The landlocked watch us with anxious eyes. There are those who scurry out of the room. There are those who get up quietly and form a cluster behind Jesse. “What have you for us now?”
I unsheathe my dagger and point it steadily at him. “This doesn’t turn into a butterfly when I throw it.”
Jesse smiles with delight. “I think I can see why she likes you after all.”
Ben cocks his eyebrow. He shakes his head and rolls up his newspaper. “Screw you, Jesse. What about some glamour for the rest of us, huh?” He pushes his hair away and cups his hand behind his ear so he can make sure we get a good look at it. It’s iridescent and wiggles 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 to me.”
“Why? It’s her decision.” I shrug. “You’re not her decision-maker.”
“I’m her brother!” He starts walking away, then turns back. “You’ll understand soon.”
“You’re being a dick.”
“I’m being a dick? My sister turns to you for help.”
If he’s going to get all puffy-chested, then so will I. He’s got an inch, maybe two with the height of his hair. For the first time, I notice a triangle of freckles on his shoulder and the fat vein on his throat when he’s pissed off, because Captain Cool-and-Collected never gets pissed off this way.
“Look,” I lower my voice. “You and Thalia have a lot more to talk about than her decision to become human. Don’t you see? All she wants is a family, and she’s not going to have any of it—nothing—if we let Nieve win.”
He doesn’t argue. We walk side by side until we reach the boardwalk gazebo. I make a right into it and face the horizon. The storm is still out there, building slowly. I can feel the change in the wind, cold and hard for a summer night.
When Kurt grabs me, I think he’s going to punch me.
Instead, he pulls me down on the floor and presses his finger to his mouth. He whispers, “It’s Adaro.”
The footsteps clamor onto the boardwalk. Sarabell’s and Adaro’s voices intermingle in their bickering.
“We should leave this shore at once,” Sarabell says.
“I gave Tristan my word,” Adaro says. “I told him he could count on my guard to help protect his shores.”
“No, no, no.” She takes his face in her hands. “Don’t you see? You already have the center staff. All we have to do is return to Toliss and let the sea witch destroy him.”
He pulls out of her grasp. “What then?” He leans on the railing. If he took three steps to the left, he’d see us. “Then she’ll just come after me.”
“You heard him tonight.” Sarabell gets in his face. “He would allow those vile creatures back into our court. He believes he’s already king!”
“There’s still an oracle here, Sarabell. The oracle told me in my dreams that I would find what I’m looking for on this shore. I won’t listen to you. Not after you led us to a dead end with that elder.”
“Whatever the old man told Tristan led him to an oracle. For all the good it did them—they let the trident get away.” She smacks his shoulder and jabs an accusing finger in his face. “Don’t blame me, when you brought the combat fire to threaten him.”
Greg. They killed Greg. I twitch to stand up but Kurt puts a firm hand on my shoulder.
“It was an accident,” Adaro shouts. “He wouldn’t come out of his house, and I dropped the vial.”
“Perhaps—” Sarabell paces around her cousin. Her dress is a wild thing around his body, like a wraith encircling him. “Perhaps this is what the oracle meant.”
She doesn’t elaborate, making Adaro give her his undivided attention. “What do you mean?”
“There is a piece of the trident on this shore. She didn’t say you’d find an oracle. She said you’d find what you’re looking for. And you’re looking for a piece of the trident. The scepter.”
Kurt and I look at each other. Sarabell takes a step back and leans against the gazebo. All she has to do is turn around, and there we are. Would they screw the championship rules and try to kill me now?
“That doesn’t sound right.”
“Don’t be white-bellied, Adaro.” She flicks her hair to the side. “When you both make it to Toliss, you’ll have to kill each other. That’s how the championship ends. You’re letting your feelings for the mutt cloud your vision. He isn’t your friend. If he had the chance, he’d do the same to you.”
Would I? I was just starting to like Adaro. If we survive Nieve. If we go to Toliss. One of us has to die.
“You won’t even have to kill him,” Sarabell says.
“I won’t?”
She shakes her head. “The silver witch will take care of that. You heard that barnacle Jesse. Pledge your allegiance to her.”
“Sara—!”
“Not truly, of course. Once you’ve got the quartz piece, you can destroy her. Then there will be one trident piece left and you will be king.”
She has it all worked out.
Note: The key to success is a crazy cousin.
“I don’t think the silver witch works that way,” Adaro says darkly.
“Come.” She holds out her hands to him, a mother calling to her child. “You need rest. Tomorrow will be a very long day. You heard Jesse. The silver witch will be here by nightfall.”
They jump the railing and land on the sand. Adaro holds out his arm and she takes it. When they reach the water, I sit up.
“What a sea bitch,” I say.
