strange being here in the dead of night when all of my days here have

been full of sun. The moon is a fat ball in the sky, swollen like the

bruise on my cheek.

“This is how all the Scooby Doo episodes go wrong,” Layla says,

giving my hand a squeeze.

The usual entrance to Luna Park is crowded by a line of large

ravens. They caw and walk along the fence like precarious guards. I

take Layla’s hand and pull her in through the entrance. The instant

she’s in, she gasps, “Oh!”

Spinning rides light the boardwalk. The Wonder Wheel spins, and

from down here, I can see girls with glittering wings waving.

“Fairies can fly,” Thalia says. “Why do they even bother?”

“It’s part of the Coney Island experience,” I argue.

“Figures.” Layla stands in front of the carousel. “The only ride I

like isn’t even on.”

We pass a food stand manned by a young guy with powdery pink skin

and gold hair. His smile is so bright that I have to look away.

“Can I interest you in some sweets?” He waves at a selection of

candied popcorn, pretzels, sanguine chocolates, and golden apples.

“What is sanguine chocolate?” I ask.

Suddenly I feel a wind chill at my side. It settles on my shoulder

with mild gloom. My heart jumps to my throat when I realize it’s a

person. Sort of.

Frederik, the only vampire I’ve ever met who rocks long black hair

and Hawaiian shirts, is standing right beside me. “Ian, I don’t

believe the Sea Prince likes blood chocolate.”

I put the blood-chocolate box back on the cart and decide I’m not

hungry, leaving Ian selling the same box to a pale girl no taller than

my hip.

“Damn, Frederik,” I shout. “That’s creepy as hell.”

Frederik shoves his hands in his long shorts pockets. He shrugs.

“Wasn’t my intention to startle you, little merman. Just saying hi.”

Layla points at the swinging pirate-ship ride. “Are those

Vikings?”

“Demigods,” Frederik corrects. “Just called them in. After the

incident this Friday, the Thorne Hill Alliance feels we need extra

protection details until the Sea People are done with their

championship.”

I don’t like where this is going. “Wish I had better news for you,

dude.”

“Then I suppose we’ll all enjoy the summer solstice festivities in

the meantime,” he says, turning to the girls. “Did I hear you say you

wanted to go on the carousel?”

“Uhh-”

“Really, it’s no bother.”

Without being asked, the conductor comes out of a nearby ticket

booth. His gait is forced, like he’s trying to be calm when the energy

around him is more wound up than Principal Quinn after the girls’

soccer team went on a no-sports-bra strike until they got the same

funding as the boys.

“Everyone,” Frederik says, “this is Patrick.”

“Heywhatsup?” Patrick says in one breath. He’s tall and lanky,

borderline anorexic, with hair down to his hips and an unkempt beard.

He can’t be more than twenty and definitely human and definitely

shit-scared of Frederik by the way he never quite looks the vampire in

the eyes.

“Do you think you could hook my friends up by turning on the

carousel?”

The question is a formality. I can sense the tension in the

command. Patrick goes to the ride, sticks in a key, and pulls a lever.

He waits for Layla and Thalia to hop on. Even Kurt joins them, but I

have a feeling that’s more because of his disdain for vampires than

his curiosity about carnival rides. The lights come alive, along with

the twinkling song I’ve heard all my life. The white hides of the

horses are dirty and some of the bulbs are burned out, but the

carousel still has the same cool effect.

“Thanks, dude,” I say, about to pat Frederik on the back, but then

I think better of it. “Did you just Dracula Patrick into submission?”

“He’s a friend. Of sorts.”

“Meaning?”

“His sister got…turned this winter. In front of him. I’ve been

trying to help them acclimate.”

Oh. Suddenly I can’t get that image out of my head. “That’s decent

of you.”

“Believe me, it’s not easy watching your sister turn into this,”

he says. When I wait for him to elaborate, he doesn’t, and we keep

leaning against the railing in front of the carousel. I breathe in the

Coney Island air, the lingering cigarette smoke, virgin piсa coladas

spilled on the ground, the spun sugar of cotton candy.

“Where’s your other half?” I ask.

“If you’re referring to Marty McKay,” Frederik says, “that

shape-shifter and I aren’t on speaking terms for the next hour and a

half. He spilled my O-Neg slushie and is trying to find me another.

You try getting that in the middle of the night when everyone is out

partying.”

“That’s tough.”

“It’s tragic, actually. I’m still hungry.” Frederik turns his dark

eyes to me. Then he smiles. “Don’t look like that. I wouldn’t bite the

future Sea King. I’m the High Vampire of New York. It’d be bad

politics.”

I laugh. “I’m glad you have so much faith in me.”

“I take it things didn’t go so well on your journey?” He nods at a

pale, brooding couple walking past. The guy is carrying an oversized

blue monkey as a carnival prize. Everyone who walks past Frederik

stops for the briefest moment to acknowledge him. It’s what I used to

feel in the hallways at school.

“Things could’ve gone better,” I say.

“Do you ever think everything happens just as it should?”

“Like that ‘meant to be’ crap? Hell no. If that were true, I’d be

sitting around waiting for someone to put a fork in my hand and a

crown on my head.”

“Good man.” He pats a cold hand on my back. “Where do you go from

here?”

“Well, there are a few things I could do to advance my standing as

champion.” All these lights are making me sweat. “I’m not sure how to

go about it just yet.”

“I’ve been researching your people since you arrived unannounced.”

“Listen, bro,” I press my hands on my chest defensively. “I’ve

been here since I was born.”

“Very well, since the court arrived. All I know of your kind are

the landlocked and the old man under the bridge. Not to mention those

terrible creatures that attacked your school and the Sea Breeze

community. I’m sorry for your loss, by the way.”

“Those creatures,” I say, “are called merrows. They’re getting

stronger. Just a heads-up.”

“We’ve got more of us patrolling the city. But those creatures are

not the only thing you should worry about.”

My stomach plummets five flights when he says that. “What do you

mean?”

“The landlocked of your court worry me. They’ve always been quiet,

but Marty’s noticed them meeting more often.”

“Meeting? Like, together?”

“Yes.” He sighs. “Together is usually how people meet.”

I bite the inside of my cheek. “Why is that bad?”

“It is my understanding that the landlocked have never had a voice

at the Sea Court before. It is not my place to tell you what to do.

But you may want to investigate.”

Over on the carousel, the music gets louder. The girls shout,

switching horses and holding their hands up. Frederik sniffs the air

like he smells something foreign he can’t place, then ignores it.

“Each of the landlocked is different,” I say. “Some, like my

mother, were stripped of their tails and left to live on land. Others

were banished as a punishment. They pay tithes every time Toliss

Island coasts to a new shore in exchange for protection from creatures

here, but they’re second-class citizens of the mer world.”