M.N. Arzu's Blog

The fourth book in The Under Series is finally here!

This July 8th, come back to a new adventure with the Brooks family. You can pre-order on Amazon now.


Book Description:
The City wants answers, and it wants them fast. A messenger is sent to the surface, ordering the Council to explain themselves and their misguided decisions, a demand that effectively means someone needs to return to the one place they swore never to go back to: The City itself.

Meanwhile, after a few delays and more than a few misgivings, the talks between the UN Committee and the Council are finally happening, diverting merfolk attention to what the future might bring.

Divided between The City and the UN talks, no one is prepared for Admiral Coleman's deceptive plan, one that seeks to break the weakest links amongst the Brooks family and those around them.

From the depths of the ocean to the perils of high level diplomacy, the fourth book in the series explores what it means to choose between duty, honor, and family bonds.

The fourth book in The Under Series is in the works.
Get a glimpse of what’s to come with its opening scene.

Chapter 1
Unfamiliar Places

 

The late summer storm from the night before had brought a welcoming chill to the early morning air, at least for a little while. For merfolk, warm weather was slow torture and heatwaves a sure way to die. Usually, Drake would avoid most of the northern hemisphere during the summer, but he needed information on those merfolk who refused to acknowledge the Council even existed, which meant getting out of his comfort zone and into the open.

In broad daylight, it was hard to imagine how lively the bars of this narrow Amsterdam street could be at night. As he walked, he was mindful of keeping his thoughts to himself, avoiding any unwanted mental collision with the resident merman. Through the decades, Drake had gathered a shortlist of merfolk willing to share the health of the underground community, a sort of shadow Council that looked after their own. With how things had been going since “Ray’s” release four months ago, it was time to pay a visit to one of his contacts.

Too early for tourists and too late for partygoers, the street was deserted at this hour, especially since it was far from the more transited roads. This district was definitely not the first place he would imagine his friend to live.

 He checked the names of the bars, looking for the Thunderclap King. He did a double-take when he finally found it, a colorful sign below it reading, Live Mermaid Show every Friday and Saturday.

  You gotta be kidding me, he thought, absently knocking on the door. The message was in four other languages, and judging by the amount of trash waiting to be picked up, this place had been packed last night.

  The door opened a moment later, and both mermen stared at each other for a moment. Broad grins broke into their faces and a wholehearted embrace followed.

  “Drake! I knew it wouldn’t take long for you to come see me, not after your TV performance.”

“I gotta stop being this predictable, then.”

  Tall as Drake, Mikkel’s silver eyes and silver hair contrasted sharply with Drake’s dark features. When it came to looks, they were the opposite sides of the same coin. They were also the opposite sides on pretty much everything, from human politics to worldviews, from raising children to handling the Council.

  They liked each other, as long as they only met once every few years.

  The empty bar was more spacious than it had seemed from the outside. The air conditioner hummed at full capacity, greeting Drake’s cold seeking body. Sunshine streamed through a high ceiling glass, showcasing red and green tables along the walls, with ample space for dancing in the middle. On the far wall, a large decorated tank was filled with water, long enough to accommodate five mermaids without a problem. It was currently empty, but the question lingered in the air as Drake looked at it curiously.

  “Ah, I promise, no real mermaids were harmed during last night’s show,” Mikkel said with a knowing smile. “It’s ironic, you know? We have two humans passing for mermaids on a bar owned by a merman who passes for a human. But,” he shrugged, offering Drake a chair, “the merfolk craziness is great for business. Everyone wants a piece of us—in the literal sense.”

  It wasn’t an accusation. It was a fact.

  “I know,” Drake said as they both sat down. “That’s why I’m here. I need to establish a secure line of communication with those we cannot reach. I need to hear what you have to say.”

  Mikkel raised a perfectly thin eyebrow. “Now you want our input?”

