Blood of a Mermaid (3 page)

He just shrugged. Hailey knew about his mother being mermaid royalty and all, but why would she think he’d take offense at her sarcastic use of the word
royal
? He certainly didn’t feel any different than he had before he’d found out that his grandfather was King of the Atlantic. “No big deal. I agree that your brother’s pretty much a jerk, especially to girls,” he said, thinking of the few times Chip had tried to hit on Kae.

Martha glared at Shea as she placed juice glasses on the table. Taking a whisk from the utensil drawer, she began to beat the eggs already in the bowl. “Have you heard whether the police called off the search for Gregor Guenther? Or is he still on their missing persons list?”

Shea pictured their old neighbor Mr. Guenther in his mind. Who would have guessed the “retired bus driver” was actually an Adluo soldier sent to spy on Shea’s family?

“My father is pretty worried about that whole deal,” Hailey admitted. “He says one of the reasons we left New York City was to get away from strange happenings and weird people, and having neighbors disappear into thin air counts as both in his mind.”

“It’s so silly,” Shea said, scrunching his eyebrows and gesturing at his grandmother. “Why can’t someone just tell the police he’s safe and they should stop looking?”

Martha shook her head. “Unfortunately, it isn’t quite so simple, once they’ve opened an investigation. Trust me, I’ve been through this before.”

He opened his mouth to ask her when she’d been through it, and with whom, but something on her face stopped him. Suddenly she looked very old to him, which made him wonder.
What other secrets is she still keeping from me?

“Anyway,” said Hailey, excitement coloring her voice as she focused her eyes on Shea. “I have some cool news!”

“Water Whizz?” Shea knew she’d been trying to talk her mother into taking them to the water park off-Cape, on the other side of the Bourne Bridge. Now that he knew how to swim, and could even breathe underwater, Shea wanted to take full advantage of his new talents. Mrs. Thompson had offered to take them the week before, but between Shea’s friend John Hansen visiting from Oklahoma and Shea’s mom leaving for the Southern Ocean, Shea hadn’t had time to go along.

Instantly, Hailey’s smile disappeared as her forehead crinkled with concern. “Oh gosh, Shea, I’d forgotten all about that.”

He tried to hide his disappointment. “No big deal. Tell me your news.”

She smiled again. “Mom got this fab new decorating job, for this gazillionaire she knows from her New York days! You’ve heard of Monica Andreaopolous, right?” Shea shook his head no. “Well, the woman recently bought a new home – a total mansion, really – and hired Mom for all the interior design work!”

Shea didn’t smile. “How’s she going to manage that from Cape Cod?”

“Oh, she so can’t,” Hailey agreed. “She has to be on site, like 24/7. And she’s going to take Chip and I along with her! Isn’t that cool?”

“So you’re going back to New York City?” Shea still wasn’t smiling. In fact, he felt his world crumbling all around the edges. Everyone was leaving him. His dad was…gone. Then his mom had left the Cape earlier than planned, and Kae had to follow her to the new castle. His friend John had only been able to visit for a long weekend, and then had to fly back to Oklahoma for baseball camp. Now Hailey was abandoning him. He was going to be all alone again. His gut twisted into knots at the thought.

“Not New York.” Hailey seemed oblivious to Shea’s misery. “Andreaopolous is the Greek shipping heiress, you know, the one on the cover of
Vogue
magazine last month? Her family owns, like, most of Santorini for goodness sake!”

Shea shook his head, still not understanding. “Why would I read
Vogue
?”

“I’m trying to tell you we’re headed to the Greek islands for the rest of the summer! Can you believe it?” She grinned as Martha placed full breakfast plates of steaming eggs and bacon on the table. “Thanks, Mrs. MacNamara! This smells great.”

“Congratulations on your good news, young lady.” Martha smiled at her, and looked over at her grandson. Shea sat there staring at his plate like he wasn’t sure what to do with the food. “Shea? Aren’t you going to eat?”

He picked up his fork, and pushed at the scrambled eggs until Martha turned back to wipe down the stovetop. He watched silently as she quickly put the kitchen to rights and headed down the basement stairs to do her morning load of laundry. As soon as she was out of earshot, he put the fork down, folding his arms over his chest and staring at Hailey, who was happily crunching a slice of bacon. “When are you leaving me?”

