“Hold up,” I say, making a T with my hands. “Just because I’m going to go into Toliss alone doesn’t mean that I’m going to stay that way. I’m going to raise the Sleeping Giants. Then I’ll have my power boost. I’ll signal you guys, while you wait ready for the attack. If we march up to Toliss together, it’ll be ten times harder to get into those tunnels.”
Ewin rubs the tusk on his chin. I wonder if it’s lucky, like a Buddha belly. “Your proposed plan is sound.”
“Still—” Kai starts, but when all eyes turn to her, she stops.
“Still what?”
“It would be useful to see what Nieve and Kurt are up to. The barrier was to block them from seeing you, not the other way around.”
“The two-way mirror,” I say. “I have to be asleep.”
“Then, by all means, Sleeping Beauty,” Marty says.
Ewin rubs his hands together. “I can facilitate this with a single blow.”
I push myself back. “We are not turning me into a punching bag.”
Frederik kneels in front of me. He’s usually looking down so I never see him this close up. His eyes are so black. A thick fringe of lashes bats at me, like someone hit slow motion on his face.
“Tristan,” he says, “now it’s your turn to trust me.”
I’ve never been hypnotized by a vampire. My eyesight is blurred at the edges. I’m inside Toliss Island, in the king’s chamber. Nieve is swimming in her pool again. She takes a silver fish and gnaws the flesh down to the bone. When she’s finished, she throws it onto a rotting pile.
Then my heart beats faster as Gwen walks in with Layla.
I feel like I’m stuck in a glass case where no one can hear me as I shout her name. Layla!
She is free and her hands are untied—after all, where is she going to run?
She stands with her back to the polished white wall, looking back and forth from one of her captors to the other. Then she surveys the room for anything she can use as a weapon.
“Layla, was it?” Nieve says playfully.
Layla stays silent. She balls her hands at her sides. Her knees are scraped and bruised. Her arms have tons of tiny cuts that are fresh and red. Her browns curls are wild, and her amber eyes are defiant.
I wish I could burst out of this dream and save her.
“Let’s try a new game, shall we?” Gwen combs her fingers through Layla’s hair, and Layla tells Gwen to do something incestuous to Nieve.
“Now,” Nieve says, “is that the kind of mouth the heart of the Sea Prince should have?”
“You really want to talk about mouths, Snaggle Tooth?”
Layla, don’t, I think. Please, please don’t. I’m going to come for you. Just hold on.
But there’s no stopping her. Nieve points a finger at Layla and she flies back against the wall. Her head makes a hard cracking noise that coils my insides.
“This isn’t a new game,” Layla murmurs, though she’s probably seeing stars.
Nieve motions for Gwen to pick her up. She does and has to hold on to her for a few minutes before Layla shakes the dizziness.
“I already told you,” Layla says. “I don’t know where Tristan is. You took me, remember? If you’re supposed to be this all-seeing bruja, why don’t you just see him?”
“I lost him for quite a while,” Nieve says calmly. “But it’s okay. My Gwenivere found him, didn’t she?”
Gwen says, “Yes, Mother Queen.”
At that Layla’s head snaps up.
“I see that has gotten your attention,” Nieve says. “Now, you’re going to tell me what Tristan wants with the nautilus maid, or you will know the true meaning of pain.”
“Do you think I’m afraid to feel pain?” Layla asks.
As long as I’ve known her, Layla has been fearless. She stands up to cops, to teachers, even to her dad when he’s being unreasonable. Most of all, she stood up to me, always calling me out when I did something wrong. But this is just stupid.
“I’ve already told you,” Layla shouts. “I haven’t seen him! I’ve been with you!”
“I don’t think she’s being honest,” Nieve says. Something flickers in her eye—a signal.
Gwen holds her hand up and sends a shock right through Layla’s body. I can see Layla tremble with it. She grimaces when it’s over and spits blood at Gwen.
“I always knew Tristan was an idiot to trust you.”
Gwen seems to like that. She runs her hands all over her body and says, “Can you blame him?” She bats her eyelashes and giggles. “He does have the softest lips.”
