Waterfire Saga, Book Four: Sea Spell: Deep Blue Novel, A by Jennifer Donnelly

Author:Jennifer Donnelly [Donnelly, Jennifer]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Disney Book Group
Published: 2016-06-13T22:00:00+00:00

“WAKE UP,” a voice commanded.

It was cold, the voice. As cold as a blizzard wind.

Sera forced her eyelids open, groaning in pain. The heat of the sea scorpion’s venom still burned inside her. It was agony to move, to breathe.

She remembered things…Mahdi’s voice, his face…a long journey…the scorpion forcing her to eat…

Little by little, her vision cleared. She realized she was sitting in a chair. In a room. Her room. She recognized the mica panels, the furniture, the anemones on the walls.

I’m hallucinating, she thought. It’s the venom. She closed her eyes again.

“I said, wake up!”

This time the command was followed by a hard, stinging slap.

Sera gasped. Her eyes flew open. Her hand rose tremblingly to her cheek.

Lucia Volnero was right in front of her, leaning on the arms of the chair. Her hair, long and loose, plumed around her head. Her face was only inches away. Sera could see her sapphire eyes gleaming with malice.

Lucia smiled. “That’s better,” she said, straightening. “So, you met my maligno,” she added, pointing at the creature floating motionlessly in a corner. “Isn’t he a perfect likeness? It took him quite a long time to do his job. I was worried you’d die on the way back and spoil my fun, so I cast a velo to speed his return.”

“Why…why are you—” Sera struggled to speak.

Lucia cut her off. “Because you enchanted Mahdi, and I plan to break that enchantment.”

“I didn’t…cast an enchantment…” Sera murmured. It was so hard to make words come. But it didn’t even matter. Lucia wasn’t listening.

“You tricked him. And then forced him to spy for you and your shabby little resistance. But I’m going to free him by killing you. It’s the only way to truly make him mine.”

“Lucia, no…” The mermaid was as evil as her parents. She was going to murder her in cold blood. “Please…don’t do this…”

“I won’t. I’d just plunge a knife through your heart, and that would be too easy a death. I want you to suffer. A friend of mine’s going to see that you do. Give her my best.”

Sera made one last desperate attempt to escape. She rose from the chair and took a few, faltering strokes, but then, overcome by pain, she collapsed to the floor. As she rolled onto her back, the room started to swirl. She could see the chandelier above her. It seemed to come alive before her eyes. Its bronze arms, green with corrosion, became as fluid as an octopus’s tentacles.

Now Sera knew she was hallucinating.

“It’s over, Serafina,” Lucia said triumphantly. “I win, you lose.”

She barked an order at the maligno, and seconds later, Serafina felt it take hold of her arms and yank her up off the floor. She fought it, clawing at it. Her fingers gouged its cheek. Instead of blood flowing from the wound, silt poured out.

Sera screamed.

“Sicario, do your work,” Lucia said.

The sea scorpion scuttled out from under a table and cruelly stung Serafina again.

There was pain, white and blinding, and then Sera

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