Fathom Read online

  “It’s another way to communicate, but most of the time we also have a kind of telepathy. It’s very limited,” he said when he saw the look of amazement on my face, “mostly it’s used in close conversation if we can’t get our point across with the songs, or if we can’t rush off to the nearest air pocket. If I were to try to read someone’s mind from across the room, it would be hard to understand. It’s difficult to explain.”

  “Can you read human thoughts?” Sam asked.

  “No. But I’ve heard that humans can hear us, if we concentrate hard enough.”

  Both Sam and I sighed in awe.

  “Here, Liv, take a picture of us.” She handed me her camera and leaned closer to Seidon. He looked at the camera like a deer in headlights. I burst into laughter.

  “You’re supposed to smile, Seidon,” I said.

  “Really? I didn’t smile in the other pictures.”

  I looked at Sam. Other pictures?

  “That’s because they’re supposed to be candid,” she said quickly. “Just regular life, not posed or anything. Now smile.” She grinned at the camera. He shrugged, wrapped one arm around her, and smiled. I took some pictures, then handed the camera back to Sam.

  “So,” she began, “what if one of your kind wanted to stay here?” She clicked through the pictures on her camera, trying—and failing—to sound casual. I rolled my eyes and leaned back on my elbows. Seidon took another drink of water.

  “We’d have to stay out of the ocean for several months,” said Seidon. “It’s not easy, but it’s been done. After the first month or so, our gills seal up and our blood starts turning red. The full transition takes several months. We know it’s complete after our telepathy is gone.”

  “Wait, Calder must have thought that’s what happened to me. He still thought I was a mermaid even after seeing my red blood. What color is yours?”

  “Blue. See?” He showed us his fingernails. I watched as Sam held his fingers and examined his purplish nail beds.

  “Wouldn’t that make your skin blue?” she asked, not letting go of his hand. I stifled a snort. Could this flirting get any more obvious?

  He laughed. “Do I look blue to you?”

  “No.”

  “Look,” said Seidon, pointing to her hand, “you’ve got some blue blood too. Look at your veins.”

  “No, human blood is always red,” I said, not caring if I sounded like a know-it-all. “The veins just look blue. It has to do with certain wavelengths and the way the eye catches light and…” I stopped as Sam feigned nodding off. I laughed.

  “Is your blood always blue?” I asked Seidon. “It doesn’t react to oxygen or anything?”

  “No, it’s always blue. I’d prove it, but I’d rather not, if it’s all the same to you.”

  “No, I believe you.” I smiled, trying to think of something else to ask him while we were on the subject, but Sam spoke.

  “After your seven days are up, you’re going home?”

  “I have to,” he said, a gentle hum lowering his voice. “I was only supposed to come for this one week. I’m…needed at home.” He spoke with humility, as though he were the “Prince of Whales” by obligation instead of by right.

  “Not very many of your people stay on land, do they?” she asked.

  He shook his head. “No. After the full transformation is complete, it’s really difficult to get back, if not impossible. If we stay, we’d have to have a very good reason to live on land for the rest of our lives…or at least for several years.”

  Sam gazed back at him with an endearing pout. The “three’s a crowd” discomfort hit me so hard, I had to look away.

  “So—I cleared my throat—“did anyone say what we’re supposed to do now? We got your vessel back and we got the file. What happens next?”

  “I’m not sure,” said Seidon, breaking his eyes away from Samantha’s. “Cordelia said we would discuss it over breakfast. She and Calder should be back soon.”

  Sam and I went upstairs to change out of our pajamas before breakfast, where I confronted her about her and Seidon’s behavior.

  “We’re just friends, Liv,” she said without looking at me.

  “You do realize he’s not human, right?”

  She sighed in annoyance. “Yes, I know. Geez, Cordelia gave me the same spiel this morning.”

  “She did?” I asked in surprise. “When?”

  “Just before she and Calder went to the store. I got up before you and went downstairs to hang out with Seidon, but he wasn’t down yet, so I asked Cordelia about him.”

  “What did she say?”

