Spell It Out for Me

by Sarina Dorie

  I joined him, careful not to sit too close to the edge. He held out a wiggling earthworm.

  “Ick! You aren’t going to—”

  He dropped the worm into her mouth. Another head popped to the surface. He fed the other mermaid a worm. It made sense they would like worms if they were big fish. It just wasn’t what I had imagined mermaids would eat.

  One of the mermaids nibbled on his finger, her smile coquettish. He drew his hand back quickly. Her teeth looked as sharp as razors.

  He shook his head at her. “Someone’s a naughty girl.”

  He dangled a worm in front of me. “Do you want to try?”

  “Try to eat a worm or try to feed them?”

  He chuckled. “Your choice.”

  I took the worm from his fingers and held it in front of the nearest mermaid. Her sharp teeth made me nervous, and I ended up flinging it at her. She caught the worm and sank under the surface.

  We fed the mermaids for several minutes, laughing and trying to avoid their teeth. I was lucky I had good reflexes.

  “These are all mermaids. Where are all the mermen?” I asked.

  “A good merman is so hard to find,” Elric said with mock dejection.

  “No, really. Why do we always hear about mermaids, but not mermen?”

  “Mermen are shy. They stay home, feeding at the bottom or eating what the females bring them from the surface. Of course, one of the problems with bottom feeders is that they end up ingesting all manner of human garbage, so they get sick and die. There are few merfolk populations in the Morty Realm left. Mostly they live in the Unseen or Faerie Realm. And they aren’t repopulating like they used to, especially with so few males.”

  It always came back to the Fae Fertility Paradox.

  One of the mermaids hung back, only her eyes and the top of her head visible above the water. Elric beckoned to her. She darted forward, splashing us both. She snatched up the worm so fast, I didn’t even see her take it.

  I thought she must have bitten Elric from the way he gasped. He drew his hand away. There was a red welt.

  “Is this why we have the ‘No feeding the mermaids’ sign at school?” I asked. “Because they bite?”

  He stared at his hand, brows furrowing. He flattened himself on the ferry, his body half under the bed so he could lie across the deck. His face was level with hers. “Let’s see it.”

  “See what?” I asked.

  She dipped lower in the water, only her eyes visible now.

  He stroked her head. He spoke slowly, like one might to a child. “I’m not going to hurt you. I just want to see your face.”

  She lifted her face higher out of the water. I could see what had been hidden under the surface now. The lower half of her face was puffy, her lower lip red and inflamed. There was a hole in her lip and something shiny sticking out of it.

  “Is that a hook?” I asked.

  Her head dipped down in shame.

  This made sense. So many Fae and Witchkin were sensitive to electronics, synthetic human-made products like plastic, and chemicals such as pesticides. Cold iron was the worst. I wasn’t sure what cold iron was composed of and how it was different from hot iron, but the hook must have contained something she was sensitive to.

  I now understood she hadn’t bitten Elric at all. That blister on his hand was because the metal hook must have touched him.

  She lifted her hands from the water, her orange webbed fingers covered in iridescent scales. Her fingertips were black and blistered like she’d burned them. She pulled back her lip, revealing bloody teeth. The inside of her lips and her gums looked like they were covered in black mold. The hook poked out of the blistered flesh.

  Elric pushed himself away. His breath was shallow, and he closed his eyes. He looked like he was about to puke. The injury truly was a revolting sight.

  The mermaid sank into the water.

  “No, don’t go,” Elric said. He half dove in the water to catch her arm before she swam away, soaking his upper body in pond water as he pulled her up to the surface. “We’ll help you.”

  She shook her head.

  “You have to take it out. It’s only going to get worse if you don’t. I’ll be gentle.”

  Tears filled her turquoise eyes. She nodded.

  Elric looked to me. “My gloves. Fetch them for me. I left them on the bed.”

  This, coming from the same man who wouldn’t even touch a plastic wrapper with his bare hands? He didn’t even eat nonorganic food. I’d seen his hands after he’d handled electronics. The metal would hurt him through his gloves.

