Page 7

“I’m not leaving your side,” Shea promised, taking my hand and squeezing it firmly.

We nodded to each other and got in the car. The man closed the door and rushed into the driver’s seat, wasting no time starting the engine and speeding down the road.

Now that I had a chance, I took a good look at the man sitting in front of me. He looked to be in his late thirties, with short brown hair and handsome dark stubble framing his rugged face. He had the look of a gladiator, rough and strong, with scars marring the bulges on his arms.

“Who are you, and what do you want with me?” I hiccupped, now wishing I had just stayed with my mom and waited for the police.

He looked at me in the rearview mirror. “My name is Caesar. I came to invite you to a school for… special people like you. I had no idea you were in any kind of danger. We didn’t realize you were a target.”

“A target for who?” I asked, trying to remain calm. “Who did that to my mom?”

Tears welled in my eyes, but I knew if I let them break, they would render me useless.

“Vampires,” Caesar replied, dead serious.

“Vampires?” I snapped, not bothering to hide my skepticism. “Do you think I’m an idiot?”

“This isn’t a joke, Arya,” he shot back, radiating authority. “You don’t live in the world you think you do. Do you even know what you are?”

I narrowed my eyes. What was he talking about?

Shea gripped the shoulder of his seat and leaned forward. “Whatisshe?”

I turned to her, ready to scold her for joking at a time like this. But she looked like she completely believed every word this guy was saying.

“Arya, have you ever experienced anything strange? Anything you couldn’t explain?” Caesar kept his gaze on me in the mirror, ignoring Shea’s question.

My mind flipped through screenshots of my life. There was nothing normal about the way I grew up, but nothing to indicate I was something otherworldly, as this man was clearly suggesting.

“No,” I answered honestly.

“What about your mother?” he asked.

I shook my head, not yet ready to say anything relating to my mom.

“You’ve never… been to the beach? Or had anything weird happen to you while swimming?”

I met his steely gaze in the mirror. Why was he asking about swimming? Was there really something to the stupid no-water rule?

“I’ve never been allowed to swim,” I replied reluctantly, leaning on the edge of my seat in anticipation of some explanation at last.

Caesar’s brows raised in an understanding that was completely lost to me. What did he know that I didn’t?

“So your mom knew, and she tried to keep you from it,” he mused with a nod.

“From what?” I asked at the same time as Shea.

Caesar sighed, flicking an irritated look at Shea through the rearview mirror before returning his eyes to me. “Arya, you’re a mermaid.”

The balloon of excitement that had been growing inside me popped, the sound like a whoopee cushion in my head. I didn’t know what I’d been hoping he would tell me, but this certainly wasn’t it.

“A mermaid?” I deadpanned, and the fury inside me won out over my fear. “Okay, that’s it. Just let me out of the car.”

“It’s true,” he swore.

“First, you say vampires attacked my house, and now you expect me to believe that I’m a mermaid?” I summarized in a mocking tone. “I don’t know if you’re crazy or just toying with me, but my mom just died! This is sick!”

“Think about it, Arya,” he said. “I know you saw that bite mark on your mom’s neck. What do you think that could’ve been from?”