  “Basically that Seidon has duties and I was wasting my time.”

  “And she’s right.”

  Samantha made a huff of frustration and scowled at the ceiling. “All I did was ask if he was awake. Seriously, everyone’s freaking out over nothing. I’ve known him for three days. We’re just friends.”

  “Okay, okay. I’m sorry.” I held up my hands in surrender. “You’re just a really friendly and outgoing girl. Maybe everyone else is mistaking it for something else.”

  “He’s really cool, Liv. And funny and interesting and nice. I’m just having fun being his friend and finding out what his world is like. Is that a crime?”

  “No,” I said. “I just don’t want to see you get hurt when he has to leave.”

  Samantha sighed. At first, I thought she’d agree with me, but...

  “You don’t have to worry about me,” she said in a small voice. “And maybe he won’t leave. Maybe he’ll be able to stay longer.”

  “No, you can’t think like that. I used to think like that—that a guy would change for me if I wanted him to—and look where it got me.”

  “Seidon is not Landon,” Sam said with a severe frown. “Stop comparing him to every guy we meet.”

  “I wasn’t!”

  “Yes, you were. It’s the same with Calder. You’re scared to death that someone is going to hurt you the way Landon did, and it’s made you turn every boy into a scumbag. Remember my dad? The one who left my mom because he couldn’t hack it as a father? It sucks. I get it. But it doesn’t mean everyone I meet will one day leave me.”

  I gaped at her. Was I really doing that? Treating everyone like they could one day betray me? My heart cracked. But Sam wasn’t finished.

  “I like Seidon, okay?” she said. “I like him a lot and I’ll be totally bummed when he leaves, so for right now I just want to enjoy being his friend until he does. So could you get off my back about it, or are you going to go all Cordelia on me?”

  Wow. I narrowed my eyes, grabbed a rubber band out of my suitcase to pull my hair back, stuffed my feet into my sandals, and stormed out of the room.

  So, it was okay for Samantha to force me into flirting, but when I told her she should probably tone it down a notch, I was labeling every male a scumbag and going Cordelia on her? I sulked as I went down the hallway, roughly grabbing and pulling at my hair to bind it into a ponytail and hurried down the stairs where everyone was eating sausages and biscuits.

  “You okay, Olivia?” asked Natasha when I came into the kitchen. “You look bothered.”

  “I’m fine,” I said, grabbing a biscuit and going to slump on the couch. I noticed Seidon watching me. He came to sit next to me as everyone else turned back to their conversation and breakfast. That’s right, Olivia was pissed. What else was new?

  “I couldn’t help but overhear,” he said in a quiet voice. I widened my eyes and felt the color drain from my face as I thought back on my argument with Sam. I completely forgot about the merpeople’s sharp hearing.

  “I didn’t mean,” I began, “I didn’t say you were…I do think you’re cool and all, but—”

  “No, you don’t have to explain anything.” He glanced upstairs. “And you were right. I don’t belong here, though I do enjoy being Samantha’s friend. She’s about as human as you can possibly get.”

  I shook my head in surprise. “Why are you so nice?”

&n
bsp; He shrugged. “Humans fascinate me. It embarrasses my family when I say that, but really, I don’t see a reason to treat you like enemies. I think you’re ‘cool’ too.” He grinned to himself, then did a quick look over his shoulder. “And by the way? Calder was staring at you.”

  His smile grew as he got up and walked back to the kitchen to get more food. I glanced toward Calder, who leaned his back against the wall, his attention on his food. If he had been staring at me, it was probably only because he was throwing me his usual glower.

  Still, as I forced my eyes back to my breakfast, my heart involuntarily stuttered.

  “Now then,” said Cordelia once everyone—including a moping Sam—gathered in the family room, “we have what we need, and I believe the threat on our people is over.”

  “What makes you certain?” asked Eamon. I kept glancing at Calder to see if he would look my way again, but he didn’t.

  “Though information has been leaked, it is unlikely that Linnaeus will understand the meaning of what he saw in the vessel,” Cordelia continued. “And since it is now in our possession, our people can store physical evidence of it being in his hands. He’s marked.”