  “We’ve always wanted it if we could get it. Every decision we’ve made took into consideration everyone on the surface as best as we could. There’s never been a real way to reach everyone, and that’s by design. I want to change that.”

  Mikkel’s eyes narrowed. Underground merfolk made it their business to not be found by the Council, yes, but it was also true that the Council was not a democracy at all. At best, it ran as a business hierarchy, with the CEOs making decisions for everyone involved. At worst…at worst we’re five happy dictators ruling on an empty country.

  It was a moot point. The Council had been formed to help newcomers to get on their feet, and as the human world had evolved, so had their tasks. Now they helped with maintaining the secret, which also involved a great deal of acquiring resources, information, and invariably, making decisions. Decisions Mikkel here didn’t like for the most part, Drake knew. He just had nowhere to complain about it beyond making himself scarce.

  “At least you’re asking nicely,” Mikkel said, finally. “What exactly do you want to know?”

  “We’ve come up with a few ideas on how to deal with the human world in the foreseeable future. A few warnings, too. But we don’t know what you’re dealing with, or if you have some insights we’re missing.”

  Mikkel thought for a moment, an approving look on his face. “You don’t want to know where we all are?”

  Drake shook his head. “No population data, no. We’re too compromised with the US government and the UN to hold any more secrets. We’ve been able to hold the press and to keep our heads above water, so to speak, but that’s not going to last forever.”

Mikkel leaned back on his chair. “There’s been rumors, actually… Offerings in the black market to hire merfolk for black ops, espionage, that kind of thing.”

“I’ve heard,” Drake said with a heavy sigh. “They promise you won’t end in a lab if you come to them first.”

  “You gotta admit it’s a nice touch to play with our worst fears.”

Drake humorlessly chuckled. “If you hear of any disappearances, let me know.”

“You mean when you’re not the one doing the disappearance yourself?” Mikkel asked with a pointed look. Drake winced. It was no secret for any merfolk that Drake had been in human hands. Till this day, news stations kept playing the merfolk videos he’d sent to Julian several times a week, and the internet could not produce enough theories to satiate its imagination.

“The problem with the Council is that it’s too centralized,” Mikkel said, an old argument between them. “If you are compromised, or worse, if you and Julian are both taken out of the equation, who’s to say you won’t give them every single merfolk secret there’s to know? It would be so easy to take the Brooks children for that kind of ransom. That’s why you don’t want locations because you know how easily you could start telling what you know to your new human masters.”

  “You’re right,” Drake said without missing a beat. Taken aback, Mikkel’s further argument died in his lips. “We’ve become complacent in certain areas and compromised in others,” Drake continued. “Until the last Brooks child is of age to leave, we’re sitting ducks out there. But while everyone’s attention is on us, then no one is looking at you.”

Mikkel leaned on the table, now intrigued. “Rumor has it you cut a deal with the Pentagon to be released in exchange for all of us.”

Drake barked a laugh. “There’s a certain Admiral Coleman who would have loved if things had happened that way. No, it wasn’t like that. No secrets were given, but I did make our position vulnerable, and I’m trying to fix that. Merfolk deserve better than to fear for their lives, Mikkel. We both agree on that.”

Mikkel nodded slowly. “What do you have in mind, exactly?”

  “One hell of a show, my friend. One hell of a show.”

Being the eldest has allowed Christopher to see each one of his brothers come and grow within his family. He knows that, more than anything else, it’s the bonds of trust and love that keep them together, so he’s always eager to show them how much he cares—a trait that some days is endearing and some days is infuriating, depending on who you ask.

Here are a few fun facts about the mischievous Christopher Brooks:

Birthday: December 1st

Birth Name: Christopher Marsh

Favorite Anime Movie: Spirited Away

Song: Safe place to land by Christian Burghardt

He would never admit: He had a crush on Ariel, The Little Mermaid when he was a teen. To this day, he absently hums A part of your world when he’s waiting in line or working out.

