strange being here in the dead of night when all of my days here have
been full of sun. The moon is a fat ball in the sky, swollen like the
bruise on my cheek.
“This is how all the Scooby Doo episodes go wrong,” Layla says,
giving my hand a squeeze.
The usual entrance to Luna Park is crowded by a line of large
ravens. They caw and walk along the fence like precarious guards. I
take Layla’s hand and pull her in through the entrance. The instant
she’s in, she gasps, “Oh!”
Spinning rides light the boardwalk. The Wonder Wheel spins, and
from down here, I can see girls with glittering wings waving.
“Fairies can fly,” Thalia says. “Why do they even bother?”
“It’s part of the Coney Island experience,” I argue.
“Figures.” Layla stands in front of the carousel. “The only ride I
like isn’t even on.”
We pass a food stand manned by a young guy with powdery pink skin
and gold hair. His smile is so bright that I have to look away.
“Can I interest you in some sweets?” He waves at a selection of
candied popcorn, pretzels, sanguine chocolates, and golden apples.
“What is sanguine chocolate?” I ask.
Suddenly I feel a wind chill at my side. It settles on my shoulder
with mild gloom. My heart jumps to my throat when I realize it’s a
person. Sort of.
Frederik, the only vampire I’ve ever met who rocks long black hair
and Hawaiian shirts, is standing right beside me. “Ian, I don’t
believe the Sea Prince likes blood chocolate.”
I put the blood-chocolate box back on the cart and decide I’m not
hungry, leaving Ian selling the same box to a pale girl no taller than
my hip.
“Damn, Frederik,” I shout. “That’s creepy as hell.”
Frederik shoves his hands in his long shorts pockets. He shrugs.
“Wasn’t my intention to startle you, little merman. Just saying hi.”
Layla points at the swinging pirate-ship ride. “Are those
Vikings?”
“Demigods,” Frederik corrects. “Just called them in. After the
incident this Friday, the Thorne Hill Alliance feels we need extra
protection details until the Sea People are done with their
championship.”
I don’t like where this is going. “Wish I had better news for you,
dude.”
“Then I suppose we’ll all enjoy the summer solstice festivities in
the meantime,” he says, turning to the girls. “Did I hear you say you
wanted to go on the carousel?”
“Uhh-”
“Really, it’s no bother.”
Without being asked, the conductor comes out of a nearby ticket
booth. His gait is forced, like he’s trying to be calm when the energy
around him is more wound up than Principal Quinn after the girls’
soccer team went on a no-sports-bra strike until they got the same
funding as the boys.
“Everyone,” Frederik says, “this is Patrick.”
“Heywhatsup?” Patrick says in one breath. He’s tall and lanky,
borderline anorexic, with hair down to his hips and an unkempt beard.
He can’t be more than twenty and definitely human and definitely
shit-scared of Frederik by the way he never quite looks the vampire in
the eyes.
“Do you think you could hook my friends up by turning on the
carousel?”
The question is a formality. I can sense the tension in the
command. Patrick goes to the ride, sticks in a key, and pulls a lever.
He waits for Layla and Thalia to hop on. Even Kurt joins them, but I
have a feeling that’s more because of his disdain for vampires than
his curiosity about carnival rides. The lights come alive, along with
the twinkling song I’ve heard all my life. The white hides of the
horses are dirty and some of the bulbs are burned out, but the
carousel still has the same cool effect.
“Thanks, dude,” I say, about to pat Frederik on the back, but then
I think better of it. “Did you just Dracula Patrick into submission?”
“He’s a friend. Of sorts.”
“Meaning?”
“His sister got…turned this winter. In front of him. I’ve been
trying to help them acclimate.”
Oh. Suddenly I can’t get that image out of my head. “That’s decent
of you.”
“Believe me, it’s not easy watching your sister turn into this,”
he says. When I wait for him to elaborate, he doesn’t, and we keep
leaning against the railing in front of the carousel. I breathe in the
Coney Island air, the lingering cigarette smoke, virgin piсa coladas
spilled on the ground, the spun sugar of cotton candy.
“Where’s your other half?” I ask.
“If you’re referring to Marty McKay,” Frederik says, “that
shape-shifter and I aren’t on speaking terms for the next hour and a
half. He spilled my O-Neg slushie and is trying to find me another.
You try getting that in the middle of the night when everyone is out
partying.”
“That’s tough.”
“It’s tragic, actually. I’m still hungry.” Frederik turns his dark
eyes to me. Then he smiles. “Don’t look like that. I wouldn’t bite the
future Sea King. I’m the High Vampire of New York. It’d be bad
politics.”
I laugh. “I’m glad you have so much faith in me.”
“I take it things didn’t go so well on your journey?” He nods at a
pale, brooding couple walking past. The guy is carrying an oversized
blue monkey as a carnival prize. Everyone who walks past Frederik
stops for the briefest moment to acknowledge him. It’s what I used to
feel in the hallways at school.
“Things could’ve gone better,” I say.
“Do you ever think everything happens just as it should?”
“Like that ‘meant to be’ crap? Hell no. If that were true, I’d be
sitting around waiting for someone to put a fork in my hand and a
crown on my head.”
“Good man.” He pats a cold hand on my back. “Where do you go from
here?”
“Well, there are a few things I could do to advance my standing as
champion.” All these lights are making me sweat. “I’m not sure how to
go about it just yet.”
“I’ve been researching your people since you arrived unannounced.”
“Listen, bro,” I press my hands on my chest defensively. “I’ve
been here since I was born.”
“Very well, since the court arrived. All I know of your kind are
the landlocked and the old man under the bridge. Not to mention those
terrible creatures that attacked your school and the Sea Breeze
community. I’m sorry for your loss, by the way.”
“Those creatures,” I say, “are called merrows. They’re getting
stronger. Just a heads-up.”
“We’ve got more of us patrolling the city. But those creatures are
not the only thing you should worry about.”
My stomach plummets five flights when he says that. “What do you
mean?”
“The landlocked of your court worry me. They’ve always been quiet,
but Marty’s noticed them meeting more often.”
“Meeting? Like, together?”
“Yes.” He sighs. “Together is usually how people meet.”
I bite the inside of my cheek. “Why is that bad?”
“It is my understanding that the landlocked have never had a voice
at the Sea Court before. It is not my place to tell you what to do.
But you may want to investigate.”
Over on the carousel, the music gets louder. The girls shout,
switching horses and holding their hands up. Frederik sniffs the air
like he smells something foreign he can’t place, then ignores it.
“Each of the landlocked is different,” I say. “Some, like my
mother, were stripped of their tails and left to live on land. Others
were banished as a punishment. They pay tithes every time Toliss