He nods. “I’ll be in contact. Here’s my card. If you remember
anything. ”
I want to tell him that they can’t help me and I can’t help them.
Instead I take the thin white card and pocket it so he’ll at least get
off my back. We follow my mom through the crowd. People stand on their
porches and stick their heads out their windows. There’s a PIX 11
camera crew and a lady TV reporter in a pale pink suit, who looks
sternly at the cameraman. Everyone she interviews points in my
direction. This is so not good.
I can see Ryan getting into the back of his parents’ car. He looks
behind one more time so he can wave to Thalia, who gives him a sad
smile. I put my arm over her shoulder. The lady in the pink suit
bum-rushes us, and suddenly between the sidewalk and our car, I have a
hot white light on my face.
“How do you feel about people calling you the hero of the night?
Is there a connection between this attack on your school and the
missing boys throughout the city?” I swat the microphone away from my
face and shut the door. As the reporter smacks the glass with her
hand, my mom hits the gas.
Neptune’s Diner is buzzing with families and early bird couples.
Old Ukrainian waitresses with graying buns and faces that would scare
you out of changing your order bus their tables as quickly as they
serve them. We’ve got pancakes, French toast, eggs and sausage, and
about ten side orders of bacon.
We skipped dinner the night before, everyone staying in their own
section of the apartment. I sat in front of my Command Central wall,
staring at maps that didn’t tell me anything useful. Thalia went right
to my room to call Ryan and convince him he didn’t see exactly what he
saw.
Dad slaps his newspaper with the back of his hand. “Who even took
this picture?”
Under the caption “Local Heroes Fight for Fellow Students” is a
crude picture of us fighting the sea creatures. We don’t look like
we’re winning. I stuff my mouth so I’ll have something to do.
Dad shuts the newspaper, stopping short of crumpling it into a
ball and throwing it across the diner. “I can’t believe they would
keep the school open today.”
“We have to go. We have to find Maddy.” And I have to see Layla.
She was dead in my arms, and then she wasn’t. If anyone knows what
it’s like to think you’ve died and come back, it’s me.
Kurt clears his throat. “How do you know your previous paramour
will be there? She wasn’t there yesterday.”
“It’s okay to just say ex-girlfriend , you know.”
A different waitress rounds our table. But when I look at her
again, I see she’s not a waitress. She’s wearing an apron with the
picture of a cupcake haloed by stars with the logo “Erica’s Cupcakes”
in neon pink. She glances behind her nervously. There’s something
familiar about her, only I can’t sift through my mind fast enough. She
bows lightly at me. Kurt looks up at her, wearing the same expression
I am.
“Have we met?” he goes, Mr. Smooth Criminal.
She smiles, tucking her long brown curls behind her ear. That’s
when I notice a tiny suction cup protrude from the side of her wrist
and then sink right back. I jump back, rocking our booth, which alarms
the early bird couple behind us.
“I didn’t mean to frighten you, Lord Sea.”
“Will you guys stop calling me that,” I hiss.
“Pardon again.” She looks back and waves at the cook visible
behind the line of yellow order tickets. He winks at her and flips a
pancake. “I’ve been looking for you. Your whereabouts are more secret
than the Glass Castle.”
“Who are you?” Mom asks, pushing herself erect.
The lady shrinks back a bit. “My friends call me Penny. I wish to
speak to Lor-”
I hold up my hand. “Call me Tristan.”
Everyone scoots over a seat to make room for her.
“You were on Arion’s ship,” I say. “You were with the turtle boy.”
She nods happily. “He’s my son, Timmy.”
Timmy the turtle. No wonder merpeople are known for their cruelty.
“I remember you,” Thalia says matter-of-factly.
“My son is rooting for you as champion.”
“How did you find him?” Dad says, staring at the spot on her wrist
where the suction cup rises again. His eyes are full of wonder, and I
suddenly wish there were more people like my dad out there. “Is there
a mer-tracking device on you we should check for?” He reaches over to
me and digs through my hair until I pull away.
“My boyfriend,” she nods toward the kitchen at the cook. “Timmy
got your picture from the papers and put it on our refrigerator. Right
next to his Batman and Superman magnets.”
“That’s real-neat?” I say, wishing I could find that part of me
that’s funny and quick and always ready to make girls laugh. But it’s
like that half of my brain is asleep, and all I can think about is
Layla almost dying because of me. “Why were you looking for me,
Penny?”
“I’m technically not supposed to do this,” she says.
“Because you’re landlocked, and the landlocked have no say in who
becomes champion,” Kurt says.
I try to kick him under the table, but I miss and hit the metal
pole. Anger flashes over Penny’s delicate face. “Yes, I’m landlocked.
Which means I’m powerless against the merrows attacking our shores.
Killing on land. The longer there is no Sea King, the longer those on
these shores will be subject to the creatures who wish there were no
Sea King at all. Believe me, just because we pay tithes for protection
doesn’t mean there aren’t those who would rather have no king at all.”
She leans closer to Kurt, practically yelling in his face. I don’t
exactly blame her.
Mom and Kurt start talking over each other, but he lets her go
first, always the gentleman. “What do you mean, the merrows? They’re
not allowed to grow past their infancy.”
“What’s a merrow?”
Penny takes the crumpled newspaper from the table and opens it to
the pictures of the attack at our school. “These are merrows. This is
the first time I’ve seen them, but I’ve heard stories of those that
grow to full size and live in swamps and small lakes. When they came
on shore, they had no fear of being caught. They tore through cars.
Some got lost in the subway and got run over by trains. Can’t say
they’re very smart, but in numbers they would be a challenge. The
alliance isn’t happy.”
“Guys, what are they?”
“Wait a minute,” Thalia says, eating the last bit of French toast.
“Merrows are tiny, and they’re disfigured. Those creatures were fully
grown.”
“Which would mean that those responsible for disposing of the
merrows aren’t doing what they’re supposed to,” Kurt’s says gravely.
I smack my hand on the table. “Hi, champion here. Would someone
mind telling me what you’re all talking about?”
Penny takes a deep breath. “Sometimes a mermaid gives birth to a
deformed child, not fully human or mer-kin. It has no reason, no sense
of speech. There was a time when they tried to acclimate them into
families. But they were too wild, and it often ended very bloodily.
Before King Karanos-your grandfather-King Erebos decreed that the
merrows born at court would be killed instantly. King Karanos thought
it was too cruel, so instead he had a prison built for them where they
would be left alone.
“What about the ones not born at court?” I find that the question
leaves me slowly. Mostly because I already know the answer, but also