  “I’ve got this,” I said, scooting closer.

  “Are you certain? You’ve never performed minor surgery before.”

  “It’s a hook. I know how to take it out.” I suspected I did anyway. It had been years since I’d gone fishing with my dad.

  Elric cradled her head to keep her above the surface of the water. I leaned down and gently peeled back her lip so I could see the hook better. I tugged at the hook, but it was stuck. The mermaid whimpered and twisted her face away.

  The outside of her lip where the metal was buried touched the back of Elric’s hand.

  “Ow!” Elric yelped.

  “Can you anesthetize her pain to make this easier?” I asked.

  “I can’t do any magic while cold iron is present.”

  Just my luck. Elric could heal broken bones and destroy a golem made out of student art projects, but he couldn’t numb a mermaid’s booboo because of a tiny piece of metal containing traces of iron.

  I tried to be careful as I pulled the hook free of her flesh, but the barb didn’t make it easy. It must have been there for a while because the tissue around it was swollen and looked like it might have tried to heal around it. Because of the barb, it would be easier to pull the hook through the rest of the way rather than trying to take it out. This was going to be like pulling off a Band-Aid—better to do it quickly.

  I steeled myself. “This is going to hurt, but only for a second.” I pulled harder.

  The hook tore away, black flesh stuck to it. She shrieked, the pitch piercing my ears. The hook had to be the largest, thickest hook I had ever seen. It had to be two inches long.

  “I’m sorry!” I said.

  She writhed out of Elric’s grip and covered her face with her hands. Red blood gushed through her fingers.

  “I didn’t mean to hurt you,” I said again.

  Elric dove forward, nearly knocking me over as he reached for her. “Come here, love. I’ll see what I can do.”

  He caught the mermaid’s arm and pulled her closer. He covered her hands with his own and closed his eyes. She trembled, wide-eyed. I continued holding the black and bloody fish hook, not knowing what to do with it. I couldn’t drop it in the water. It might burn another mermaid. I didn’t want to set it down where one of us might step on it. I shoved it in my back pocket so I could take it with me to the school and dispose of it there. I hoped I wasn’t going to sit on it and hook myself in the butt later.

  That was just the kind of thing I would do.

  Elric pulled away. Her face had stopped bleeding. There was still a hole, and her lip was puffy but not as badly damaged as before. Her lips twitched like she was trying to smile.

  “That’s better, isn’t it?” he asked.

  She nodded and nuzzled my hand. Tears filled my eyes in relief. I had saved a mermaid. Without using magic, I had still done something good.

  Elric fed her his last worm. “Mermaids are stupid creatures, so trusting of humans. They’ll fall in love with anyone who gives them a worm and any sailor who opens his arms to her, even if he takes her out of the water—which will deprive them of breathing through their gills.” He patted her head. He made his voice sound all deep and gushy like he were talking to a puppy. “Isn’t that right, girl? Mermaids are stupid. You get all lovesick for humans? Don’t you?”

  For all his gallantry, Elric could
be incredibly superior. I didn’t care for his patronizing tone to her. I wondered if he thought Witchkin were stupid too.

  She squirted water in his face before dipping into the pond and disappearing. I smiled. I had a feeling she wasn’t that stupid.

  “Unlike Fae. We don’t ever get lovesick for humans and pine away for them.” He lifted himself from the floor of the floating island. “Except for me.” He scooped an arm around my waist and hugged me to his side as he watched the mermaids swim.

  It was true he was different from most Fae. I didn’t think his father would have cared about removing a hook from a lesser Fae’s lip to ensure she didn’t suffer from pain and die. Julian had been a green man, but even so, he hadn’t cared when I had accidentally killed a plant. From what I’d seen of the Fae Courts, they didn’t value life.

  Elric was a good person. This shared experience solidified that in my mind. He wasn’t the kind of person who would try to sneakily feed me Fae food to trap me. I wrapped my arms around him and kissed him.

