twinkle in his blue eyes reveals something that is young and full of

life. When he touches the tip of his mustache, I notice an elaborate

red garnet ring.

“Why did you help me?” I ask.

“Would you believe me if I said I was a good Samaritan?”

“You can be good and still do bad things.”

“I suspect you speak from experience.” He leans back in his chair

and crosses his legs on the table, careful not to touch the cards with

his polished, black leather shoes.

“Hey guy, you’re the one that helped me out of the car. You

could’ve waited for the ambulance people to do it. Are you like a

wizard? Because out of everything I’ve seen the past few days, that’s

one I haven’t gotten around to.”

Comit smiles, holding up his cane for me to see. The staff is dark

cherry wood. Tiny wings, leaves, and intertwining branches are carved

carefully all along it. It ends with a golden arrowhead, which makes a

sharp click sound when he slams it on the floor.

“When I was told to be careful of the Sea People trolling about on

the boardwalk, I had no idea they meant you .”

“What the hell’s that supposed to mean?” I get up, knocking my

chair back. “Know what? I don’t even know you, man.”

“Tristan, please.” Comit stands and places a hand on my arm. “I

only meant that I’ve seen you on the boardwalk. Even in the throngs of

people, you stood out, and now I understand why.”

“That’s not creepy at all.” I pick up my chair and settle back

down.

“I can identify with being different. That’s why I chose to make a

home here in Coney Island.”

“Different? You look pretty normal to me.” Then I add, “normal

ish. ”

Comit laughs and rests his staff across his lap. “I was one of

nine kids. Father was a ranch hand in Wyoming, and I was so little

that no one paid attention to me.

“Then one day, my dad realized there was something different about

me. The farm animals listened to me and did as I asked. From the

stallions to the barn mice. He tried to beat it out of me a few times.

Said, ‘God would never make something so unnatural.’” At the last bit,

he takes on a drawl. I wonder how many times he’s said it to himself.

“But in the end,” he continues, “my daddy was smart. Knew how to

stay alive. Decided God don’t make imperfections. Made a few bucks off

me.”

I break the intensity of his eyes by checking on Kai. She makes a

whimpering noise from the couch and curls up even tighter, like she’s

in a cocoon.

“Lucky for me, the circus rolled in. I ran off. Started as a lion

tamer. Ain’t no one in any state had a lion tamer so young. I made my

own way through this.” He holds his hands out and balls them into

fists, as if everything he is can be contained in the center of his

palms. “And soon enough, a man found me and took me hunting in the

Amazon, finding beasts that time has forgotten and creatures only ever

seen on rotting pyramid walls. It was like peeling back my own skin

and finding a new version of myself. Have you seen any monsters, Sea

Prince?”

My mind flashes to the makara. The merrows. Nieve’s face. “Yes.”

“I mean like beasts. I mean creatures that roam in the shadows of

our world while we try to make it so-livable. After the Amazon, he

brought me here to run things. Downstairs is filled with the most

exquisite beings on this plane and others.”

The taper candles are long and bright; their flickering flames

seem to have a sway of their own. Outside is the faint sound of sirens

and commotion. Then there’s the echo of laughter coming from somewhere

downstairs. “So you’re a beast tamer?”

“I’m a beast master .”

“And you know what that thing that attacked me was?”

“It was a sea dragon.” He smacks his knee and practically shakes

with excitement. “I’ve never seen one before, and boy, it was

beautiful. You know, a lot of people think the Loch Ness monster is a

dinosaur? But it’s not. It’s related to the family of sea dragons. Did

you know that sea dragons are the only branch of the dragon family

that can’t breathe fire?”

“I had no clue,” I say, trying to hold back a laugh.

“Not many people do. Nasty venom in the saliva. They’re supposed

to be extinct. The few that are left are controlled by beings more

powerful than you or me. I can tell you one thing. Whoever sent that

creature after you is not your friend. It took all of my concentration

to get him to let you go.”

Even as he says that, I know who it might be. Someone who wants to

rattle me. Someone who’s trying to get under my skin. “I think I have

a clue.”

“Would you like to see more of these creatures?”

Kai twitches in her sleep. I know I have to go home and keep

pushing. But part of me is curious and I want to see for myself what

he’s talking about. “I really have to get going.”

“Tell you what.” He cocks his head to the side. His hair never

moves. It’s a perfect swish to the side. “We have a special show, not

open to the public. I’ll give you these to take.” He holds his closed

fist over the table. There are thin scars all over his hand. I wonder

if they are from his father or one of the beasts he claims to be in

charge of. He presses two gold coins into my hand. They’re stamped

with the Roman numeral II.

“Tokens,” he says, “for the show. You don’t want to miss it.”

“Thank you.” I pocket them quickly. “And thank you for the save.”

“Don’t get too sentimental. As cute as you are, I did it for the

dragon. A thing like that, goddess knows what would have happened to

it if it had been captured.” He dips in a proper bow, then retreats

behind the curtain.

Because Kai is still passed out, I do the one thing I’ve been

trying to stop myself from doing, and that’s get my parents involved.

But I can’t exactly carry a girl with a bloody gash on her arm in the

subway, and just holding her makes the pain in my shoulder flare.

So I called my dad, who must’ve broken all the speed limits,

because it only took him five minutes to get here. I can smell the

crackling nervousness around him, like burning cables.

“Saw it on the news.”

“Was there footage?”

He shakes his head. “Some blurry camerawork on cell phones. It’s

gray and foggy. No real eyewitnesses except some kids.”

That’s the thing, right? No one believes children. “Mom?”

He doesn’t have to answer that one. “It’s amazing the things

people will say. The official story they ran on the news was a failed

Air Force experiment from the base out on Long Island.”

“Yeah, because all jets have scales and teeth.”

“You’d be surprised, son. Sometimes the mind can’t process things,

so it creates its own reality.”

I stare at the dashboard.

“Your mother said you were fine.” I can feel him look over at me,

then at the traffic. “But I know better. I felt the same way when your

aunt was born.”

Now I turn to him.

“The baby is not going to replace you,” he says.

“Dad-”

“Hear me out.” He turns the volume down on the radio. “When your

grandfather came for your birth, he said he’d bind your powers or

whatever they do. I never truly trusted it. And when you started

swimming, loving it the way you do, I was afraid to let you do it.

Maybe if one day you went out, you might never come back.”

“What made you change your mind?”

“I didn’t.” We run our hands through our hair at the same time. “I

was right. In the end. It’s like you’re going off to college. Maybe,