Gwen raises her hands slowly. Maybe she’ll try to choke him. Maybe

she’ll blast him with her magic fingers. As much as I’d love to watch,

I know I can’t.

“Guys, come on. That’s enough.” I step directly between them,

facing Gwen. I take her slender wrists in my hands and she brings down

her guard. I can feel Kurt’s hot breath on my back so I turn to face

him. “Are you forgetting that you’re on the same side?”

Deep in my heart, I know that’s not true. Gwen made it clear to me

the night we were on our way to Shelly. She considers herself to be

her own team, like a lone wolf. The way Kurt’s been treating her, I

can see why. They step away from each other, and Gwen takes a step

behind me to be shielded from them.

“I apologize,” he says dismissively. “Let’s resume our search.”

“Not that I’m doubting you, Kurt,” Layla says, “but do we even

know what we’re looking for? A magic cupboard? Enchanted armoire?

Fancy-looking glass?”

“Whatever would we do with that?” He looks down at the ground and

the smooth cobblestone steps beneath his feet. “We have to get

beneath. The underwater entrance is sealed. There has to be a passage

somewhere here.”

“Is there a sewer?” Layla suggests. “Maybe if we find a manhole.”

“As much as I love the idea of wading through muck-” My attention

snaps to a man closing down his tent. His sign reads Felix’s Oölogy

Emporium. Crates are piled with eggs in different sizes and colors.

One egg looks more like a football with its ribbed brown shell and

white stripes. A set of small furry hands creep up from beneath the

table. They belong to a young boy. He’s shirtless, skinny as a wire.

He smiles with the wet nose of a fox and tiny teeth to match, closing

his hands firmly on a golden egg.

“Leave it alone, Tristan,” Kurt warns.

But then I look at the squat, fat vendor, sweating to reach the

back awning of his shop. His face is red and oblivious, and I know

that I just can’t leave it alone.

Fox Boy sees me approaching and starts, losing his grip on the

egg. It falls back into the crate with a thud . The vendor whips

around and, realizing what’s happening, trips off his stool and onto

his knees. Fox Face flips over, scrambling to his feet, but not before

turning around to spit at me. I grab him, but he whines and sinks his

teeth into my arm. I cry out and let Fox Boy go.

I clamp a hand down on the bloody beads sprouting from the round

marks of his teeth.

“That’s what you get for sticking your nose in the foxhole, dude,”

Layla says.

I shake my arm, as if that’ll get rid of the pain. I don’t make a

face, though, because I know I was right.

The vendor comes around, fussing over me with a glass bottle and a

rag. He’s gracious, but he can’t seem to form a proper sentence

because his face is so red. I’m about to tell him, “No worries. It’s

no big deal,” when he tilts the bottle right over my wound.

I don’t recognize the scream coming from me. The liquid burns. It

freezes. It numbs. I want to pull my hand away, but my brain isn’t

connecting to my limbs. I can’t move.

“You must burn away the saliva,” he says. “It’s paralyzing.”

For a moment, I feel as if I’ve just stepped off the ship again.

My legs want to give out and my head spins. Then he holds the rancid,

clear liquid over my nose and the dizziness goes away. I bite down on

my other hand as the vendor wraps the cloth around my forearm and

pulls it tight.

“Better?” he asks.

“Much.” I don’t realize I’ve started to fall down until I notice

Kurt’s arms holding me up.

“Come,” the vendor says. “Come and sit. The venom takes a few

minutes to wear off.”

***

Felix, the vendor, ushers us into his tent. Stacks of crates

marked BEWARE and FRAGILE form a wall between the front of the tent

and a closet-sized living room. They sit me on the lone chair while

the others sit on the bales of hay.

When I look up, Felix is gone and my friends are staring at me

with incredulous faces.

Layla places her hand on my bandage. The bite mark throbs under

the pressure of her hand, but I don’t pull away. “You couldn’t leave

it alone, could you?”

“Really, Tristan,” Gwen whispers. “You’ve got enough problems to

deal with.”

“Leave him alone,” Thalia hisses.

As promised by the vendor, I feel much better. I give my arm a

good stretch. Considering I’ve spent all day abusing my body, I’m no

worse than a full day of swim practice. Whoever said high school

prepares you for real life might’ve actually been on to something.

“Here we have it,” Felix shouts merrily, emerging from the front

of the tent with a fancy-looking teapot and tiny cups like the kind my

neighbor Mrs. Horbachevsky brings out when she has my dad fixing her

computer.

“It is my lucky day,” he pops a squat on a large crate and starts

pouring, “when such a brave youth graces my doorstep. You’ve done me a

great kindness. The fox boys have been nicking my stand all summer.

Think they’re getting close to a dragon egg.” He leans in close,

brandishing a secretive smile. “They don’t know where I keep the real

stuff!”

The tea is a burst of cold licorice on my tongue. I decide I like

it.

Gwen sets her teacup down without drinking from it. “You mean to

say our friend got poisoned for nothing?”

“ Gwen ,” I warn.

“Of course not!” The vendor’s cheeks flood red. “In fact, I am

rather moved. Now those boys will know others are watching. Someone

has to do the right thing. Though what the right thing is around these

parts is hard to tell. I apologize for your trouble-?”

“Tristan,” I say, standing. “It’s cool. Really. I feel great.

Thanks for the tea, Mr. Felix.”

“It’s simply Felix.” He shakes my hand. “Now, now. Sit. Please

don’t think I don’t appreciate your kindness. A reward?”

“That’s not necessary. I wasn’t trying to-” Then I realize that

this is exactly what I need. Someone who knows their way around here.

Everyone else seems to shoo us away. I sit back down, confusing my

friends who are between standing and sitting. “But perhaps you could

do something for me.”

Suddenly his eyes squint at me. I’m afraid I’ve said the wrong

thing. Then a daunting smile widens his face. He slaps his knee and

booms with laughter. Something about him reminds me of Coach Bellini,

and that alone makes me like Felix.

“Treasure hunters, are you? Searching for the Infinite Abyss? I

did my share of traveling in my day. That’s how I ended up here.” His

eyes fall on a rigid Kurt, staring in that intent way of his that

makes you want to run for the hills. Felix’s face blooms with

curiosity. “What an interesting sword. May I?”

Surprisingly, Kurt hands it over. Felix turns it in his hands,

bounces the weight on his open palms, even brings his nose right

against the blade and inhales deeply. “Haven’t seen this kind of

craftsmanship in many years. I should’ve realized. Sea folk, are you?”

We all nod, even Layla. I can’t help but think of what a beautiful

mermaid she would make.

“Seems funny,” Felix says, returning Kurt’s sword. “I’d seen one

mermaid in my whole life during my days fishing up in Maine. Now,

you’re everywhere! Drinking merrily about town. Saving my own shop

from thieves. I tell you, crime rate’s been going up since I moved

here twenty years ago. Mayor Alvarez and his wife have been having a

hard time keeping things in order the last few weeks.”