Part 19 (2/2)
”My son is rooting for you as champion.”
”How did you find him?” Dad says, staring at the spot on her wrist where the suction cup rises again. His eyes are full of wonder, and I suddenly wish there were more people like my dad out there. ”Is there a mer-tracking device on you we should check for?” He reaches over to me and digs through my hair until I pull away.
”My boyfriend,” she nods toward the kitchen at the cook. ”Timmy got your picture from the papers and put it on our refrigerator. Right next to his Batman and Superman magnets.”
”That's real-neat?” I say, wis.h.i.+ng I could find that part of me that's funny and quick and always ready to make girls laugh. But it's like that half of my brain is asleep, and all I can think about is Layla almost dying because of me. ”Why were you looking for me, Penny?”
”I'm technically not supposed to do this,” she says.
”Because you're landlocked, and the landlocked have no say in who becomes champion,” Kurt says.
I try to kick him under the table, but I miss and hit the metal pole. Anger flashes over Penny's delicate face. ”Yes, I'm landlocked. Which means I'm powerless against the merrows attacking our sh.o.r.es. Killing on land. The longer there is no Sea King, the longer those on these sh.o.r.es will be subject to the creatures who wish there were no Sea King at all. Believe me, just because we pay t.i.thes for protection doesn't mean there aren't those who would rather have no king at all.” She leans closer to Kurt, practically yelling in his face. I don't exactly blame her.
Mom and Kurt start talking over each other, but he lets her go first, always the gentleman. ”What do you mean, the merrows? They're not allowed to grow past their infancy.”
”What's a merrow?”
Penny takes the crumpled newspaper from the table and opens it to the pictures of the attack at our school. ”These are merrows. This is the first time I've seen them, but I've heard stories of those that grow to full size and live in swamps and small lakes. When they came on sh.o.r.e, they had no fear of being caught. They tore through cars. Some got lost in the subway and got run over by trains. Can't say they're very smart, but in numbers they would be a challenge. The alliance isn't happy.”
”Guys, what are they?”
”Wait a minute,” Thalia says, eating the last bit of French toast. ”Merrows are tiny, and they're disfigured. Those creatures were fully grown.”
”Which would mean that those responsible for disposing of the merrows aren't doing what they're supposed to,” Kurt's says gravely.
I smack my hand on the table. ”Hi, champion here. Would someone mind telling me what you're all talking about?”
Penny takes a deep breath. ”Sometimes a mermaid gives birth to a deformed child, not fully human or mer-kin. It has no reason, no sense of speech. There was a time when they tried to acclimate them into families. But they were too wild, and it often ended very bloodily. Before King Karanos-your grandfather-King Erebos decreed that the merrows born at court would be killed instantly. King Karanos thought it was too cruel, so instead he had a prison built for them where they would be left alone.
”What about the ones not born at court?” I find that the question leaves me slowly. Mostly because I already know the answer, but also because I don't want to hear it.
Penny looks down that the table. She picks up the salt shaker and holds it. ”Sometimes the families would not want to travel that far and would simply leave the creature at the edge of a precipice. It is considered a curse to raise a merrow.”
”I see,” Dad says quietly.
No one touches their food anymore.
”So these creatures,” I say, ”these merrows that are supposed to be dead, are now fully grown and attacking people.”
Penny shakes her head. ”Not people. They're after you. Whatever gets in their way is just collateral damage.”
”They've never attacked before?” Dad asks.
”They're not equipped to survive on their own,” Thalia says. ”If they're living to that size, then someone is raising them. I've never seen one before-”
”Nor have I,” Kurt adds.
”The Sea King does not want to be like his father. From what my grandparents told me, King Elanos had the wrath of the eye of a storm. Your father,” Penny turns to my mom, ”wanted to be loved by his people, and now it's going to haunt him.”
”Nieve is raising them,” Kurt says. I can feel his mind turning. He's coming up with a plan. I have no plan. I'm just trying to take this all in. ”I'm sure of it.”
”What else do you know, Penny?” I ask.
”I'm not connected to the underground as such. This was my first t.i.the to the king. I was born on land, but my mother taught me the basic rules to keep my family protected.”