Favorite class: Geography. It was the main reason he learned to sail, so he could go to as many places in those maps as he could before moving down to The City.

Favorite extracurricular class: Swimming. He once contemplated joining the choir, too, but was afraid his voice would give him away as a merman.

Favorite animal: wolves, they belong together and work together as a pack.

Last Halloween costume: Vampire. He wore contact lenses and fancy fangs and a cape that had bats painted all over it. He got a kick thinking about shapeshifting into bats and flying away instead of a tail and swimming away.

Favorite ice cream: Chocolate and vanilla, always together.

Favorite fruit: Whatever Andrew uses in his shakes. And blueberries, cause they’re blue, duh.

Favorite superhero: Superman. The guy could be doing anything, yet he chooses to help.

His mantra: This will pass, too.

Favorite quote: “If you can’t beat them, make them join you.”

You’ll see more of Christopher and the rest of the Brooks in the upcoming Undertow - A Merfolk Legacy.

Getting to know: Matthew Brooks

Out of all the Brooks brothers, Matthew is certainly the fiery one. It’s right there in his colors, red and orange, along with his steely gray eyes. Although his heart is always in the right place, his actions can end up being as misguided as they are dangerous.

Here are a few fun facts about the rebellious Matt Brooks:

Birthday: May 1st

Birth Name: Matthew Thorne

Online Gamer Name: Noir

Song: Start a riot by Banners

He would never admit: Spiders creep him out.

Favorite class: Chemistry.

Favorite extracurricular class: If he had time to take it, Debate, though he feels obligated to say swimming.

Favorite animal: sharks, they’re as essential to the oceans as they’re misunderstood by humanity.

Last Halloween costume: Evil sorcerer. He even wore his scales out so he wouldn’t have to paint his skin. Julian was not amused.

Favorite ice cream: Pistachio.

Favorite fruit: Mango, it even has his colors.

Favorite superhero: Batman.

His mantra: Accept no crap.

Favorite quote: “Everything happens for a reason: the reason that you’re an idiot and make bad decisions.”

You’ll see more of Matthew and the rest of the Brooks in the upcoming Undertow - A Merfolk Legacy.

Our friends at Metaphors & Moonlight are giving away two e-copies of Underneath - A Merfolk Tale, the first book in The Under Series. Kristen has plenty of book and game reviews, so make sure to check them out and find more great reads!

This week she’s reviewing Undercurrent - A Merfolk Myth, the second book in the series, and you can also dive in to find what she thought of the first book, Underneath - A Merfolk Tale.

As part of the Giveaway, comment below about why you love mermaid stories so much, so you can get a better chance at winning your e-book! And if you’re not one of the lucky winners, stay tuned for next week’s promos!

Underneath is also free with Amazon Prime all February long, and you can find the three books in the Under Series in Kindle Unlimited.

About the book:

Underneath - A Merfolk Tale is a mermaid story like no other. This deservedly award-winning novel begins as a half-drowned merman with a deep gash in his tail washes up on the coast of Maine. His arrival at the ER leaves his doctors at a loss of how to treat him. Soon, both the military and the United Nations get involved.

One reporter is hot on the trail of what she believes is an elaborate hoax—or the story of a lifetime. A story surrounding one of the richest families in New York City. For merfolk have been hiding in plain sight for centuries, and are now torn between sacrificing one of their own—or telling humanity the truth.

Underneath - A Merfolk Tale is an exceptionally different take on mermaid stories, one that combines the fear of the unknown with the need to protect those we love the most.

Readers' Favorite Gold Book Award, Fiction - Mythology | 2018
Book Viral Best Fantasy Book | 2017

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Can’t wait to get your copy?

Get it on amazon

Our friends at Metaphors & Moonlight are giving away two e-copies of Underneath - A Merfolk Tale, the first book in The Under Series. Kristen has plenty of book and game reviews, so make sure to check them out and find more great reads!