  He hugged me closer. His hand rested on my hip, fingers kneading into my butt muscles. He stiffened and drew back, pain on his face. “You put that hook in your back pocket, didn’t you?”

  I’d forgotten about it already. “Yes, sorry.”

  “By Nimue! All you need is a chastity belt made of iron, and it will protect you from Witchkin and Fae men alike.”

  That actually wasn’t such a horrible idea. “I’ll keep that in mind for future boyfriends,” I said.

  He pulled me closer again, his hands on my waist. I kissed him, desire pulsing through me. This time, the romantic mood was cut short by a scream.

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN

  The Best Birth Control Is Other People’s Children

  It only took me a second to place the high-pitched shriek of a teenager. I drew back from Elric.

  “Imani,” I said.

  Elric groaned. “Son of a witch! Why now?”

  I rose, looking around desperately for a way to shore. “I need to find her. I need to see what’s wrong.” Visions of the Raven Court snatching her flashed before my eyes.

  We were in the middle of the pond. There was no easy way to shore. At least not for me.

  “Imani!” I called.

  She screamed again.

  Elric splashed the water and whistled. He took my hand and stepped into the water, but he didn’t sink. A lily pad rose out of the watery depths to meet his boot, and another appeared beneath his other foot.

  “Step where I step and keep hold of my hand.”

  I followed his directions, stepping on the lily pads. They were flimsy under my feet. I wobbled, trying to keep my balance. My foot skidded off the slimy surface of one, and I would have fallen into the water if a webbed hand hadn’t grabbed my ankle. Elric tugged on my hand to urge me forward, but I couldn’t move. Scaly fingers held my leg.

  He turned back and eyed the hand, his expression not amused. “Let go of Miss Lawrence right now.”

  The hand let go, and I took a few more steps. I slipped again and lost my balance. The mermaid grabbed me again and kept me from falling over, but she also wouldn’t let me go.

  Elric turned back. “We are in a hurry. Now isn’t the time for games.”

  The mermaid surfaced. It was the same one we’d helped earlier. She made a face at him and splashed her tail, spraying us with water. Elric teetered. I lost my balance and let go of his hand. I fell into the cold shock of water. The mermaid lifted me to the surface where I sputtered nasty pond water. She patted my back.

  Elric swore. He grabbed my hand, but the mermaid tugged me back from him. She nuzzled her face against my neck.

  Imani screamed again. “Help me! Miss Lawrence, please. They’ve got me surrounded. They’re going to snatch me.”

  My heart dropped to the pit of my stomach. Elric gazed over his shoulder, his brows furrowed.

  “Go help Imani. Please,” I said.

  “I can’t leave you. They might drown you.” He leaned forward, balancing impossibly well on the lily pads. He took my hand in his.

  The mermaid shook her head. She pulled me away from him.

  “I’ll be fine,” I said, hoping it was the truth. “I need you to help my student.”

  Elric stood, his face troubled. He looked from me to the forest, as if trying to decide.

  “Go! Please! I’ll never forgive myself if the Raven Queen gets her.”

  He ran across the pond, his feet sinking ever so slightly into the water. He moved with the grace of a dancer. The mermaid pulled me closer and dunked me under the surface.

  CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

  So Much for Good Deeds

  I twisted away from the mermaid and fought my way back to the surface.

  The mermaid laughed, splashing at me. She tried to dunk me again, but I clobbered her with an elbow.

  She drew back. Her eyes were hurt, like she couldn’t understand why I didn’t want her to take me into the shadowy depths to drown.

  I tried to reason with her. “I can’t breathe under water like you can. I’m not a mermaid. I don’t have gills.” I paddled to stay afloat, trying to show her my neck wasn’t like hers.

  Elric reached the edge of the pond. Seconds later he was swallowed up by the thick growth of trees. Imani wasn’t screaming at least. On the other hand, that might have meant the Raven Queen had gotten her.

  I nodded toward the shore. “I need to get to my student. She’s in trouble. Will you let me go?”

