Sera sang the spell once more, with every bit of strength she had. As the last note rose, there was a deafening roar. The pipes exploded, taking most of the back wall with them. The force of the blast knocked Serafina to the floor and sent debris flying through the water, covering her in gravel and silt. She shook it off, got up, and looked for Ling.
Ling was weaving back and forth, dazed. A piece of debris had sliced her cheek. She’d dropped her ap? piatr? and the Opafago, dazed themselves, staggered through the doorway. Serafina grabbed her friend and pulled her through the gaping hole in the wall.
“Ling, can you swim on your own?” Sera asked. “We’ve got to make wake.”
Ling blinked. She shook her head to clear it. After a few deep breaths, she said, “Head for the surface. I hear a shoal. It’s an easy meal for the Opafago. If we can get above it, we might lose them.”
Serafina and Ling streaked up into the warmer, light-filled waters. Thousands of sardines, their scales flashing, were moving through the current. The two mermaids shot through the shoal, hearts pumping, lungs straining. Sera looked back to see all six of the horrible Opafago snatching fish with their clawed hands and pushing them into their mouths.
“Could’ve been us,” Ling said.
A minute later, both mermaids broke the surface. Ling, panting, shaded her eyes and looked around. “I see a cove over there,” she said, pointing west. “It’ll be evening soon. Maybe we can find a sea cave and hole up for the night.”
They swam silently for nearly half an hour. As they neared the cove, Sera noticed that Ling was cradling her bad arm.
“Are you okay? How are you feeling?” she asked her.
“I’m tired. Really, really tired,” said Ling.
“That was flat-out,” said Sera.
“Yeah, but it’s more than that. I’m tired of swimming for my life. Tired of Traho and cannibals and freaks in mirrors.”
“You forgot rotters, death riders, and rusalka,” Serafina added with a weary laugh.
“I just want a bubble tea, you know? Coralberry. That’s my favorite flavor. I just want to hang with my friends. Go to a dance. Listen to the latest Dead Reckoners conch. Sleep in a comfy bed.” Ling paused, gazing at the horizon. “It’s not going to happen, though, is it?”
Sera looked at her friend. Blood from the cut on Ling’s cheek was dripping down her jaw. She was still holding her arm. This was their life now—violent encounters and narrow escapes. For a few seconds Sera was gripped by a feeling of unreality so strong, it made her dizzy.
The name of the band Ling had mentioned—the Dead Reckoners—echoed in her head. She remembered when she and Neela had found Mahdi and Yazeed, Neela’s brother, passed out in the ruins of Merrow’s palace after a night of partying. Yazeed, fibbing like mad, said they’d been to the Lagoon to see the Dead Reckoners. Sera couldn’t believe that had happened only a few weeks ago; it felt like a lifetime. Before the attack on her realm, she’d been a pampered princess. Now she was an outlaw with a price on her head, always on the swim, always in danger. The people she’d left behind: Yaz, Mahdi, her mother, her uncle and brother…she had no idea if they’d even survived.
She had no idea if she would.
“No, Ling,” she finally said. “It’s not going to happen.”
Ling sighed. “Guess we’ll have to make do with the cove, then. We should be safe there. I doubt anyone comes to these waters. Not with our hungry little friends in them. Whatever shelter we find probably won’t be much—”
“But it’ll be enough,” Sera said, her voice suddenly passionate. She turned to face her friend. “I don’t need bubble tea or a cushy bed, Ling. I lost everything I had, but I’m finding what I need. Like strength, courage…and most of all, merls who have my back. That’s enough. It’s more than enough. It’s everything.”
Ling smiled at her. “Yeah,” she said softly. “I guess it is.”
The two mermaids dove. They swam just below the waves. Away from the Opafago. Away from Atlantis. Away from Rorrim and the man with no eyes.
Away, just for a night, from all danger.
“UP AND AT ’EM, sleepyhead.”
Serafina opened her eyes. “Morning already?” she asked.
“Yep. I scrounged some breakfast,” Ling said. “Limpets and mussels. Reef olives, too.”
She put down her scarf, which was bulging with her finds.
“Thanks. I’m famished,” Serafina said, yawning.
The sea cave where she and Ling had spent the night was thickly carpeted with seaweed and anemones. Serafina had slept well. She sat up now and stretched.
“How are your battle wounds?” she asked Ling.
“The cut on my face stopped bleeding. And my arm isn’t throbbing anymore. That was some tour we took of Atlantis.”
“We came so close to finding out what all the talismans are,” Sera said, her voice heavy with disappointment.
“We also came close to becoming a meal,” Ling added. “At least we found out what three of the talismans are—a black pearl, a blue diamond, and a moonstone. That’s three more than we had. It’s major.”