?” Des asked Astrid, his eyes crinkling as he smiled.
Astrid, watching Elskan charge off after a school of herring, laughed. “I guess so. As much as I can love a headstrong, willful, bad-tempered beast.”
“I think that’s why you
love her. She’s strong, spirited, and does pretty much as she pleases.” He gave Astrid a sidelong glance. “Kind of like someone else I know.”
Astrid rolled her eyes. She and Des had been traveling together for three days now and they’d developed an easy, teasing way with each other.
And they had plenty to tease about. They’d both almost fallen off when Elskan had bolted out of Ludo’s stable. They’d both been bucked off on several occasions. And Elskan had nipped each of them countless times. Des was missing a few scales on his backside thanks to the orca.
But Des wasn’t just a joker. He was sober and serious when he needed to be, and an exceedingly capable soldier. He knew how to find food or trap it, how to hide all traces of a campsite, and how to cast a superfast camo spell. He knew when schools of haddock or cod were approaching and always made sure he and Astrid got off Elskan when they did so the orca could chase down a meal.
He was sensitive, too. He seemed to know when to give her space to mourn her father. And Astrid did the same for him, allowing him privacy when he became quiet, guessing that he was thinking about his parents.
Nights were the hardest. That was when thoughts and memories crowded in. She and Des would untack Elskan, allow her to hunt—as they’d done just now—and give her a rubdown when she returned. Then they’d set up camp, eat, and sleep.
Except that Astrid usually couldn’t sleep. She’d sit up and watch fish swim to the surface to feed, let a little blue crab crawl up her arm, or gaze at a lion’s mane jellyfish drifting by, all the while thinking about Kolfinn and how Rylka had murdered him. And her heart would ache with sorrow and burn with fury.
She admired Des—he was Des to her now—and respected him, and wished to the gods she could tell him her secret. It was hard to keep trying to hide it. She had to constantly invent excuses to explain why she didn’t songcast an illuminata or a camo spell when they needed one.
But she was afraid to reveal the truth. She knew the day was coming when she’d have to tell him—and Sera, Neela, and everyone else—and she dreaded it. What if Kolfinn had been right? What if no one wanted a mermaid without magic?
“Elskan’s hungry tonight,” Des said now, pulling Astrid out of her thoughts.
“So am I,” Astrid said. “We only have a few bunches of squid eggs left. I hope the foraging’s decent here.”
About half an hour ago, they’d found a large metal shipping container lying on the seafloor broken in two, its colorful but inedible contents spilling out, and had decided to shelter inside it for the night. Sunken containers weren’t uncommon. Rough seas sometimes knocked them off the decks of ships.
Tomorrow morning they’d resume their journey to the Kargjord. Only they were making one stop on the way—at the Qanikkaaq. Sera had asked her to get the black pearl, hoping that Vallerio or Mfeme hadn’t beaten them to it, and Astrid had refused. But that was before Kolfinn had been murdered. Before she’d become an outlaw. Before Des. Before she’d decided to follow the current Vrăja had set out for her.
Without the black pearl there was no defeating Abbadon. And Astrid knew now that killing the monster, and besting those who were trying to free it, was the only way to save Ondalina. She’d told Des what she wanted to do and he’d immediately offered to help.
“I saw what I think was a water apple orchard a little ways back. Just before we stopped to untack Elskan,” he said now. “Want to go see if I’m right?”
Astrid nodded. She started to follow him, then halted and frowned.
“What’s wrong?”
“I—I don’t know. Do you hear something?”
Des listened, then shook his head. “Do you?”
“It sounds like a voice.”
Des’s hand went to the hilt of his sword. He turned in a slow circle, a wary look on his face. “I don’t see anyone,” he said.
“I don’t, either,” said Astrid. She heard the noise again. “I think it’s in my head, Des.”
“Is it a convoca?”
“I think so. This happened to me once before, when I was with Becca. I thought I was losing my mind, but it turned out to be your sister. That might be what I’m hearing now.”
“Where were you the last time it happened?
“In Atlantica.”
“No, I mean were you near anything that enhances magic? On the surface, in moonlight? Near whalefall?”
Astrid snapped her fingers. “Yes, I was! I was in a whale cemetery.”
“Maybe we’re close to one,” Des said, looking around. “Forget the water apples for now.” He nodded at a hill ahead. “Let’s see what’s behind that.”
“Hang on a sec,” Astrid said. “Speaking of whales…where did Elskan go?”
Des pointed up above them. The orca was breaching. As she hit the water, then dove, Astrid cupped her hands around her mouth.
“Elskan!” she shouted. “ELSKAN!”
