with him excited like this.
“In time, my friend.”
“I am not your friend, Jesse.” Ben picks up his briefcase and
turns to the door. “You seem nice, Tristan. One piece of advice? Let
the Sea People destroy themselves. It’s what they’re good at. In a few
years, I’ll be in Acapulco with Miss Universe on my lap and enough
money that she won’t even care about my little ear problem. Toliss
will be under the sea where it belongs, and the rest of them?” He
throws his newspaper in the air, and it comes apart in a mess in
Jesse’s furious face. “ Poof , just like that.”
Poof , just like that, the landlocked resume their shouting with
each other. Old rivalries surface. A water bottle flies over my head
and spills everywhere. They crowd the room, reaching for Adaro, who
pushes them away and makes a run for it with Sarabell. I grab Penny
and say, “Take Timmy and go.”
“We won’t follow Jesse,” she reassures me. She’s the only one.
“Right now,” I say, “just think about your family.”
She nods, letting go of my hand. With her boyfriend pushing people
out of the way, they leave.
“Let’s go,” Kurt says. He takes Thalia by her arm and shoves one
or two guys on the way out.
“You have nothing to offer.” Jesse stands beside me, watching the
discord he’s created. Feeding off it. “Make the smart decision for
yourself. Together we can help these people.”
“From where I’m standing,” I spit, “all you want to do is help
yourself. Turning darts into birds isn’t going to help you.”
“I could show you the full extent of my gifts.” He turns his
greasy face to me. “But that would ruin tomorrow night’s fun.”
Thalia and Layla grab at my hands before I can punch him. I shout,
“You don’t know what Nieve is capable of.”
And then his voice is in my head as I walk away from the
pandemonium of the meeting hall. It’s an echo, forcing its way into my
thoughts. Jesse, speaking to me. “I do know, Land Prince. I know
exactly what she’s capable of.”
“How could you?”
Kurt’s voice thunders through the tunnels. Thalia walks with her
head hanging low, a rag doll with nowhere to go. “How could you do
this to me? To us? Don’t forget we are your family. I thought he was
going to kill us. And you-my own sister-right beside them all.”
I’ve never seen Kurt so freaked out. His heavy breathing is the
only sound as we make our way through unfamiliar dark tunnels. Thalia
leads the way. The rattle of subway trains is faint but close. We take
so many turns that I don’t think I’d remember the way back even if I
wanted to. I don’t breathe easy until we go through a door that exits
into the subway. We walk through the crowds like it’s no big deal,
ignoring the “Do Not Enter” sign at the end of the platform.
Outside in the sort-of-fresh Brooklyn air, we cross the empty
street even though the red hand is telling us not to. I’ve never had a
brother or a sister, but if fighting one is anything like fighting
with your friends, it’s not going to get fixed overnight. Behind me,
Layla and Gwen quietly keep pace.
At the corner of my street, the light above us flickers.
“Where did Adaro go?” Layla asks.
Gwen shrugs. “Probably ran back to his ship.”
“Guys, did no one else hear what Jesse said?” I tap Kurt on the
shoulder to steal his attention from Thalia to me. “He said he’ll show
me what he’s capable of tomorrow night. They’re coming for us tomorrow
night .”
Gwen shakes her head. “He could be lying. Why would he give you a
chance to prepare?”
“Because Jesse’s boastful,” Thalia says. “He’d want Tristan to be
afraid because he knows Adaro won’t join with Tristan now. When they
attack, it will fall to us.”
“Were you ever going to tell us?” Kurt asks. His hands shake in
fists at his side. “They could’ve killed you. They hate the court.
They hate us.”
Because I know Kurt isn’t going to stop, I take her hand
reassuringly. “Thalia, why did you keep this from us?”
Her hands are all over her hair in that frantic way girls have
when they want to hide behind it. “I can’t say.”
“You can’t turn to me, your own flesh and blood, but you can turn
to those creatures? To Jesse?”
“That is exactly why I could never tell you, Brother.” Thalia’s
finger flies to his face like a gun. “ Those creatures are just like
you and me. They love the sea. They love being part of it. Without it,
they’re-”
“Fish out of water?” I offer, taking a chance to lighten the mood.
Thalia tries not to laugh. “You haven’t been there,” she says to
her brother. “I’ve found something that makes me feel worthy.”
“Is our family not enough?”
“What family? While you’re off seeking revenge for the death of
our parents? While you’re off with your paramours? You are not the
only one who feels alone.” She throws her fists and punches him. “You
left me. You left me at court with princesses who treated me like a
barnacle they needed to scrub off their heels. I finally found someone
who loved me, who needed me. Now he’s gone. Don’t you dare scold me
like a child.”
Thalia puts her hands to her eyes. It doesn’t stop her crying. I
know Kurt should be the one to do this. I know he wants to be the one
to hug her. I also know that no matter how bad he feels, Kurt isn’t
going to give her the comfort she needs. So I do it. I bring her in
and wrap my arms around her, because I want to make all her pain go
away.
“Like it or not,” Kurt says, “you are a mermaid. You are ancient,
eternal, part of a lineage that extends beyond the beings crawling on
this earth without a purpose, without meaning .”
“Things can change, Kurt.”
He stops and turns to his sister. Then he looks at me. I look at
my dirty toes. If there were ever a way that I would’ve wanted Kurt to
find out that I promised Thalia to make her human, this was not it.
Then he sticks his finger in my chest. “I thought you weren’t
giving out promises.”
“It wasn’t exactly-” But he doesn’t let me finish.
Kurt turns to Thalia with his hand pressed over his heart. “You
want to be one of them. You want to stay here?”
We both move to speak but he turns away from us.
“Kurt!”
“Come back!”
But he crosses the street. I can’t lose Kurt, not this way.
“You guys go home,” I say. “I’ll bring him back.”
***
If I could come up with Kurt’s signature fragrance, I’d say it’d
be Parfum de Uptight.
Having been with him with so long, I can follow the scent of his
rage and confusion and loneliness. I keep a slow pace behind him,
mirroring his posture, hands tucked in pockets, head down but eyes up.
He’s nearly at the boardwalk when he turns around and faces me.
“I’ll return when I’m ready,” he says.
I close the space between us, taking a step up so that we’re at
eye level. “Have your sibling fight on your own time. You’re no good
to me this way.”
He scoffs. “You don’t want me around. You just want my sword.”
I punch him. “I’m going to take that as meaning your actual weapon
and not your-”
“Stop making jokes, Tristan.” He shoves me back and keeps going up
the ramp. The boardwalk is deserted. Not even the usual hobos lie
about in the shadows. “Can’t you take this seriously?”
“Fine,” I say. “Let’s take this seriously. Starting with you can’t
treat Thalia this way.”
He digs his finger into my chest. “You should have said something