and her trigger-happy crossbow just to see a familiar face.

“She’s in the VIP lounge,” Gwen shouts in my ear. “I’ll go bring

us some drinks.”

When I turn around, Gwen and Kurt are gone. I’m sandwiched between

two elf-looking dudes with glittering skin, who are twirling light

sticks between their fingers. I squeeze past and bump into a vampire

chick whose deep black eyes make me cold inside despite the inviting

perfection of her face. Deep down, I know it’s a trick. That’s she’s

dead and her yellow fangs would rip out my throat in a heartbeat. I

push past her harder than I mean to until I break through into the

less-crowded VIP section.

I spot the princesses draped around guys in black leather with

tattoos and long hair that smells like grass and dirt and fur.

Princess Kai is the easiest to spot with her shimmering long blond

hair. She squeezes into the corner of a plush, scarlet couch, trying

to push a guy’s hand off her thigh. I step toward them to help, but

she gets up and goes down a dark hallway.

I realize I’m standing right beside Princess Violet. Her smile is

forced, almost pained, when she sees me, like I’m holding her at

gunpoint.

“Hey.” I can’t even hear myself say it. The electronic song

vibrates over everything.

She looks over my shoulder at the crowd, scanning and scanning. I

can practically feel the breath she’s holding.

“So…” I start.

“Where’s Kurtomathetis?”

I don’t think I’ve heard her right, so I lean in across the table

and shout. “ What? ”

“Your guardian!” She scratches her head nervously. “I thought I

saw him enter with you and Gwenivere!”

I’m not exactly hurt, but maybe yeah. I think I’m hurt. It’s like

the time Angelo went out with this girl just so he could hook up with

her hot sister. I feel like that girl and Kurt is her hot sister.

It’s the lowest low. So I smile and turn around. I don’t need

this. When Kurt and Gwen come back, they can deal with Violet and her

purple hair, which isn’t even as amazing as everyone says it is. I

weave through the undulating crowd as if I’m getting carried by a

wave. Someone bumps into me from behind, a real hard shove. I turn

around, ready to fight.

But it’s Princess Kai. Her powder blue eyes are wide as saucers, a

hand over her mouth in an extremely familiar way.

“Wait-no-”

She hiccups and lurches forward, vomiting all over my feet.

The crowd splits around us, forming a neat path to the exit.

“Lord Sea.” She keeps hands over her mouth.

“Come,” I take her by the hand and lead the way. Kai hesitates

before pushing out the silver door. “Shhh. Don’t worry.”

And we reappear on the Coney Island street.

We clean ourselves at the shower stations on the beach.

Out in the distance, the grayness cloaks the sky. Unwillingly, I

flash back to the day the storm appeared. The sky changed. The wave

came. And then I was inside out.

“I’m so humiliated.” Kai drops onto the sand. Her clothes are wet

and her face is red from scrubbing. “I hate it here.”

“What are you talking about?” I hand her a piece of gum that was

squished in the bottom of my backpack. At least it’s minty. “This is

the best place on earth…when you’re not getting messed up at a

supernatural bar and barfing on people.”

Her voice is high pitched but she laughs all the same. “You

clearly haven’t been to many places.”

“That’s true, but no matter what, Coney is still my favorite

place.”

Her face is skeptical so I ask, “What’s your favorite place,

then?”

“The Hall of Records.” She licks her lips. “My father’s an elder

of the court. A historian. I’m supposed to be his apprentice, but he

wants me to be here and-”

She doesn’t let herself finish the sentence. I’ve never been

around so many girls who find me this repulsive. I’m almost humbled,

except I’m pretty sure they’re the crazy ones.

“Your dad wants you to court a champion?” I say it as suggestively

as I can because I like the way she blushes, from the tip of her chin

to her big blue eyes. My gut, my heart, and my mind seem to be

cooperating. I wonder if it’s not having the pressure of Gwen and Kurt

breathing down my neck. Then again, when I was captain of the swim

team, I ate pressure for breakfast.

She gets up and dusts sand off her butt. “I didn’t think it’d be

so exhausting.”

“What? Talking to me?”

She smiles. “No. Being with those girls. I’ve seen better behaved

piranha. I told them I don’t like that fizzy stuff but they get nasty

so I drank it and it made me sick-on you. I was trying to find a basin

to wash my hands. Everything in that place was covered in slime. And

when I opened a door, I saw Menana doing something-let’s just say that

her father, King of the Rockies, would find a way to kill that

demigod. So I turned and ran right out. Why are you laughing at me?”

“It’s not you.” I take my empty soda bottle and dunk it in the

closest garbage can. “It’s all of this. Everyone is acting crazy and

they use this championship as an excuse, you know?”

“I suppose so.”

“Come on. I’m going to prove to you that this is the best place on

earth.” I hold out my hand to her, and to both of our surprise, she

takes it.

***

I get two tickets to the Wonder Wheel. The thing makes all kinds

of creaky noises that let the fear of falling linger in the back of

your head. But once you’re up, you can see the whole park, the black

line of the horizon, and the winking Brooklyn streets.

Kai twirls her hair and glances at me every now and then, like

she’s never been alone with a guy before. Her powder blue eyes remind

me of those Precious Moments figurines you get at communion parties.

When Layla had hers, Mrs. Santos bought about a hundred of them, all

depicting a little girl in a white dress with doe eyes staring up to

heaven. Layla drew a mustache and little devil horns on half of them,

which got us both in trouble even though I didn’t do anything. Even

now, as our car climbs the Brooklyn sky, my thoughts come back to

Layla. Kissing against the locker. Her hands-

“I’m not used to heights,” Kai says, scooting closer to me on the

cold metal seat. “My father said if the gods had intended us to fly,

they would have given us wings instead of tails.”

I put on my best reassuring smile. “This thing looks old, but I’ve

seen two guys the size of boulders get on it without falling.”

She takes in the new sights and sounds as we get higher and

higher. I wish I’d bought her cotton candy or some strawberry-sugared

popcorn. The thing about me is that I love making girls happy. There

are just so many of them that I never know where to start. Plus, Kai

is sweet and isn’t trying to eat me.

“You said your dad’s a historian?”

Her eyes brighten. “He’s quite famous actually. He’s the eldest of

the elder historians, which sounds funny but it’s a great

accomplishment to have served under two sea kings. Three, once the

championship is over. I’ve grown up cataloging and organizing scrolls

my whole life. He’s forced me to come here. Thinks now that Brendan’s

champion, I have to do it for the family.”

“Yeah, there’s a lot of that going around.” I hook my finger on

the side of the car and lean my head back. Below us, some girls in the

swinging car shriek at the top of their lungs. Kai looks horrified,

and I’m glad I opted for the stationary seats. “How are you related to