I chew on a piece of bacon, just for the taste of salt in my mouth. ”Why are you doing this? I mean, if you have no connection to the court, why would you even care about the champions.h.i.+p?”
”Because unlike other merpeople, you know what it's truly like to be part of both worlds. You could change things. Change things for real. Like I said, my boy is rooting for you.” She stands and presses her hands on her ap.r.o.n. ”I have to get back to work. Remember, Tristan, it's not just my boy and I rooting for you. You'll find our kind is all behind you, not just in the seas.” With that and a small wave she's gone.
I try to give her the best smile I can. I don't want to disappoint her by letting her know I'm no closer to piecing the trident back together than I am to graduating from high school.
The minute I step into school, I remember being on that field. I remember Kurt pointing his arrow past Ryan's head at the creature. I remember standing there waiting for its poisonous needles to hit me and then feeling Layla jump in the way. The way her body stiffened around me as the poison worked through her body. I shut my eyes against it. I decide nothing like that is ever going to happen again, because I'm going to find Maddy. I'm going to get the pearl, and I'm going to find the oracles.
I try to replay what Penny said at Neptune's Diner, but I collide into someone. Someone who is really p.i.s.sed off.
”What's your problem, man? Can't you see where you're walking?” Angelo shoves me into the locker. It doesn't hurt, but the dagger in my backpack hums. ”What's up, pretty boy? Need me to teach you how to talk?”
I wave Kurt off, because he's ready to jump right in there. We're gathering a crowd, people snapping pictures and running videos with their phones.
”Relax, man.” I put my free hand on his shoulder. This is Angelo-pervy, wa.s.sa-matta-wit-you Angelo. Angelo who was born with a head of hair full of industrial-strength hair gel and a gold Italian chain, who always has your back unless he's the one messing with you. He's the a.s.shole of your friends, but he's your a.s.shole friend.
He grabs my hand and puts me into an I'm-not-kidding headlock.
I can feel it in my spine, the magic that's tattooed in my blood, in the ancient-as-h.e.l.l dagger sheathed on my back. I elbow him and flip his arm around. I push him against the lockers, but not enough that it'll hurt him too badly. Just to show him that I can. ”What's the matter with you, bro?”
His eyes are gla.s.sy. I wonder who else has suffered his wrath, and it's not even first period. I let him go, and he shakes his head as if he's been sleepwalking. ”I don't know, man. I feel, like, jittery, you know?”
I let the tips of our foreheads touch like we're in a huddle before a meet. ”Nothing you could've done.”
”Yeah, but you're my boy. We're a team. My team needed me yesterday when you were getting attacked by some punks.”
”We took care of it,” I say. I don't know if I'm saying this for his comfort or for mine. It's even worse because beneath his trademark dude-scented body spray is the smell of his guilt, like wet dirt being turned in a grave.
”All right, you vultures. Get out of here!” Layla's voice breaks up the crowd. She doesn't always wear makeup, but she's wearing it now. It looks pretty on her, but I can tell that she's trying to cover up the puffiness from crying too long.
”Thanks,” I say. I feel stupid standing and waiting for her to say something else. To tell me it's good to see me. Maybe this was what it felt like when she thought I was gone. Like I'm freaking thirsty and no amount of water will fix it. Only her. Only Layla can fix me.
She shuts her eyes and s.h.i.+fts the weight of her bag. ”I don't know about you losers, but I'm grounded till I'm married and popping out babies. In that order.”
”I'm free third period.” Angelo raises his hand. Normally, Layla would punch him in the gut, but today she's going to let it slide. The bell rings, and everyone scatters except for us.
”Are you okay?” I ask, taking one step toward her.
She nods once but doesn't look at me. ”Maddy's in the fourth-floor bathroom with her friends. She invited me to hang. I just don't like smelling like smoke.”
”You need to go get her,” Thalia tells me. She links arms with Layla and gives me a rea.s.suring smile. I want to stay with Layla, but I want to go get the pearl. I leave them at the entrance of homeroom and keep walking straight ahead to the next stairwell. I look back once to see if Layla is looking too, and she isn't. She's pulling farther and farther away, and I don't know how to get her back.
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