weren’t to keep me unharmed, or whatever it is he’s supposed to do. He

leans into my ear and whispers quickly, “Not to worry. There’s a

pocket.”

We sit straight up again. Mom’s taking the right into the mall

parking lot. A pocket? Great, just when I thought I had it figured out

the regular way.

We walk through the revolving doors.

Thalia keeps going, either because she doesn’t know she’s supposed

to get out by herself, or because she’s having too much fun spinning.

“You have the attention span of a goldfish,” I tell her, wrapping

my arm around her neck and giving her a noogie. For a moment, I

imagine this is what having a bigger family feels like. A slightly

pretentious older brother, a jumpy little sister, and a mom everyone

stares at when we’re walking around the mall.

“Actually, I’ve seen very well behaved goldfish,” Kurt says.

“Of course you have,” I grumble.

“I think I’ll take Thalia to Glittering World, and you boys can go

do your own thing,” my mom says. They go to the escalator, and I stand

a little longer and watch Thalia try to get on it. She reminds me of

girls on the street playing double Dutch, waiting for just the right

moment.

“You wouldn’t think she’s nearly half a century old,” Kurt sighs.

“I told her to stay, but I knew she wouldn’t.”

“What about your parents?”

“Our parents were killed during a battle with a rebel group of

Hungarian dragons. There aren’t many left, but they’re ferocious, and

they believe the whole of this plane and the others belong to them.”

“Is there like a mermaid heaven or something?”

He doesn’t laugh, which I’m thankful for. “We are of the sea,” he

says, “and to the sea we return. An ancient merman like the king,

would become a great coral reef, no matter what the climate. Someone

like me, like my parents, would turn to surf.”

“Just like that.”

“Precisely.”

A burst of giggles erupts behind Kurt. A cluster of girls is

pointing at us. I put my hand up when the flash of a camera hits my

eye. What is their deal? Kurt glances behind me, and shock registers

on his normally calm features.

When I turn around, every fish in the aquarium window of Exotic

Pet Planet is gathered around my frame with their mouths pressed

against the glass. I walk to the right and they follow.

Between that and the way Kurt’s T-shirt keeps riding up his abs,

we’re drawing too much attention. Kurt clears his throat and picks up

the pace beside me.

“I believe we should get me a change of wardrobe as soon as

possible.”

I pat him on the back and jump onto the escalator. “Don’t worry.

You’ll blend in, in no time.”

•••

“For someone who is just now human and has free range to buy

anything he wants, you sure are a bare-necessities kinda guy.” I know

if my mom gave me her credit card, I’d go nuts.

Kurt looks more comfortable in a pair of jeans and a long-sleeved

white T-shirt that actually fit. “I learn to live without much. You

leave fewer things behind that way.”

We stand at the top floor of the mall against the railing and look

down at the crowd. At people with worries like

two-for-the-price-of-one sweaters, not strange cravings like wanting

to jump into the fountain and splash around. But strangely, I’m having

a good time, and the ink doesn’t burn anymore.

Then the stench hits me hard. It smells like rotting fish. Kurt

smells it too, because we both turn around. There’s a woman on one

knee. Her dress is big and gray around her slender frame. Dull and

thinning brown hair frizzes around her head. Everything about her says

homeless. Except for her face. Her skin is smooth like pale porcelain,

and she has sapphire eyes that stare hungrily at me. “I pledge myself

to you,” she says. “I do.”

I’m too stunned. Beside me, I see Kurt reach for something at his

side, then realize nothing is there. He grabs the woman by her arm,

hard.

“Whoa, what are you doing?”

“Stand back, Lord Sea.” Kurt shakes her. “Who sent you?”

The woman’s eyes are cold and laughing. She sniffs at the air.

“Don’t trust them. Look what they did to me.” She’s about to pull down

the neck of her dress when I stop her.

“Kurt, let her go.” And he does, without questioning me.

She gives me one last bow, kisses the back of my hand, and pushes

through the sea of shoppers.

“What am I, the mermaid flag? How come the fish aren’t gathering

around your head and following you where you walk? How come they don’t

pledge their allegiance to you?”

He rolls the sleeves of the white T-shirt up to his elbows. For

the first time since he popped into my shower, his brow creases.

Everything about him says that all he’s missing is a sword and

something to hit. “We need to find Lady-your mother. Now.”

•••

This is the first time we have ever found a parking spot so close

to the boardwalk. I get out of the car first and run up the wooden

incline, past Nathan’s Hot Dogs. It’s not much of a beach day: the sky

is so gray and there’s still police tape on the railings so that

people will stay away from the water.

Ruby’s is open, and we grab seats on the bench outside. The

bartender cleans the countertop while watching the TV above him.

There’s a report of more bodies washing up along the strip, the bodies

all mangled up.

I fill Mom in on what happened at the mall.

“So talk,” I say to Kurt. “Who was that woman?”

“There’s a faction of our people who rebelled against the king

scores of years ago. They resented members of the court, who have the

ability to shift into legs at will. Everyone else has to wait for the

island to coast by a new shore. But it’s the way it’s always been.”

“And you’re one of the court people?” I ask.

“Of course,” he says, with a hint of irritation. “If I may

continue-the last rebellion wasn’t the first one, but this time the

king granted them what they wanted. He stripped them of their tails

and let them swim to shore. Not many could have survived, but the few

who did hate the throne. I believe that’s why they see you as someone

to relate to. You are one of us, but you are also mostly human.”

“Okay, what am I supposed to do for them? I’m only just a guy. A

hot merman kind of guy, yeah, but still.”

Thalia laughs, and I’m glad that at least I can do that to lighten

the mood.

Kurt and my mom share a knowing look. The kind they’ve been giving

each other since he showed up. It makes my stomach turn that they know

something I don’t.

“What aren’t you guys saying?”

Kurt looks at his lap, and my mom saves him from whatever he wants

to say.

“I can answer that,” she says. She tucks loose red strands behind

her ear and looks out at the horizon. I wish she’d look me in the eye

at least. “When a mermaid conceives, she carries the child like a

human woman. Because I was stripped of my tail, there was a chance you

wouldn’t be part merman at all. For your sake, I hoped you’d be human.

But when I gave birth, I did it in water. My father visited that

summer, and he brought our midwife. You were born with your fins, and

he bound them so that you would not change ever again. He promised you

would never change.”

“So then why am I changing now? Why is this happening to me now?”

I have to stop myself from yelling. I’ve never spoken like this to my

mother. I feel ashamed and stupid and confused, and I just wish they

would spit it out.

“Because the Sea King is getting old, and he needs an heir,”