The orca rolled over like a big black-and-white barrel. With her belly facing the surface, she peered down at Astrid.
“Don’t. Go. Far!”
Elskan snorted. She righted herself, flipped her tail, and sped off.
“Unbelievable,” Astrid said, shaking her head.
“She’ll be back,” Des said.
The two mer swam toward the craggy seamount, crested the top, and dove down.
“Look,” Des said, pointing to his right. “Over there.”
“Good eyes,” Astrid said. About seventy yards away was the corpse of a large humpback. Scavengers—fish, crabs, and worms—were picking it clean.
Astrid and Des sped toward the whalefall, but as they drew close, Astrid realized that something else was crouched over the carcass—something pale and wraithlike.
Her heart lurched. She grabbed Des’s arm, stopping him short.
“Why are we—” he started to say.
Astrid shook her head. She held a finger to her lips and tried to back away quietly, pulling him with her. But it was too late.
The creature looked up. Its white eyes fastened on them. Using its long, clawed hands, it scrabbled over the rotting whale toward them. Ragged seaweed ropes that were entangled with the bodies of dead mer and drowned terragoggs trailed after it.
“What the—” Des started to say.
“It’s an EisGeist,” Astrid replied, pulling her sword from its scabbard. “Get ready for a fight.”
THE SPECTER SCUTTLED closer. Its gray hair floated crazily around its head. Its white lips curled into a snarl, revealing teeth as jagged and sharp as shards of glass.
“Don’t let it near you, Des!”
“As if!” Des said, holding his sword out in front of him.
“It strangles its victims and drags them around until they rot. It eats bones.”
“Astrid, I so don’t care! Just tell me how to kill it!” Des shouted, saucer-eyed.
“You can’t kill it! It’s a spirit,” Astrid shouted back.
“Great! That’s just great! What do I do?”
“I’ll draw it to me. When I do, cut the seaweed. Make like you’re going to steal its swag.”
Des eyed a dead gogg in a wetsuit. “Ugh, really?”
“It’ll try to knot the ropes back together. When it does, we bolt.”
Astrid advanced on the EisGeist. It crouched low, ready to spring at her.
Astrid…
That wasn’t Des. It was another voice. Inside Astrid’s head. It was stronger now, because she was so close to whalebones.
“You have got to be joking,” she said.
Astrid, it’s me…
“Yeah, I know. Not now, Sera, okay? I’m right in the middle of something!”
“What did you say?” Des shouted. He was close to the EisGeist now.
“Nothing. Cut the ropes!”
The EisGeist, clever and quick, wheeled around and advanced on Des. It had purposely let him come close so it could attack him.
“Hey! HEY!” Astrid shouted. She rushed at the creature, hacking at it with her sword. Th
e blade went right through it, but the ghost must’ve felt something because it turned, growling, and rushed at her.
“The ropes, Des! Cut the ropes,” Astrid shouted.
“I can’t! I think they’re enchanted!” Des yelled.
Astrid…are you there?
“Not NOW, Sera,” Astrid said, through gritted teeth.
The EisGeist wheeled around and moved toward Des. Astrid saw her opening and attacked, but the ghost was only feinting. It turned suddenly, wrapped its hands around the hilt of Astrid’s sword, and wrenched it away from her. Then it thrust the blade at her, missing her head by a hairsbreadth.
Astrid tried to get away from it, but the ghost had forced her up against an outcropping of rock. She had nowhere to go.
The EisGeist raised the sword over its head, ready to bring the blade down on Astrid, but before it could, there was a black-and-white blur in the water. Elskan slammed into the specter, knocking the sword out of its hands.
The ghost screeched and spun around. It swiped at Elskan. Its long claws raked gashes in the orca’s side. She roared in pain, turned in the water, and charged again.
“Elskan, the ropes!” Astrid shouted.
At the last second, Elskan swerved from the ghost to the seaweed. She opened her mouth wide and bit down hard on the thick ropes, cutting them in two. The EisGeist’s enchantment was no match for the whale’s magic and her lethally sharp teeth.
Des was right behind the whale. He grabbed the ends of the ropes that were attached to the treasure, twisted them together, and whistled for Elskan. She turned and sped back.
The EisGeist, unaware it had been separated from its hoard, was scurrying toward Astrid once again.
“Go, Elskan! Fast as you can, girl! Dump it and come back!” Des told the whale.
The ghost lunged at Astrid, ready to grab her by the throat, but Elskan shook the ropes, rattling the bones caught up in it.
The EisGeist turned and snarled. Elskan backed up slowly, luring the specter away from Astrid. The orca shook the ropes again, then streaked away.