This week she’s reviewing Undercurrent - A Merfolk Myth, the second book in the series, and you can also dive in to find what she thought of the first book, Underneath - A Merfolk Tale.

As part of the Giveaway, comment below about why you love mermaid stories so much, so you can get a better chance at winning your e-book! And if you’re not one of the lucky winners, stay tuned for next week’s promos!

Underneath is also free with Amazon Prime all February long, and you can find the three books in the Under Series in Kindle Unlimited.

About the book:

Underneath - A Merfolk Tale is a mermaid story like no other. This deservedly award-winning novel begins as a half-drowned merman with a deep gash in his tail washes up on the coast of Maine. His arrival at the ER leaves his doctors at a loss of how to treat him. Soon, both the military and the United Nations get involved.

One reporter is hot on the trail of what she believes is an elaborate hoax—or the story of a lifetime. A story surrounding one of the richest families in New York City. For merfolk have been hiding in plain sight for centuries, and are now torn between sacrificing one of their own—or telling humanity the truth.

Underneath - A Merfolk Tale is an exceptionally different take on mermaid stories, one that combines the fear of the unknown with the need to protect those we love the most.

Readers' Favorite Gold Book Award, Fiction - Mythology | 2018
Book Viral Best Fantasy Book | 2017

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Can’t wait to get your copy?

Get it on amazon

Underground – A Merfolk Secret

~ Extras ~

Extra scene: Tech Genius

This is set at the end of chapter 22, Alex has just learned this morning that Drake is missing at sea. So he has some ideas on how to help.

“Is there any chance your friends can locate a Navy exercise taking place in the Atlantic?”

The question came out in a rush, but Gill understood Alex perfectly. She raised her reddish eyebrows and stared at some point in the wall behind him. They were ten minutes early to AP Computer Sciences, and Gill had barely turned her laptop on.

“I have no idea,” she said after a moment. Alex sighed in dejection. “But I can certainly find out. What exactly are you looking for?”

“A diving test. Somewhere in the Atlantic, the Navy is conducting a secret deep diving test. That’s all I know.”

“Does this involve you know what?”

“God, we really need to find you a code word,” Alex muttered. “Yes. We kind of have our hands tied when it comes to investigating right this moment, but I thought about your speech and how you went on and on about the SWIMMERs network, so I thought we could give it a shot.”

Gill started typing, and didn’t stop even when the class began. She had an uncanny method of silently typing that amazed him to no end. An hour later when the bell rang, she was still deeply rooted in her search.

“Gill?” he asked, now feeling stupid for thinking SWIMMERs were good for anything other than wearing Save the mermaid! t-shirts.

“I have a guy who says he can dig into it, but he needs to hack some satellites to do that. Is there any chance we could use Brooks Inc. satellites?”

“If he can hack them, no one will denounce him,” Alex said, cringing at having to tell his father how far he was getting himself into. “I still can’t believe a sixteen-year-old has so much power.”

She stopped typing, and slowly turned to look at Alex. “I might have hacked into my dad’s account. They think my father’s asking them to look into this.”

“What are you going to say when he finds out?” Alex asked, going pale.

“Please. My dad’s a lawyer, not a Silicon Valley tech genius. I’ll get the location, Alex. That’s all that matters.”

Underground – A Merfolk Secret

~ Extras ~

Extra scene: Underwater

This is set in the middle of chapter 19, after Nathan calls Julian to set up a meeting about Drake’s disappearance, but before they meet.

Andrew got into the Brooks’ pool wearing a full dry diver suit. It was the only way he was going to stand being inside that chilly water for any meaningful amount of time. Beside him, Chris could hardly contain his laughter at seeing his antics.

“It’s not that cold,” Chris finally said, his shoulders already shining with the blue scales of his merman’s body. If Andrew peered intently, he could just make the shape of his tail under the water.

“Says the man who literally can’t feel the cold,” Andrew said, glaring.

“People swim in cold water all the time: in lakes, at the sea. We’re not talking arctic temperatures here.”

