“I just threw the coins in my pocket and wrote Comit off as another

Coney Island crazy.”

“You guys.” Layla holds her hands out. “It could be coincidence.

Maybe this place just has a mermaid as its mascot.”

Frederik speeds out of the room and then returns with the same

coin. It has the number II stamp, but when he flips it over, the

picture is not of a mermaid but a sliver of the moon. “This is what

the coin normally looks like. Those are a message for you.”

I snatch the other coin from the table and say, “We have to go to

her before Adaro figures it out.”

I suit up in my sternum harness.

“What about tonight?” Thalia says. “What about when the merrows

come?”

“Sunset isn’t for a few hours,” Frederik reminds her. “This gives

us time to prepare the shore while Tristan finds his oracle. We should

reconvene at the aquarium. It is our emergency stronghold.”

And then Kurt and I are back out in the gray summer storm. The

wind is forceful, like hands pushing us, until we break into a run.

The door Comit showed me is simple and black with a II above it.

The psychic stand is lit neon pink and purple beside it, red velvet

curtains drawn to reveal the session going on. The psychic is my

English teacher, Ms. Pippen, and she’s holding an eager young woman’s

hand. When she sees me, she gives me the dirtiest stare, meant to make

me feel guilty for nearly kidnapping her last week.

The door isn’t locked and Kurt is the first one to push it open.

The entrance is pitch-black. I’ve closed my eyes to adjust to this new

lighting when a hand emerges from the dark and braces against my

chest. Two torches light either side of the entrance. The man steps

forward, dressed in a black suit and black tie. His hair is buzzed

close to his scalp with a design etched on either side of his head.

“Comit sent us,” I say.

He holds his hand out. “Entrance.”

We each give him a coin. He motions to the wall in front of us. It

opens in half to reveal a winding stairwell.

Beside me, Kurt has a possessed glimmer in his eyes. He takes the

steps two at a time, which is something he just wouldn’t do. He’s

usually all calm and collected in the face of danger. Who knows what

this oracle will ask for? Another promise? Maybe this one will ask for

a body part or a year’s subscription to Vogue .

“Slow down, Kurt. We don’t know what this actually leads to.” I

know something is wrong when I’m the voice of reason.

The stairwell coils around a dozen more times. When we hit the

last step, Comit is waiting for us. “Hope you aren’t too dizzy. It’s a

long way down.”

“No worse than tumbling away from a sea dragon,” I say.

Comit introduces himself to Kurt. They lock eyes, and instead of

shaking hands, they dip in tiny bows. Comit’s getup makes me feel

underdressed. His suit is pin-striped black and blue with a neat

golden handkerchief in his pocket. His bow tie is also gold, which

matches the chain trailing into his pocket where he pulls out a watch.

His fingernails are incredibly neat and painted black, gripping the

head of his walking stick.

“I thought you’d have found your way sooner.” He sharpens his

mustache into a finer point.

I stuff my hands in my pockets. “Took me a little while to figure

it out. It was Kurt who noticed the mermaid on the other side of the

coin.”

“Must always look both ways.” Comit seems pleased with himself,

tapping his cane on the floor with a happy click . “Ah, Madame

Mercury, these are the gentlemen we were expecting.”

At the top of the double grand stairs is a lady dressed from

another decade. She’s saying good-bye to a man and a girl in a long

white gown. When the girl in white walks away, I notice the wings at

rest. As that couple walks slowly up the steps, another man comes

down. He’s also wearing a suit. His hair is disheveled and there are

fresh bites on either side of his neck. He nods only at Madame Mercury

and disappears the way we came in.

Madame Mercury turns to us. I think of Frederik saying, “Madame

Mercury’s not so bad,” and I can see what he means. Her corset is

crimson satin, pulled so tight at the center I could circle her waist

with my hands. Her skin is pale, except for the scarlet blush of her

cheeks. Her skirt is a long black trail that looks like rippling

water. Her movement is delicate, from the way she traces the air

around my face to the way she turns her black eyes and bats extremely

long eyelashes at Kurt.

“What is this place?” I ask.

“This is the Second Circle.” Madame Mercury looks at me from head

to toe. “A place where the heart’s deepest desires can come true.”

“Uh-huh. So who are you?”

She circles me, the diamond baubles on her ears dangling in her

scarlet hair. “Surely you’ve already guessed what I am. As to who I

am, Comit has already introduced us. Then there’s what I do, which is

collect, as Comit collects his creatures.”

“I don’t get it.”

“Follow me. I will show you.”

She turns gracefully on the polished dark wood floors and walks

down the hall to massive double doors carved intricately, patiently

until every detail was perfect. Even the brass handles are twisted and

etched just so. I wonder how much people pay to be down here. It’s not

just dripping with golden frames, lavish drapes, and tapestries that

would put the Metropolitan Museum of Art to shame. It’s the secrecy

that comes with being somewhere like this.

“Here we are.” Madame Mercury presses her hand on the door. From

inside, the locks turn, undoing themselves. She gives the door a

little push but doesn’t go in. “ Shout …if you need me.”

Surely, I hope there will be no shouting.

I’m the first one in. Nothing has prepared me for this. Not the

creatures of Toliss, not the oracles I’ve already found. The tiles are

wet. I notice too late and fall on my ass.

A little chuckle echoes against the high ceiling.

Like the rest of this place, the mosaic is artfully done. I follow

the patterns down along the walls to the center of the room where she

rests in a great pool. It’s her. Copper hair, milky white skin, and

eyes like warm green water. Her mouth is a dream, moist and red.

There’s nothing girlish about her. Not the arc of her eyebrow when she

looks at me, or the pleased smirk when she finds Kurt, who is walking

toward her. He takes baby steps. After we hauled ass to get here.

One. Two.

He sighs. Reaches out.

Three.

She swims to the edge of her pool. I wonder how she can float like

that. Her tails are magnificent, green like pine.

Four. Five. Six.

He falls to his knees, all the while staring at her face. For a

moment, she looks sad, holding his face with her slender wet hands.

The breath between them makes the room shudder until it’s too much to

bear.

They kiss.

I try to look at the opulent black tile of the room, the plush

bench set off to the side, surely for decoration only. I don’t see the

two-tailed mermaid having tea on it. I feel pervy standing around

staring at them. He stands, bringing her up with him, pressing her

against his body, until the water reaches her hips at the start of her

scales. One of her hands disappears and I think I’ve had enough.

“Should I-wait outside?”

Kurt lets go first.

“Stay, Prince Tristan.” She lets go of Kurt’s hand and traces the

red flush of her mouth. “Come, let me look at you.”