She looked up at him, her eyebrows shooting up. She put her own fork down, swallowing the food in her mouth. “I’m not sure,” she said quietly, reaching for the orange juice in front of her. “ I think Mom’s trying to arrange flights for next week.” She paused to take a drink before adding, “I’ve always wanted to go to Greece, though. Ever since we studied mythology in school, back in New York.”

He relented a little. “I’m happy for you, really, it’s just going to be a lonely summer here without you.”

“You’ve still got Kae, right?” Hailey’s eyes were locked on her juice glass as she lowered her voice. “You guys would be swimming off without me anyway, kissing and playing mermaid games and whatever.”

He bristled at the jealousy he heard in her voice. “Hailey, what I have with Kae, what she and I share is…different, that’s true. But you’re still my friend.”

She blew out a long breath before picking up her fork and stabbing at her scrambled eggs. “Friends. Right.”

“Besides, she has to leave on a journey too.”

Hailey’s laughter sounded bitter. “So, what? She’s allowed to leave and I’m not? Some friend you are. You should be happy for me!”

Shea inhaled deeply, trying to tamp down on his frustration. “I
am
happy for you. And why can’t I be friends with both of you?”

Hailey sighed, her scowl dissolving. “I’m sorry I’m being a jerk about it. I just feel a little…left out when she’s around. You know?”

The doorbell rang, interrupting the conversation. Martha’s voice wafted up from the basement. “Shea? Can you get that?”

Shea stood, still looking at Hailey. “You’re both my friends,” he said simply as he left the kitchen to answer the door.

The mermaid in question stood on the front steps.

“Kae!” Shea cried, throwing his arms around her small waist and pulling her into a close hug. He buried his face in her mop of unruly blond curls, letting her fresh scent of sunshine and saltwater fill his senses. Boy, was he going to miss that smell. “I thought we were meeting on the beach this morning.”

“I got held up by the…oophff! Shea, stop squeezing me so hard! I can’t breathe!” Kae smiled as Shea relaxed his grip and took half a step back. She was wearing what looked like board shorts and her usual woven halter-top. Her transmutare medallion dangled from her neck openly, looking like the beach rock necklaces that seemed so popular in the Cape Cod gift shops.

“I got something for you.” He dug into his pocket and pulled out a small box, carefully wrapped in shiny blue paper with raffia string. “I saw it in Hyannis the other day when I was walking on Main Street with John and Hailey. I thought of you.”

Kae stared at the package in Shea’s hand, but didn’t reach for the gift. “Oh, it’s pretty. And so shiny blue! Like the ocean’s surface on a sunny day. But Shea, I don’t think paper will last very long underwater.”

Shea’s face cracked into a wide grin. “That’s just the wrapping, silly.” He placed the box in her hand. “You need to look inside for the gift.”

“I’ve never heard of wrapping paper,” Kae turned the box slowly around in her hands, the shine of the paper reflecting the light. “It’s so pretty.”

“You’re supposed to rip it off,” Shea explained, shaking his head. Sometimes he forgot that they came from such different worlds. He showed her how to slide the bow off, and then tore the edge of the paper to get her started.

It was a small package, and the paper came off fairly quickly once she started to rip it. She stared at the white box. “Oh, it’s lovely. But Shea, cardboard is not much better than paper…”

He interrupted. “The box isn’t the present.”

She looked up at him, cocking her head to the side. “Then why did you give it to me? Why give me shiny paper to rip and a box that isn’t a present? I don’t understand.”

He shifted his weight uncomfortably, feeling slightly foolish. “I don’t know. It’s how we give gifts.” He smiled again. “Just open the box already.”

Inside was a cuff bracelet of hammered silver, made of five thin distinct strands that rippled across like waves, looking like the undulating surface of the ocean. Kae stared, not saying anything.

“I saw it and thought of you, leaving on your journey,” Shea stammered, unsure how to gauge her reaction. “You know, the five lines of silver flowing like water, like the five oceans…” His voice trailed off. “You don’t like it?”

“It’s beautiful,” she whispered, her eyes looking watery.

“It’s just a bracelet.” He reached over to take it out of the box. “Let’s see if it fits okay.” He slipped the cuff over her wrist and gently squeezed so that it closed snugly against her skin. He trailed his fingers up to her elbow and leaned his forehead against hers. “It’s so you don’t forget me while we’re apart.”