  “Laugh all you want, Brooks. I’m still doing this for you.”

  Chris smiled at that, giving Andrew a hand to get settled on the underwater steps that led into the pool. “What do you want me to?” he asked, frowning.

“How about you float in a horizontal way, so I can inspect the muscles of your tail?”

“We don’t float, exactly,” Chris said, his frown deepening. “We dive and we swim and we drift…but floating? Not so much.”

“Well, do your best to stay still while I take a look at your tail, okay? Suit or no suit, I can still feel the cold.”

“Yes, sir,” Christopher said, moving a back. He let his head fell backwards while he arched his back and slowly let himself sink, allowing his tail to reach into Andrew’s eager hands. Andrew took a moment to marvel at the intricate design and followed the tiny scales of the tip of the tail into the main muscles, all the way to the lateral fins.

The first time he’d worked on Chris’s tail back at ORCAS, he’d expected the scales to be rough like a dolphin’s, but as he placed his hands under the tail, it was a smooth texture that met him.

“You’ll need to turn around,” he said loud enough for Chris to hear him. His patient sank deeper till he reached the floor, and rotated slowly, aiding his body to move with his elbows. Through the water, it was hard to make out the gills on Chris’s back.

Andrew had worked with this tail for a month now. They had started with Chris’s legs in the beginning, but as progress had halted in that venue, Andrew had started thinking in more creative ways. He’d examined that tail out of the water, and he’d come with a few clever ideas for Chris to do submerged. This was the first time he was working with Chris inside the pool, though, because the water had always been so cold.

Merfolk muscles were like nothing he’d felt before. The tendons separated and reformed between legs and tail, and although the way they would attach and reattach to the tail cartilage or the femurs was a mystery, Andrew could feel the subtle differences between both shapes.

I’ve been doing this wrong, he thought as he pressed under the white scar on Chris’s tail. Treating his legs was never going to work. As a tail, the muscles were completely stretched, while as legs, they were in a more resting state. Scales were also harder than skin, especially at the back of the tail. Like a thin armor that had been broken, Andrew had to figure out a way to mend it properly. It wasn’t just the muscle that was the problem.

“Can you do an arch?” he asked, letting go of Chris’s tail, which splashed him a moment later. Goddamn it, it’s cold! he cursed in his mind as his face dripped water into the pool. After a couple of moments, Chris came out of the water.

“It’s too shallow. Can you come into…the…” Chris trailed off, his eyes taking on a faraway quality.

“What? What are you listening?”

“Julian… He wants us to be ready to leave,” Chris said, frowning. A moment later, he went under water to get better reception, while Andrew watched helpless from the sidelines. “He says Nathan just called him with an urgent meeting regarding Drake.”

“Isn’t he supposed to come back tomorrow?”

“Yes, and we have absolutely no contact with him right now. Julian wants us to be ready in case Nathan has the wrong kind of news. This is bad, Andrew. This is really bad.”

Underground – A Merfolk Secret

~ Extras ~

Extra scene: Lifesaver

This is set on chapter 7, the day after Matt follows Chris’s dream of being hit on board of his yacht, waking up all the Brookses with an intense headache.

It was the first time that four Brookes met Andrew at the door.

“You were not kidding,” Andrew said as Chris sleepily shut the door behind him. Chris had texted him if he could make them his shake and breathe some life back into them; and here he was, with a backpack full of his green-goodness-in-a-thermos.

“We had a rough night,” Alex explained, sprawling out over the sofa with his legs dangling over the arm. Matt eyed him hopefully from the opposite sofa. In the dining room, Scott’s usually serious and daring eyes were half closed while he slowly chewed down a stack of pancakes.

“You skipped school?” Andrew asked as he put his backpack on the table to get the thermos out. All four of them perked up at the sight.