  “What do you mean, marked?” I asked. “I handled the vessel too. Am I marked?”

  “No, no,” said Seidon quickly. “Only our enemies are marked.”

  “Vessels have their own security measures,” said Cordelia. “Marinus wasn’t aware of it because that information is classified. Vessels are able to store the fingerprint of every person who has handled them. Those who have touched the vessel without authorization will have their name and description listed in our records. If they come too close to us, all merpeople have license to capture and kill if necessary.”

  “But I’m studying to be a marine biologist.”

  “You won’t be listed on that record, Olivia,” said Seidon, seeing my worry. “But don’t come too close to our city, just in case.” He winked.

  Cordelia sighed with impatience. “You can still become a marine biologist and remain unharmed. Unless you double cross us.”

  “Not a chance,” I replied. I glanced once at Calder. He looked away.

  “Very well, then. Since Linnaeus has been unsuccessful in obtaining a mermaid for his habitat, it’s likely he’ll just have to cancel his little party and have done with it.”

  “Is there anything else we can do for you, Captain?” Walter asked. “I’m happy to take you and Prince Seidon to open water in the boat if it would make the journey easier.”

  “Thank you, Mr. Andrus, but that won’t be necessary. We would, however, appreciate an escort to the end of the pier. The prince and I can make our way home from there.”

  “Does that mean Sam and I can go home?” I asked, feeling a rising hope I’d be back at Aunt Shannon’s sooner than I thought. I needed to get back to work on my neglected scholarship project pronto.

  “Yes, it does,” Eamon said. “But you can’t stay in San Diego. You’ll have to return to your home in Arizona.”

  My face fell, along with my hopes. I looked at Sam, but she made a study of her fingernails. “But…” I trailed off.

  “I’m sorry, Olivia,” Eamon continued. “With Linnaeus out there, it really isn’t safe here for you two once the rest of us have moved on. We’ll be leaving California as soon as Captain Cordelia and Prince Seidon have gone home.”

  “Will it make any difference where I am? Because Linnaeus might just follow me.”

  “We’ll monitor his movements. He won’t bother to pursue people who aren’t a threat to him.”

  “It will be all right,” said Uther. “This isn’t the first time we have done this.” He leaned a little closer. “All the same, I’d knock on wood.”

  Defeated, I sighed. A whole summer of ocean study wasted. And what would Aunt Shannon say when I told her we had to go home two months early?

  “You’re invited to stay as long as we’re here,” said Eamon. I nodded and snuck one more glance at Calder. Strange how my blood could freeze and my face flush all in the half second his eyes were on me.

  Later that morning, Eamon, Uther, and Walter went to Oceana to retrieve the hidden cameras they had installed for my and Calder’s mission. Cordelia sat on the couch looking bored and dangerous as she toyed with one of her knives. Samantha was, once again, out on the back steps with Seidon.

  I wanted to feel useful, so I volunteered to wash up the breakfast dishes. Cordelia kept casting dark grimaces at the back door.

  “I tried to talk her out of it,” I said to her. She pursed her lips.

  “All will be set to right soon. His conduct will be reported.”

  I gave a silent snort.

  The front door opened, and Natasha walked in with some large sacks of clean laundry.

  “Olivia, could you give me hand?” she asked. I put down the washrag and walked over to help her with her burdens. She sighed.

  “Tell the guys to do their own laundry,” I said while we dumped blankets, clean towels, and socks out of the bags.

  “It’s just a few things. I really don’t mind separating it. They can fold it themselves.”

  “Who’s making you wash their socks?” I asked as I held one up in disbelief.

  “It’s the only thing I agreed to wash for them,” she said with a grin.

  “At least they don’t make you wash their underwear.”

  “Ha! Only because I threatened to cut out the crotches if they tried.”

  I laughed. Cordelia stared at us with a combination of wonder and disgust.

  When we finished separating the laundry and folding the blankets and towels, Natasha asked me to take the socks and a couple towels upstairs while she packed away the rest. I piled everything in my arms and headed toward the stairs.