That’s a lie. I’ve never kissed Gwen.
“But as long as you’ve known him, he has been that way, hasn’t he? Always chasing girl after girl while you wondered why he never looked at you. I mean, really looked at you and said, ‘You are everything I need.’”
Don’t listen to her! I shout, though she can’t hear me.
Layla doesn’t say anything. She stares at Nieve’s cold, white-blue eyes.
“Tell me, dear girl,” Nieve says, changing her tone. “And I’ll make sure he is spared. I’ll make sure you two can be together forever.”
“And how do you guarantee that?” Layla asks.
“I’ll make you into one of us.”
Gwen looks almost as startled as Layla. As me. Is that even possible? It can’t be.
“Really?” Layla looks hopeful for a moment. “You can do that?”
“With the power of the full trident to magnify my own magic, I can do anything.” Nieve lifts herself out of her pool and sits on the ledge, showing off her scales. “It is a wonderful life, being part of the sea. My Gwenivere tells me you are a fantastic swimmer.”
Layla lets herself smile. “I’m okay.”
“Mother—”
Nieve sends Gwen a death glare.
Gwen turns around and faces the wall to compose herself.
“But first, you must tell me what he wants with the nautilus maid.”
Layla comes closer to them. “My head hurts. I’m a little hungry.”
Nieve lifts her chin at Gwen, whose gray eyes are angry little storms.
“How do I know you’re telling the truth?” Layla asks. And I know exactly what she’s doing. She’s stalling. But for what? Oh gods, Layla, what do you think you’re going to do?
“When I was young, I was still learning my powers.” Nieve likes telling stories. She relaxes her pose, taking comfort in knowing that if Layla were to run, she could fry her. “I was married to the rebel Southern King. He liked to test my magic. He’d heard that my father, the true king, could take human form with the blood and ink of the ancient cephalopod. That everyone in our courts was branded with it, with the symbol of the trident. It gave us the ability to shift out of our beautiful tails and into those terrible things you call legs. But not I.”
“It didn’t work on you?” Layla asks.
Nieve leans her face, her red lips curling into a smile. “I didn’t need it. I could do it on my own. It was painful. I hated it. But my husband king loved watching me do it. And so he wanted me to give him the legs my father denied him.”
Layla’s eyes go wide. She leans her face in to the silver witch. “Did he get his legs?”
“Yes. But he died trying.”
Layla stands back, afraid once again. Nieve realizes the mistake she’s made and starts backpedaling. “But with the trident, you won’t feel a thing. After all, dear, you can’t hide your heart’s desire from me.”
Layla frowns.
“Let me show you,” Nieve says. She shudders as a wave of magic passes through her. For the first time since I’ve known her, her silver tail parts into two slender legs. She’s unbalanced and holds out her arms unsteadily to stand. “It only hurts the first time.”
Someone at the entrance gasps. Instead of
Gwen, a servant girl returns. She’s stitched up the same as Archer, from her clavicle to her belly button. Her skin is a soft gray, like a shark. Her hair is pleated into a long braid and she’s got a curved dagger on her hip. The hilt is made of ivory and encrusted with jewels. When she opens her mouth, she’s got the teeth of a piranha.
“Avana,” Nieve says, “where is my daughter?”
“She went to see about the catch for tonight’s meal. Our brothers are taking too long.” She places a metal tray at Layla’s feet. Layla picks it up and starts eating the raw pieces of fish.
Nieve looks concerned. “The Alliance will be patrolling. Tell them to try one of the shores further south.”
Avana nods. “Yes, Mother Queen.”
It happens fast.
The second Avana bends over to bow, Layla slams the tray on Avana’s face. Layla grabs the dagger at the merrow girl’s hip and makes a break for it. Nieve screams a terrible wail, sending shocks in Layla’s direction. But she holds up the metal tray as a shield, blocking most of the hit. She runs across the chamber, and when Nieve tries to chase after her, her unsteady legs buckle beneath her and she falls on her face.
