“It was a shipwreck ghost, wasn’t it? That’s what Coco said. Sera, tell me you didn’t do what I think you did.”
“I had to. She had something I needed. It was the only way to get it.”
“How long were you in contact with her?”
“I don’t know. Two days, maybe? Three? It’s all kind of foggy.”
“That can’t be right. No one could survive contact with a shipwreck ghost for that long.”
Sera shook her head, trying to clear it. Had she somehow gotten the number of days wrong? She was so exhausted it was hard to think straight.
“What happened after you and Coco pulled me back into the water?” she asked.
“You blacked out. You weren’t getting enough oxygen. You turned blue and stopped breathing. I gave you mouth-to-mouth. You coughed up a lot of air, then started breathing again.”
“I would have been dead without you, Mahdi. You saved my life,” Sera said, squeezing his hand. “How did you get out here? Aren’t you supposed to be on patrol in Cerulea?”
“I caught a very lucky break. A few nights ago, Coco came to me in a panic. She told me you’d set off to find the Demeter and that she was worried about you and begged me to go after you. Two nights before that, I was at the palace, having dinner with Traho. Turns out he has a new acquisition—a painting that Rafe Mfeme took from the duca. He’s cast some sort of spell on it, to protect it from water. It’s hanging over a lavaplace and—”
“—it’s a portrait of Maria Theresa, an infanta of Spain,” Serafina said.
Mahdi gave her a quizzical look. “How did you know that?”
“I admired the portrait when I first arrived at the duca’s, and he told me that she was an ancestor of his.”
“Traho didn’t tell me that. He told me the story of the Demeter, though, and of the infanta’s blue diamond. He said it’s very valuable and that he wants it.”
“Yes, he does,” Serafina said darkly. She remembered how it felt to hold the diamond in her hand. The sensation of power was like nothing she’d ever felt before, both frightening and intoxicating.
“After I spoke with Coco I was worried about you too, so I came up with a way to leave my command,” Mahdi said. “I went to Traho and told him it would be a great honor if he would allow me to find the infanta’s diamond for him. He was so pleased, he immediately gave me permission to search for it. I have a dozen death riders with me.”
“Nearby?” Serafina asked, alarmed.
“About a league east of here. At my suggestion, we fanned out to look for the shipwreck. Except for me. I went to look for you.”
“They’ll never find the wreck, and even if they did, they’ll never find the diamond,” Serafina said. “The infanta was the only one who knew where it was and I just set her free. She’s gone. The wreck is empty.”
“And the diamond?”
Sera didn’t answer.
“Back at the safe house, you asked me to tell you what was going on. You asked me to trust you. Now I’m asking you to trust me.”
“I’ve got the diamond.”
“Wow. Okay,” Mahdi said, clearly surprised. “You found it on the wreck?”
Sera nodded.
“That’s weird,” said Mahdi.
“Why?”
“Traho told us to find the wreck, then search the seabed half a league due north of it. He said that the infanta had a hawk, and that the bird took off with the necklace and dropped it there.”
Serafina released Mahdi’s hand. She sat bolt upright. “What? That’s impossible! How does he know that? Only a handful of people could have known that, and they’re all dead!”
“Wait, I don’t understand…know what?”
“Don’t you see? Only the infanta, the pirate who attacked her, and the rest of the people on their ships could know that the hawk carried the necklace away. The infanta certainly didn’t tell Traho and, up until yesterday, she’s the only one who could have. Mei Foo and his crew didn’t tell him. According to the conch I listened to, they were all hanged ashore centuries ago. The Demeter’s crew and passengers didn’t either, since they all likely died ashore as slaves. So how does Traho know where the necklace is?” She frowned. “Or rather, how does he think he knows?”
“What do you mean?”
“The infanta fooled Mei Foo,” she said. “The necklace her hawk flew away with was a fake. She kept the real diamond necklace hidden.”
“What are you not telling me about this diamond, Sera? Why is it so important? Why is it worth your life? Are you going to sell it to fund the resistance?” Mahdi asked.
“It’s worth much more than my life, and I would never sell it. It’s powerful, Mahdi. Really powerful. I think it’s the reason I survived the infanta. Its power protected me from her.”
Mahdi gave her a long look. “There are other things—things besides the diamond—that you’re not telling me about, aren’t there?”
“I wanted to tell you. At the safe house. I would have, if the death riders hadn’t raided it.”
“Tell me now.”