Read Online Vicious Deep by Zoraida Cordova - Free Book Online Page B

here.” I point at him and look to my mother for some sort of explanation. “Mom?”
    â€œPriscilla—?” is what she says instead.
    Naked guy bows at my mom too, then shakes his head. “She’s dead. For quite a while, actually.”
    â€œWho the hell are you?” I say finally. “Am I going to be a mermaid magnet now or something?”
    â€œTristan!”
    â€œMy name is Kurtomathetis,” he says with his head held high, “and I am not a mermaid , as I am clearly not a woman. I am a merman, as are you, but of course you’ve already figured that out.”
    â€œFine—Kurtom—can I just call you Kurt?—we’re mermen. Most importantly, how come you don’t have a tail, and how do I get rid of mine?”
    He sighs, and I can feel the exasperation in his voice as thick as wading in mud. “I am part of the Sea Court. I am to be your guide—your guardian, if you will. My purpose is to make sure you’re safe at all times. It is the highest honor of the sea folk.”
    â€œSea Court?” It’s foreign in my mouth.
    Kurt turns his attention to my mother. “He really knows nothing?”
    â€œI know stuff!” I yell. “Not mermaid stuff but—”
    Kurt and my mother move to talk over each other, but the sink faucet bursts on again. Dad stands back as a lime-green fish pops out. Like when Kurt appeared, the sink is flooded with a bright light. Dad has a bewildered smile on his face. “I hope the neighbors don’t come up and complain,” he says.
    I sure hope it’s not another naked mer-guarding guy. And it isn’t. There’s a girl no older than fourteen sitting in the sink. Her skin is pale, but it has a slight greenish tinge; her hair is long and wet and a shade of black with green. Her hair covers her breasts and pools in her lap. She reminds me of a green Rapunzel. Dad grabs Mom’s bathrobe off the hook behind the door and wraps her in it. She hops off the sink with the tiniest splash, ties the robe around her waist, and gathers her hair to one side.
    â€œThalia!” Kurt’s proper nose is wrinkled with the kind of annoyance that I’ve only seen siblings have toward each other. He chokes on the beginning of every sentence he tries to speak and slaps his hands in the water, adding to the pool on the bathroom floor. “What—I can’t believe—may I too have a cloth?—why—what are you doing here?”
    Thalia’s slender frame looks even more so in the big robe. Her lips are full and pink, and her eyes a cattish green-yellow, twinkling with mischief. She turns to me, gathers the hem of the bathrobe, tucks one foot behind the other, and curtseys. She turns to my mother and does the same. “Lady Sea.”
    She looks in the sink as Dad comes back with a red-and-black flannel robe for Kurt. She sticks her hand in the water and pulls out a long, skinny bottle full of iridescent black liquid that seems to be moving in a continuous swirl inside. “You forgot the ink,” she says.
    Kurt ties Dad’s bathrobe around the middle and stumbles out of the tub like he’s not used to his legs yet. He makes to grab for the vial between Thalia’s fingers, but she takes one step back, smirking. “Only if I can stay.”
    â€œVery well.” He makes fists at his sides.
    She doesn’t hesitate and hands it over.
    He snatches it and puts it in the robe pocket. “Good. Great. Now leave!”
    â€œBut—you said I could stay! Your word is binding!”
    â€œRight. Binding to the king, not my sister.”
    Mom brings her hand to her mouth, covering the chuckle that’s escaping her lips. I laugh too, but only because I like seeing this guy get so huffy and puffy.
    Thalia looks indignant but not defeated. She stomps one foot on the floor, and water splashes. “That’s thanks for you. I’m not going