Avana rushes to Nieve’s side but the sea witch screams, “Don’t touch me! Go after her!”
Nieve pushes herself up in time to see Layla jump feet first into one of the pools.
Gwen runs back in. “Mother Queen?” She’s startled at seeing Nieve on the ground with two weak legs. She screams as they form a single silver tail once again. Blood trickles from the sea witch’s scales.
“Bring her back here!” Nieve shrieks. “No one makes a fool of me. I want to feel her heart stop in my hands. I want to—”
Avana runs out of the room, perhaps to get out of the way of Nieve’s wrath. Perhaps to fetch Layla.
“Mother Queen,” Gwen says. “If she went down the pool channels, she’s either drowning or will be eaten by the shark guard.”
Nieve stops, collects herself. She presses her hands on her temples. I wonder if she can hear me screaming Layla’s name because the next word she says is “Layla.”
She shakes it off. “You’re right.”
“I don’t think she knew anything.”
“You told me Tristan would come for her.” The sea witch nods. I’m still in her head and she can’t figure out what it is, like a mosquito she can hear and not see. “Where is he? I’ve lost sight of him.”
“He doesn’t know she’s gone,” Gwen says slowly. “He doesn’t have to.”
“Send someone to make sure the sharks have finished her off.” When Nieve tries to move, her face contorts in pain.
“Are you well enough to move?”
Nieve groans when she bends her knees. She’s not. The shift took a large toll.
“I’ll be fine. What is it?”
“We can’t get a fresh catch ’til the morning. Not with the Alliance patrolling in such numbers.”
“Is that all?”
Gwen shakes her head. “You have visitors in the council chambers.”
The way she says “visitors” strikes a chord. Nieve’s mood cheers up considerably.
“In the morning, you and your brothers will go fishing. We’re so close, my dear. We’re so close to having what was denied us.”
Gwen doesn’t look happy at all. She knew Layla was playing her, but she wouldn’t dare speak out to her mother. Still, she bows.
Nieve dives into her pool and swims down the tunnel that leads to the council chambers. She sniffs the water for a scent of the girl, but the water is clean. When she resurfaces, she’s in another pool and she’s not alone. The light is a flicker of only two sconces, but it is enough to see her visitor’s copper hair, her emerald eyes. They embrace like old friends.
“Lucine,” says the silver mermaid. “Where is—?”
“I’m here,” Kurt says, stepping forth from the shadow of the wall. His violet eyes are glossy and unfocused.
“Good,” Nieve says, sizing him up. Her fingers reach for the trident, but one look at Lucine and she stops. I can feel her thoughts. Handsome, like my brother. With her eyes. If Tristan won’t join me, this will do. “Are you ready to help me rule the seas?”
And Kurt, my friend, my blood, holds his trident up, the prongs igniting with lightning, and says, “I am.”
“Let go of me!”
The fuzziness around my eyes recedes. Hands. Dozens of hands grab me. Around my biceps, my forearms, my chest.
“Tristan,” she says. The voice is familiar but I can’t place it. “Tristan! Settle down!”
And all the while, I scream. I can hear myself screaming at them to release me. I have to find her. I said I would come for her and I didn’t. And now Layla is—No, I won’t say it.
I feel my fist hit flesh, bodies tumbling to the ground. I open the metal gate, letting in wind and rain. People gasp around me, their eyes wide and bewildered because their champion’s gone mad.
And then I’m out the door and running down the streets as fast as I can, ignoring the pouring rain. I run across the boardwalk, hop over the warped railing, and hit sand. Wind whistles and I gasp for air. My thighs and chest burn as I push my way toward the water, my name a distant shout in the background.
And all I see is Layla in my vision, jumping into the tunnels that lead down, down, down into the sea. My blood has turned to ice. My mind is on fire.
I can feel someone fast, faster than me, catching up. He tackles me to the ground. I eat sand. I kick. I punch. But it’s like hitting solid stone.
He holds me down with his cold hands.
“You are not going in that water,” Frederik yells.
