a dark mound out there that must be Coney Island. She looks back at us

over one shoulder and winks. She pulls her shirt over her head and

pulls her puffy skirt down. I look away because it’s just weird

looking at her like that. She steps on the rail and jumps over. I

catch a shimmer of green scales and the translucent tip of her fins.

“I love skinny-dipping.” Marty stands, pushing Layla to the

ground. He’s undoing his belt buckle.

“Whoa, whoa. Technically she’s dressed, as far as mermaids go,” I

say.

Kurt shakes his head. “No, some of us wear more clothes than

others. Purely for decoration, like the princesses. But it’s

bothersome when you’re in and out of the water.”

“See, that settles it.”

“Marty, gross!” Layla shields her eyes as he drops his jeans and

boxers, which are white with little red kisses. There’s a second

splash.

Suddenly I nudge Layla. I think of her face sleeping, the way she

pulled me closer and lay on my chest. “Remember when we went

skinny-dipping off the pier this winter?”

Layla shakes her head and tries to suppress a laugh. “I don’t know

who had a bigger heart attack, the police officer who found us or my

mother when he told her.”

She hugs her knees and stares at her toes. It’s like we’re in my

living room again, talking smack about the girls she doesn’t like and

letting a movie run in the background for white noise. Her hair

tangles in the breeze, and when she looks up, I can see her eyes are

glazed over. “What’s going to happen now?”

“Guess I have to search for an oracle and get the trident pieces

back.” When I say that, it doesn’t sound so hard. Then I let my mind

go dark. “What if the others get to them first? They have entire

kingdoms as a resource. I have you.” I nod to Kurt. “No offense.”

“I’m not hurt. You’re right. I’m but one source of knowledge. We

also have your mother and Thalia, who has her own resources, believe

it or not.”

“And me,” Layla adds.

“You’re not in this. I can’t have you almost killed again .”

She picks at the chipping yellow nail polish on her toes. Her

lavender scent is thin in the sea breeze, but it’s still there. Her

lips are pursed, stubborn, decided. She’s all You’re not the boss of

me, Tristan Hart. “Remember when you had that harebrained idea to sail

off to the Mississippi like Huck and Jim?” she says.

“Yeah, I needed someone to make me some sandwiches while I

sailed.”

“Shut up.” She gets up in my face. Her pretty hazel eyes stare me

down; her hair gets blown right in my face. I could kiss her now if I

wanted to. “I went because I knew you wouldn’t make it a day without

me,” she says. “Plus, it’s not a Coney Island summer without you. So

I’m in. Because you’re the biggest jerk on the planet, but you’re my

jerk.”

“Don’t spare my feelings.” I press my hand to my heart and change

the subject. “So what’d you get?”

Her expression flits from confusion to duh. She pulls out a thin

gold chain with a shell dangling from it. It’s a simple little thing;

it looks like a spiral that starts off small and ends in a horn-shaped

opening.

Kurt nods, Mr. Know-It-All. “ Spirula spirula. The symbol of your

family. May I?” He takes the necklace from her hands and undoes the

clasp. He kneels behind her, and she gathers her hair away from her

neck and lets him put it on.

I was going to do that.

Maybe I wasn’t, but if she’d asked me to, I would have.

Arion clears his throat. “Sire, we’ve reached the shore.”

I run up to the mast deck and grab on to a rope. The mist that’s

been clinging to Coney Island for the last couple of days is still

there, but it’s thinning. Luna Park isn’t lit up, which is weird for

this time of year, but the rest of Brooklyn is there. The entire city

is still awake in its own way. The dark shape of the south pier comes

into focus. The urchin brothers are flashes of blue and purple,

running along the deck and up on the sails, getting ready for us to

stop. My stomach flips like when I’m at the top of the Cyclone, and

just like that we’ve landed. There’s a hard splash when the anchor

drops down.

“Honey, we’re home,” Layla says, sneaking up behind me and leaning

her head on my arm.

“Yeah.”

“This is where I leave you, sire.” Arion’s black ropes bring him

down to where we stand. His black and white scales shimmer in the hazy

yellow lights on the pier. “Should you need me, I am but a call away.”

He pats the golden horn hanging on a leather strap across his chest.

“Thanks a lot, man.” I hold out my hand to him. I don’t know how

merpeople say hi and bye. I guess I should add that to the things I

still need Kurt to teach me.

Arion stares at my hand like he doesn’t know what’s required of

him.

Layla laughs. “Look, Arion.” She slaps my hand, our fingers

hooking in the universal Hey, man, what’s good? hand slap. I guess

it’s not as universal as I thought.

“Ah.” His booming laughter echoes as he does as Layla shows him.

“My very best.” He can’t help it; he still bows.

I run to the window and pull open the curtains. There’s sun! No

more fog. Summer in Coney Island is here, like my grandfather said it

would be.

“I don’t think I’ve seen you that happy since you were eight and

there was a blizzard.” Dad stands in jeans and a white T-shirt. As he

takes a sip from his coffee, the smell wafts toward me and my stomach

grumbles.

“Hungry?”

“Ugh, merpeople are not known for their culinary skills. I ate

jellyfish-brain Jell-O.”

“Blech.” He waves me toward the kitchen. “Kurt’s in your bathroom,

and Thalia is in your mom’s. I think she’s using my shampoo to make

bubbles.”

“Those darn mermaids.” I find two cold slices of leftover

meat-lover’s pizza, which I devour in five bites.

“Don’t get too full. Mom wants to make pancakes.”

“Did I mention they make these green biscuit things like pancakes,

but they’re like mushy shrimp and seaweed?”

He sticks his tongue out in distaste and spreads open the

newspaper.

“Sorry we woke you last night when we got home. I had no idea what

time it was.”

“Yeah, yeah. You kids spoiled the wonderful evening your mom and I

were having.”

“Ugh, disgusting.” I put my fingers in my ears, but I can still

hear him laughing. I grab a glass and some OJ.

“Oh, come on, son, your merbaby zygote didn’t make itself.”

Orange juice comes out of my nose. It burns, and my dad just

rustles his newspaper so he can read it better.

“You’ve got juice all over your face,” Kurt says.

Dad leaves the Brooklyn Star open on an article that reads

“Vampire Puppy Sequestered” with “Rise in Missing Teen Boys” right

across from it.

Mom walks in wearing one of those long summer dresses that reaches

the floor. “Did you see what your dad made for you?” She points out a

huge map on the kitchen wall behind me.

“Dad?”

“Well, your mom said there could be maps involved. I figure it’s

the least I can do to help.”

There are geographical maps of the world. One of all the

continents, smaller ones of the magnified continents, one for North

America, and one of New York City. There’s a cluster of push pins at

the corner of the NYC map. I grab a blue one and push it on our

street. Here . “Command Central.”

Mom pulls out the box of pancake mix and a frying pan. “Now, from

the beginning.”

•••

I don’t spare any details. From Arion and the urchin brothers