  The mermaid pointed to her lip and then to the shore. I suspected I knew what she was asking. I nodded. “She might be hurt. Not with cold iron. With someone else. Bad people might have her. The Raven Court.”

  I couldn’t figure out how the Raven Queen’s emissaries would have gotten onto school grounds without Elric’s guards seeing them. The mermaid gazed up into the clear blue sky and shook her head. Maybe she didn’t believe it was possible either.

  I didn’t know if she understood the importance of why I couldn’t play with her. I swam toward the shore. It had been a long time since swim lessons. My technique was a sloppy combination of the breaststroke and the doggy paddle. The mermaid swam alongside me. She grabbed onto my shirt and propelled me faster. Her tail swished from side to side, slapping at my legs. It took less than a minute for us to reach the edge of the pond.

  I scrambled onto the bank, slipping over rocks. My jeans were stiff and clung to me uncomfortably. I darted through the trees, toward the place I thought I’d seen Elric go. There was no path, so I trampled through ferns and along roots made slippery by my dripping clothes. When I spotted two guards in leather armor, I suspected I was in the right place.

  They were faced away from me, swords drawn. The sound of Imani sobbing compelled me to run faster. I ran past the two guards, momentarily halting when I saw more. A dozen of them stood in a wide circle. Imani stood with her back against a tree. She held a stick in her hand as though it were a wand. It looked more like a twig she’d snatched from the ground than anything else.

  Elric crouched on one knee before her, his hands out in a placating gesture. “Calm down. No one is going to hurt you.”

  “I’ve got a wand, and I know how to use it!” she shouted.

  Elric turned his head over his shoulder at his nearest guard. “I told you, put your swords away. She’s just a child.”

  “Your Highness, please back away from the delinquent. For your own safety, allow us to handle her.”

  Imani’s gaze darted away from Elric as she spotted me. She leapt past him and embraced me.

  “What happened? Who tried to snatch you?” I asked. “Was it the Raven Court?”

  She pointed at the guards. “They did!”

  Anger flared in me as I gazed at the guilty faces. None would meet my eyes.

  Elric stood. “Is that true?”

  A man with long silver hair and sideburns stepped forward. It was Errol, the captain of the guard.

&n
bsp; He bowed. “No, Your Highness. We used glamour to disguise the path, only she somehow saw through our magic. We were trying to herd her away, but she kept getting closer. You told us not to use enchantments on the students unless it was absolutely necessary, but she was getting too close, so I deemed that it was necessary.”

  “What enchantment did you use?” Elric asked.

  “The trees tried to eat me, and they stole my hoodie!” Imani yelled. “And then they made rabid squirrels chase me. And then one of those scary dudes pulled his sword on me and told me to go back to the school.”

  I turned to the guard she pointed at. “You drew your sword on my student?”

  The man didn’t answer.

  I could see why she’d been scared. I patted her back. Her heart hammered so hard in her chest, I felt it reverberate into her spine.

  “Did we fail you, Your Highness? Was this not what you wished us to do?”

  Elric sighed in exasperation. “No, you did exactly as I asked.” He looked to me and Imani apologetically. “I’m sorry, Clarissa. What will you have me do to fix this? Shall I wipe her memories?”

  “No!” Imani and I said at the same time.

  He crossed his arms. “We can’t have witnesses. The principal will fire you and evict you and Miss Washington from the school. Is that not correct?”

  “Why would he do that?” Imani dried her tears. “Why does the principal want to fire you?”

  “Principal Bumblebub doesn’t want me to date a Fae,” I said.

  Imani crossed her arms. “Neither does Mr. Thatch.”

  “Mr. Thatch and the principal should both mind their own beeswax.” I touched her chin so she would look at me. “I agreed I would stop dating Elric so that Principal Bumblebub would let me stay and learn magic this summer. And so that he would allow you to stay with me. If you tell him that I—” I almost admitted that I was still dating Elric but decided against it. “That I happened to run into Elric while I was taking a walk alone in the woods, he’ll kick us both out.”