come away empty. What I wouldn’t do for my dagger.
“This place is very dear to me. It is where I go when I’m weak.
This very moment, my son is bringing me something special. Something
to make me strong. The way I was before my brother put me away. You do
look like him, in your own way.”
“You made Archer kill the oracle.”
She shakes her head softly. “The oracles killed themselves,
wicked, tricky devils that they are.”
I hate the pressure of her on me. It’s worse than struggling
against the currents. “You won’t win, you know.”
“I already have.” She doesn’t smile. “My brother has broken the
seas. He started this many years ago. I intend to make it right. We
will put the seas back together.”
“How generous of you. It’ll make up for all the people you’ve
killed.”
“I didn’t kill you.” She undulates like an eel until her face is
right over mine. “Don’t you remember the wave, Tristan?”
I wish she’d stop saying my name. “How could I forget?” I thought
I’d gone insane, floating underwater until I saw her in her silver
splendor. She cut me with her fingernails. Then the shark attacked her
and carried me away.
“I wanted to see your heart. So I lured you. And you came after me
so willingly, not even stopping to think that it might not be real.
“The first time I held you was the first time since your birth
that you shifted into your true self. I knew who you were just as I
knew they were searching for you, my brother’s heir. I wanted to kill
you.”
I remember the trace of her nails, the jagged edges cutting across
my chest.
“Then I tasted your blood. Blood can tell you so much about a
being. It is life. It is your past and future. In it, I could see
exactly how invaluable you were to me. I’ve lived so long, and my
future is linked to a boy. Funny, aren’t they?”
“Who?”
“The fates.”
I swallow hard. “And how exactly am I invaluable to you?”
“Because we could be great together.”
“You’re a killer.” I hate the way I sound, like a scared, dumb
kid.
“You will be one too. Just because you killed a merrow, my child,
does that make you better?” She tsk-tsk-tsks at me. “What will you do
when you have to drive your sword through one of our kind to keep the
peace of your new broken kingdom?”
“Shut up.”
“Do you know what happens when you’re alone for ages?” She
squeezes my face with her hands, forcing me to look straight at her.
The white of her eyes. The blue of her eyelids. “Do you? The
pitch-blackness of the Caves of Tartarus. The creatures that live
there, caged like beasts when far worse lies in my brother’s own
court. Whimsical, he is, sitting on a throne that should’ve been mine,
entertaining half breeds and stripping our own to pacify beings far
beneath us.” She coughs, clutching herself as if there is not enough
water or oxygen down here. “I don’t mean you. You’re special.”
She flicks her hand at me again and I’m paralyzed once more. I
pull against a force that weighs me down until it pulls me to the
ground. Red plants sprout from the ground and weave all over me.
Everywhere except my face. She swims slowly, cutting through the water
with the elegance of a shark. She props her elbows on my chest, her
tail right on top of mine.
“My sons will be here soon. I will drink from Eternity and I will
be strong again.” She puts a finger to my lips. My tongue is heavy and
fat in my mouth. I can only grunt in protest. “You will see that the
only way to keep your loved ones safe is to be with me.”
I want to scream but my voice is gone.
My lips are numb.
She traces the length of my cheek and whispers, “Soon…”
She lowers herself with her mouth slightly open, coming down for a
kiss.
The blast of a horn wakes me up.
Kurt is standing over me.
I roll over and realize I’m naked again. “Stop doing that, creep.”
He’s jittery and the energy crackling around him is frantic.
“Get dressed,” he says. “Something’s happened.”
I throw on a pair of shorts off the floor and a T-shirt that
smells vaguely clean, and we’re out of the room and into the kitchen.
Layla’s drawing a black X over Tuesday on the wall calendar. When
she sees me, she smiles. I finger-comb my bed head before kissing her
cheek. The tiles are cold under my feet.
“Where are my parents?”
“Doctor,” Layla says. “Everything is fine with the baby, but it’s
her first time going. She’s so scared.”
I splash water over my face in the kitchen sink and use a paper
towel to dry off. The last thing I remember is Nieve’s blue lips
coming down on me. Why does everyone try to kiss me? There should be
rules against that.
“Kurt, spit it out. You guys are freaking me.”
Layla opens the window, letting the cool air out and the warmth of
the overcast day in. Curry, sea air, and smoke-the neighborhood smells
waft in with something else. The horn blast.
“What is that?” A thin strand of lightning crackles on the
horizon.
“Adaro,” Kurt says. “He’s here.”
I whip around. “Like here, here? Coney Island here?”
“That’s what the call is,” Kurt says. “This place is too noisy. I
didn’t think it could be one of our calls. There are too many sirens
in this place.”
“But why is he here?”
“He’s requesting an audience with you.” Kurt takes his arm knife
and checks the blade. “It seems he’s acquired the center staff of the
trident.”
The front door cracks open and we jump, even Kurt.
“It’s just me,” Thalia says.
Kurt’s voice is like thunder. “Where have you been?”
Thalia’s face is hard, greener than usual. She ignores her brother
and runs right up to me, pointing at my chest. “You’re bleeding.”
When I look down, beads of blood bloom through the white of my
shirt. I take it off and rinse it in the sink, then clean the wound.
“I want to show you guys something.”
I go into my backpack and bring out the water bottle.
“Gatorade has a new flavor?” Layla laughs unevenly.
I pour just a single drop on the cut. The skin grows back,
stitching itself back together. “The effect doesn’t last long. It’s
from the springs…which are now gone.” I retell them about the Hall of
Records, the channels, and the springs. Even though Layla only heard
it hours ago, she still nods along enraptured until I get to the dream
of Nieve when they all share a grimace.
Thalia takes the plastic bottle in her hand. “To think, eons are
reduced to this container.”
“I want you guys to drink it.”
They stare.
“Why?” Kurt asks.
“Nieve.” Even saying her name makes my tongue feel like lead.
“She’s more than just an angry mermaid with a grudge. She wants to be
queen. When Archer brings her the spring water, she’ll be strong. She
can make more merrows.” I think of Adaro waiting for me out on the
beach. I punch the wall.
“Now she needs the trident and we’re making it easy for her. Two
of the pieces are right here. Me and Adaro. She can march up the shore
with her mutant mermen and pick us off. To prevent that, we have to do
a few things. Step one is you all have to drink this.”
“What about you?” Layla asks.
“Don’t worry about me.”
“What the hell do you mean?” She follows me to the window and gets
in my face. “I have this necklace. I-”
“What if it’s not enough?”