“They killed Greg.”
“They’re going to kill me.” I stand and dust sand off my shorts. “Well, there’s a very long line. They’ll just have to get in it.”
We leave the boardwalk and head back home. Before we get back in the elevator, Kurt says, “You have to be ready.”
“For what?” I press number 14. “There are so many things to be ready for. My premature death. The sea witch and her merrows. Jesse and his new magic tricks, the zombie apocalypse—”
“No, Tristan. You have to be ready to kill Adaro before he can kill you.”
And I say, “Yes. I know.”
My sleep is black. The first true sleep I’ve had in weeks.
Then the nightmares are back. All screams and melting faces. I wake up choking, like there are hands around my throat, and a shock runs through me, telling me to wake up.
I lie in my bed with my arms spread out. The ceiling fan spins. My bedside clock glows red numbers. My room smells like sweat and salt water, and there are clothes everywhere. Thursday morning.
Behind my closed door, I can hear voices in that loud whispering everyone thinks is so secretive, but it’s the same as yelling. I get dressed and go to kitchen Command Central to see what the hell they’re all doing.
My heart jumps to my throat as they shout, “Surprise!” “Jesus, you guys.”
My parents, Kurt, Thalia, and Layla are huddled around a very blue birthday cake. The sugar hits my nose first. It’s better than a caffeine rush. I look at the calendar and realize it’s June 24. Thursday. Someone’s already crossed off last night, and I want to take the marker and fill the whole square in black.
“Are you seriously telling me you forgot it’s your birthday?” Layla comes around and kisses me right on the mouth. In front of everyone.
“I seriously did.” I stick a finger in the icing and let the sugar coat my tongue. My whole mouth explodes from the sensitivity of not having eaten anything yesterday. “Your mother wanted to have a huge party—” Dad starts.
“But with everything that’s going on,” Mom says, “we figure something smaller would do.”
“Cake for breakfast,” I say, hugging my mother for as long as I can, “is the best birthday present ever.”
Mom lights seventeen candles. I’m seventeen, and I’ve aged a thousand years in the last two weeks. Call me Rip Mer Winkle.
Kurt eyes the frosting with a mixture of amusement and temptation. I can tell that all of last night’s information is prominent in his thoughts, but we decided to keep it between the two of us. “We don’t celebrate birthdays on Toliss.”
“Sure we do,” Mom says. “At least, I did after seeing humans on a beach. I tried to get my father to make me a cake once. But the cooks came up with kelp pancakes and king crab claws as decorations.”
“That is so messed up,” Layla says.
“Blow out the candles,” Mom says, “or the wax is going to drip.”
I bend closer to the seventeen little flames. I haven’t made a birthday wish since elementary school. I was never the kind of
kid who made wishes on stars or cakes. Swimming came too naturally and I have dozens of trophies to prove it. Girls came naturally, and I also have the trail of angry ex-girlfriends to prove it.
Since I started shifting, I don’t know what to believe in anymore. I know more things are possible. I’ve been to Eternity and back. I had an oracle give me a powerful weapon. I met my grandfather. I kissed the girl I love. But most importantly, she kissed me back.
Layla squeezes my hand, and I know that I’m not going to wish. I’m going to pray, something I haven’t done in equally as long. When I saw Kai doing it near the shipwreck, I wanted to get down with her, but I didn’t.
Maybe it’s the same as a wish, the same as a promise. A totally intangible mass of hope that everything will work out the way it’s supposed to be. I take a deep breath and blow.
•••
On the news, there’s a storm warning. The beach has been evacuated. A murder victim on the boardwalk. Ben’s face pops up on the screen. The details are vague, other than that his hands, feet, and ears were cut off. No suspects yet.
While everyone eats cake in the living room, I volunteer to get them drinks. I take the bottle of Eternity water and pour it into their drinks. I pour the rest into an empty bottle of eyedrops and pocket it. I picture my centaur maid’s fiery blood flowing, the head of the trident sucking back into the murky black depths. Just what every guy wants on his seventeenth birthday. “You don’t have to do that,” she says.
I jump, and when I turn around, my mom is standing there. I wonder how long she’s been watching me, but I realize it’s long enough.
“Yes, I do.”
“I thought they agreed not to drink it unless you did.” She comes to me and lifts my chin with her finger. “You can’t save everyone.”
“I’m sorry,” I say. “For everything I said to you. I didn’t mean it.”
“Yes, you did.” She cups her hand on my face. “You were right. For a long time, I thought I could keep my old life away. The past creeps up like the tide. I wish it hadn’t pulled you in.”
“Literally,” I say, laughing.
She kisses my forehead. “Happy birthday, my darling.”
The Savage Blue Page 24