“Oh, Shea…” Her voice was still a mere whisper. “I won’t forget you.”

He suddenly straightened. “Speaking of forgetting! Hailey’s in the kitchen, and she was just telling me her family’s leaving Cape Cod on a trip, too. What am I going to do with myself with both of you gone? The whole rest of the summer is going to suck so hard. I’ll be bored out of my mind!”

Kae was still staring at her new bracelet. She finally looked up and frowned. “How long is she staying? You and I need to talk.”

He cocked his head to one side, a slight flurry of panic twirling in his belly.
Talk? What do we need to talk about?
He tamped down on the uncertainty and refocused. “We have no secrets from Hailey. Remember? She already knows everything.” He reached out to take her hand. “Come on, she’s waiting in the kitchen.”

“She doesn’t know everything,” Kae muttered, shaking her head, but followed him down the hall to the kitchen.

Hailey was sitting on the floor, scratching the top of Lucky’s head. She looked up as the mermaid entered the room. “Kae! It’s so good to see you.” Her words were welcoming but her smile looked less than genuine.

“Hailey. Why am I not surprised to find you here?” Kae’s smile matched Hailey’s in its insincerity.

Shea felt the tension level in the room start to rise, and put a hand on Kae’s arm to try to bring it down a notch. “Maybe because I told you she was here?”

“She’s always here,” Kae countered, her emerald eyes blazing. “And you spent far too much time with her last week when your friend John was visiting.”

Shea frowned. “How do you know? You said you were too busy getting ready for the move to hang out with us.”

Kae tossed her blonde curls over her shoulder. “I have my ways.”

Hailey stood up and put her hands on her hips. “Well then, lucky thing for you that I’m leaving for the rest of the summer. Wouldn’t want to cause any rift between the lovebirds. Or is it love-
fish
?”

Shea threw up his hands in disgust. “Hailey, you’re being impossible. I told you before, we’re all friends.” He looked from one girl to the other, noting that both of them were scowling. “Please?” he added, hating the whining note that had entered his voice.

At that moment, Martha came up the stairs from the basement and emerged into the kitchen, arms loaded with damp towels to be hung on the clothesline. She glanced from one frowning face to the other, before focusing on the mermaid. “Kae, dear, it’s so good to see you again. Your mother tells me you’re headed to University this fall.”

“University?” Hailey asked, the anger in her voice replaced by curiosity. “But aren’t you only 15?”

“It’s when we start,” Kae explained.

“We?” Hailey’s head whipped in Shea’s direction, her eyes narrowing into thin slits. “And you’re upset with me for leaving for the summer? When were you going to tell me that you’re headed off to some mermaid school in September?”

“That’s different,” Shea started.

“Different, huh? So when I was busy babbling on to your friend John about starting at Monomoy High School together in the fall, you knew the whole time you wouldn’t be going there. Why didn’t you tell me?”

Shea looked down at his feet. “It’s complicated.”

His grandmother spoke up. “Nothing is certain until it is certain.” The three teens stared at her. “Except laundry. If you children will excuse me. Shea, could you get the door?”

He held the screen door to the yard open for her. When he turned back, he saw Hailey stomping out of the kitchen and down the hall, heading for the front door. “Hailey, wait!”

Kae shook her blonde curls, moving toward him and putting a gentle hand on his elbow. “Let her go. We still need to talk.”

He turned back to stare at her, noting the serious look in her eyes and feeling his stomach clench into a ball. She’d used the one phrase a boy never wants to hear from his girl, as it never seems to lead to anything good in books or movies. Or real life, for that matter. His mind spun through the possibilities of subject matter, deciding it was probably her parents raising objections again.

Maybe they should’ve tried dating in secret? He felt it important to be up front with them, especially since he knew Kae’s father was the merman assigned to keep watch over Shea for the summer, to keep him safe from Demyan. Shea didn’t think the Adluo would be crazy enough to return to the scene of his defeat, but King Koios was taking no chances. There would be no “secret” dating – or secret anything – for the heir to the Atlantic throne.

It was as if Kae could read his mind, and see the swirl of emotions wreaking havoc in his head. She smiled, her eyes glittering. “It’s not
that
kind of talk, Shea. My feelings for you are still true.” She leaned in and planted a soft kiss on his cheek. “And you have good taste in jewelry, even if you have awful taste in drylander friends.”