I’ve always wondered what wearing those things would be like. Granted,
I wouldn’t top it off with a pink tie and a matching hanky, but still.
I’d clean up well. “Who are you?”
“Comit,” he says, unbuttoning his blazer to reveal a super-crisp
shirt and black suspenders. Do people even wear suspenders anymore?
“Charlie Comit. I live here.”
Despite the suit and facial hair that make him look older, a
twinkle in his blue eyes reveals something that is young and full of
life. When he touches the tip of his mustache, I notice an elaborate
red garnet ring.
“Why did you help me?” I ask.
“Would you believe me if I said I was a good Samaritan?”
“You can be good and still do bad things.”
“I suspect you speak from experience.” He leans back in his chair
and crosses his legs on the table, careful not to touch the cards with
his polished, black leather shoes.
“Hey guy, you’re the one that helped me out of the car. You
could’ve waited for the ambulance people to do it. Are you like a
wizard? Because out of everything I’ve seen the past few days, that’s
one I haven’t gotten around to.”
Comit smiles, holding up his cane for me to see. The staff is dark
cherry wood. Tiny wings, leaves, and intertwining branches are carved
carefully all along it. It ends with a golden arrowhead, which makes a
sharp click sound when he slams it on the floor.
“When I was told to be careful of the Sea People trolling about on
the boardwalk, I had no idea they meant you .”
“What the hell’s that supposed to mean?” I get up, knocking my
chair back. “Know what? I don’t even know you, man.”
“Tristan, please.” Comit stands and places a hand on my arm. “I
only meant that I’ve seen you on the boardwalk. Even in the throngs of
people, you stood out, and now I understand why.”
“That’s not creepy at all.” I pick up my chair and settle back
down.
“I can identify with being different. That’s why I chose to make a
home here in Coney Island.”
“Different? You look pretty normal to me.” Then I add, “normal
ish. ”
Comit laughs and rests his staff across his lap. “I was one of
nine kids. Father was a ranch hand in Wyoming, and I was so little
that no one paid attention to me.
“Then one day, my dad realized there was something different about
me. The farm animals listened to me and did as I asked. From the
stallions to the barn mice. He tried to beat it out of me a few times.
Said, ‘God would never make something so unnatural.’” At the last bit,
he takes on a drawl. I wonder how many times he’s said it to himself.
“But in the end,” he continues, “my daddy was smart. Knew how to
stay alive. Decided God don’t make imperfections. Made a few bucks off
me.”
I break the intensity of his eyes by checking on Kai. She makes a
whimpering noise from the couch and curls up even tighter, like she’s
in a cocoon.
“Lucky for me, the circus rolled in. I ran off. Started as a lion
tamer. Ain’t no one in any state had a lion tamer so young. I made my
own way through this.” He holds his hands out and balls them into
fists, as if everything he is can be contained in the center of his
palms. “And soon enough, a man found me and took me hunting in the
Amazon, finding beasts that time has forgotten and creatures only ever
seen on rotting pyramid walls. It was like peeling back my own skin
and finding a new version of myself. Have you seen any monsters, Sea
Prince?”
My mind flashes to the makara. The merrows. Nieve’s face. “Yes.”
“I mean like beasts. I mean creatures that roam in the shadows of
our world while we try to make it so-livable. After the Amazon, he
brought me here to run things. Downstairs is filled with the most
exquisite beings on this plane and others.”
The taper candles are long and bright; their flickering flames
seem to have a sway of their own. Outside is the faint sound of sirens
and commotion. Then there’s the echo of laughter coming from somewhere
downstairs. “So you’re a beast tamer?”
“I’m a beast master .”
“And you know what that thing that attacked me was?”
“It was a sea dragon.” He smacks his knee and practically shakes
with excitement. “I’ve never seen one before, and boy, it was
beautiful. You know, a lot of people think the Loch Ness monster is a
dinosaur? But it’s not. It’s related to the family of sea dragons. Did
you know that sea dragons are the only branch of the dragon family
that can’t breathe fire?”
“I had no clue,” I say, trying to hold back a laugh.
“Not many people do. Nasty venom in the saliva. They’re supposed
to be extinct. The few that are left are controlled by beings more
powerful than you or me. I can tell you one thing. Whoever sent that
creature after you is not your friend. It took all of my concentration
to get him to let you go.”
Even as he says that, I know who it might be. Someone who wants to
rattle me. Someone who’s trying to get under my skin. “I think I have
a clue.”
“Would you like to see more of these creatures?”
Kai twitches in her sleep. I know I have to go home and keep
pushing. But part of me is curious and I want to see for myself what
he’s talking about. “I really have to get going.”
“Tell you what.” He cocks his head to the side. His hair never
moves. It’s a perfect swish to the side. “We have a special show, not
open to the public. I’ll give you these to take.” He holds his closed
fist over the table. There are thin scars all over his hand. I wonder
if they are from his father or one of the beasts he claims to be in
charge of. He presses two gold coins into my hand. They’re stamped
with the Roman numeral II.
“Tokens,” he says, “for the show. You don’t want to miss it.”
“Thank you.” I pocket them quickly. “And thank you for the save.”
“Don’t get too sentimental. As cute as you are, I did it for the
dragon. A thing like that, goddess knows what would have happened to
it if it had been captured.” He dips in a proper bow, then retreats
behind the curtain.
Because Kai is still passed out, I do the one thing I’ve been
trying to stop myself from doing, and that’s get my parents involved.
But I can’t exactly carry a girl with a bloody gash on her arm in the
subway, and just holding her makes the pain in my shoulder flare.
So I called my dad, who must’ve broken all the speed limits,
because it only took him five minutes to get here. I can smell the
crackling nervousness around him, like burning cables.
“Saw it on the news.”
“Was there footage?”
He shakes his head. “Some blurry camerawork on cell phones. It’s
gray and foggy. No real eyewitnesses except some kids.”
That’s the thing, right? No one believes children. “Mom?”
He doesn’t have to answer that one. “It’s amazing the things
people will say. The official story they ran on the news was a failed
Air Force experiment from the base out on Long Island.”
“Yeah, because all jets have scales and teeth.”
“You’d be surprised, son. Sometimes the mind can’t process things,
so it creates its own reality.”
I stare at the dashboard.
“Your mother said you were fine.” I can feel him look over at me,
then at the traffic. “But I know better. I felt the same way when your
aunt was born.”
Now I turn to him.
“The baby is not going to replace you,” he says.
“Dad-”
“Hear me out.” He turns the volume down on the radio. “When your
grandfather came for your birth, he said he’d bind your powers or