  “Which ones go to which room?” I asked her over my shoulder as I went up.

  “Just leave them in a pile up there, they’ll sort them,” she said. I smiled and turned to step onto the landing but collided with Calder. The socks flew in every direction and the towels tumbled out of their folded stack.

  “Oh my gosh, I’m sorry,” I said, bending quickly to pick up the mess, scared of what his retort was going to be this time. I picked up the socks on the stairs, then turned and faced him on his hands and knees, gathering the rest of them. I paused out of surprise for a second, then reached for the towels.

  I left my stack outside the bathroom door. He finished folding the last one and placed it on top.

  “Thanks,” I said. He nodded once. For a second, we stood there like a couple of idiots. He looked like he wanted to say something. Or maybe I just wanted him to. But he stepped around me and went downstairs without a word. No hint of hatred in his face, no trace of his usual annoyance. Definitely an improvement. Bewildered, but glad, I went back down the stairs to finish the dishes. I didn’t get to though—Calder beat me to the sink.

  “You wash, I’ll dry,” I said, picking up a drying rag. I glanced at him. He glanced at me. There. That was definitely a half-smile.

  Nothing in this world makes a person feel more at home than waking to the smell of bacon and eggs. Happy to roll out of bed, I got up and went down the stairs.

  “Morning, Liv,” said Sam from where she sat next to Seidon on the floor with a paper plate of breakfast. I smiled as everyone else greeted me.

  “Hope you like scrambled,” said Eamon as he held out a plate for me.

  “Scrambled is perfect. Thank you.”

  “There’s bacon in the skillet.” He pointed behind him, where Calder stood at the stove, putting bacon on his own plate. A bit of his hair stuck up on the back from sleeping. I padded barefoot into the kitchen and waited for him to finish with the bacon tongs. He handed them to me with another sort of smile.

  I went to sit by Samantha and Seidon to eat.

  “Oh,” said Eamon with aggravation. He was bent over the ice chest. “We’re out of coffee creamer. Cal, you don’t mind going back to the market, do you?”

  “
Not at all. Anything else you need?”

  “Don’t think so.” He straightened up and looked around. His eyes rested on me a second. “Oh, yes, actually. We need to gather the mail at Shannon Gibbs’ house. You don’t mind the drive, do you?”

  “Olivia, didn’t you need something at your aunt’s house?” said Samantha. I stared at her with confusion and shook my head.

  “No.”

  “Yeah, you do, you told me yesterday. Was it your phone charger? I can’t remember.”

  Well, since my phone had been submerged in sea water for the past few weeks, and I hadn’t had a chance to buy a new one, I had never said anything of the sort. I felt my anger return. I glanced at Calder to see his reaction. His face remained impassive as he ate his breakfast.

  “No, I don’t have a—”

  “That’s right, it was that fancy shampoo you needed! You left it at your aunt’s house. That was it. Oh, come on, you said it yourself! Remember, Seidon?”

  “Yeah. Why don’t you go with him, Olivia?” said Seidon. “You were stuck in this house all day yesterday, you look like you need to get out.” I stared at him with my face warming. He gave Samantha a surreptitious wink. She pressed her lips together, trying hard not to grin.

  “Uh no, I’m okay…” I started to say.

  “You don’t mind, do you Calder?” Seidon continued.

  “Uh…” He looked between me and Seidon awkwardly.

  “Course he doesn’t mind,” said Samantha. I opened my mouth, then closed it again. Sam nudged me.

  “All right,” I murmured. Anything to get her and Seidon to shut up. Calder shrugged.

  I finished my breakfast without looking at anyone, then hurried upstairs to change out of my pajamas. And okay, I admit it—I did put some makeup on.

  “Bye, Liv,” said Sam in a soft, suggestive voice as I passed her on the stairs. I glared at her in warning. Calder walked out the front door with the car keys in his hand but left it open for me to follow.

  “Be careful,” said Uther before I walked outside. “Last time we sent someone there, Linnaeus had people watching the house. In fact, Olivia, you should probably just stay behi—”