“Let go of me.” I try to swing but his iron fists hold my arms down at my sides.
“Weaponless. Blind. You’ll die.”
“She’s out there! ” I scream. I try to punch but he weighs a fucking ton. “I know she’s out there. She has to be.”
He lets go of my wrists but doesn’t get off me because we both know that as soon as he gets up, I’m jumping into that ocean.
Marty and Kai run up beside us. They’re backlit silhouettes against the boardwalk lights.
“Tristan—” Marty tries to say, but he’s panting. “Look—”
“No. You don’t understand what I saw. None of you—”
Frederik looks up and stands and lets me go as a wave crashes over my head. I push myself up on my knees. From here, there is no separating the black sky from the sea.
“Tristan!”
“Leave me alone.” I push the hand away that tries to take my wrist.
Thalia screams and jumps at a creature on the sand. He snorts, shaking his mane. The green scales of his tail wag against the sand. Atticus, Thalia’s sea horse.
Then I hear her…
“Tristan.” Softer now. Breathless.
I turn around.
She’s shivering. Cold.
I fall on my knees.
Part of me is telling me that she isn’t real. I’m making her up. I want this so badly that I’m hallucinating. So I reach out my hands and wrap them around her, my head pressed to her belly.
“I was going to come for you.” I’m dazed, an electric sense of relief filling all the gaps inside me. “I was going to. I’m sorry.”
Layla sinks down too, kissing my wet face with her wet lips. “Didn’t I tell you?”
“What?”
“I don’t need you to save me.”
Her lips are cold and blue. I kiss them and wrap my arms around her to give her my warmth until she stops shaking. “No, but I need you. I always need you.”
My friends and I sit at a round table in one of Frederik’s many rooms. The walls are exposed brick, mostly covered with all sorts of maps. A lot of planning seems to go down here. I trace my finger along the continents. I’ve been so deep
beneath the sea. These maps don’t even cover a fraction of it.
I take in the people that have stuck by my side. Frederik, the High Vampire of New York. Marty, the shapeshifter and all-around keeper of the peace. Brendan, my cousin who came back to help me. Thalia, fierce and full of love. Dylan, who is unafraid. Amada, the Naga girl who has saved my life more than once. Ewin, a warrior who is looking for somewhere to belong, just like the rest of us. Shelly, the oracle of Central Park. And then there’s Layla. There’s always Layla.
Her hair is tied back from her face, and she’s holding a blanket tightly over her shoulders.
When Thalia looks at me, I know what she’s thinking. We’re hours away from the battle that’s been coming for days, and Kurt is out there. I saw him with Lucine and the silver mermaid.
Marty spreads sheets of white paper on the table, like the kind an architect or designer would use. He pulls a bunch of pens from his back pocket and scatters them on the table. I take one and chew on the cap.
“You got your compass and eraser in there too?” Layla asks, drumming her pen on the table.
Marty shakes his head, adjusting his black baseball cap. That thing really needs a wash. “This ain’t our first rodeo, ladybird.”
“Indeed.” Frederik clears his throat.
“Tomorrow, we attack Toliss.” I take the black marker and start sectioning off land masses. “Okay, this is Coney Island, for those of you who need a geography lesson. I’ll say Toliss is south of us by five miles.”
“If I may,” Frederik says, coming up beside me. He takes my marker and fills in the Coney Island landscape: the beach, the boardwalk, his home, the Wreck, the rides. A red star marks the entrance to the nightclub Betwixt. A II for the Second Circle where Lucine made her home while waiting for Kurt.
“Layla, what did you see beneath the island where the tunnels are?”
She holds her arms around her body, staring at the black ink that bleeds when I leave it on the paper. “Two dozen hungry sharks. The ones with the metal harnesses around their jaws. There are chains that keep them right there. Archer said they hadn’t been fed for days. Partly because the king was relocating to the Glass Castle, and partly because Nieve overran the island. Either way, if they smell blood in the water, they’ll attack.”
Vast and Brutal Sea Page 16