“Julian’s orders. And my gosh, you did bring it,” Matt breathed, his grey eyes grimmer with dark circles under them. He practically snatched the first thermos and walked down the corridor to his room. “Thanks!” he yelled as an afterthought, and then closed the door.

“What happened?” Andrew asked bewildered, as Alex and Scott both eagerly disappeared with their own shakes a few minutes later. Chris sat down on the closest chair, taking his time to open his bottle.

“I had a nightmare, or a memory, or something…when I was being attacked back in September. Apparently, we all felt the hit on my head, and now we’re all having the same headache. Telepathy can be so much fun, sometimes...”

“Wait, you mean the attack that got you into ORCAS?”

Chris nodded, and then started drinking. He closed his eyes and practically chugged half the contents in seconds.

“Easy there. I can make more if you need it.”

“Sorry. I just woke everyone up at 2:00 a.m. and then I couldn’t let myself fall asleep. I don’t think anybody else got much rest either. Not even Scott, and he’s lucky enough to not be connected to us at all.”

“He’s your brother, he worries,” Andrew said, smiling. “It’s what normal non-telephaths do. Is your dad around?”

“As luck will have it, he’s actually at school. He had a meeting with the principal about…stuff…” Chris trailed off, frowning. “Why? You wanted to talk to him?”

“To you, actually, but he might be happy to hear that the results of both your tests are shining some light on where to go with your therapy.”

“You’re kidding?”

“Never about my patients’ care. Gwen and I have come up with some ideas. I was wondering, though, if your father might let me get a better sense of his tail muscles.”

“What do you mean?”

“Do you think he might enjoy a massage?”

Here's the last exclusive chapter before you can dive into the full novel tomorrow!

You can start reading from Chapter 1 here.

7
What Lurks Inside

Alex was out of excuses. Every time he imagined walking towards the study, knocking on the wooden door, and facing Julian’s stern face, his gut did strange summersaults that wreaked havoc on his appetite.

   And then he remembered Gill’s lips on his, the way they had held their breaths together, and how her hair had slightly tickled his ear. And that memory kept going, expanding, as he wondered about holding her hand, or the back of her neck, and if she would allow him to play with her curls, those cute reddish springs that he wanted to pull down and—

   The door to his room suddenly opened, and Matt stood there, dripping water all over the floor with only a towel for clothing, staring at him with a mixed look of confusion and worry on his face. “What happened?” he asked, narrowing his eyes.

   “Haven’t you heard of knocking?” Alex asked, indignant.

   Still holding the doorknob, Matt knocked with his other hand. “There. Now, what the hell happened? Your emotions are all over the place. I went for a swim and all of a sudden I’m not in the water, but navigating these…these…waves of hot and cold, and since Chris and Julian haven’t come back yet from the hospital, and Scott’s still blind to my radar, that leaves you as the only suspect. So, spill already. What’s going on?”

   Matt was rattled. Matt was never rattled. Not ever, and certainly not in the last seven months, when their lives and identities had been threatened practically every day.

   “I—I—might…I mean, this thing kind of happened this morning…” he started, the words colliding in his mind as every single sentence sounded misguided or grossly oversimplified.

   “Is this about what you want to ask Julian?”

   “Yes,” Alex whispered, “and no.”

   Matt groaned, exasperated. “Just tell me!”

   “Gill-kissed-me-despite-knowing-I’m-a-merman,” Alex said in a rush, holding his breath as Matt separated the words in his head.

   “Wait, what? What?” All the color drained from Matt’s face as he slowly sat down on Alex’s bed. “She knows? Wait, she kissed you?”

   “Despite knowing I’m a merman, yeah,” Alex said, now feeling scared. He’d finally admitted it, and now the world was going to implode.

   “Since when?” Matt asked, now starting to sound angry. “When did you tell her? And my gosh, why would you tell her? Alex, this isn’t some—”

   “I didn’t tell her,” Alex interrupted, now getting angry himself. “She found out when Scott was shot and my scales shifted without my knowledge. And then she put two and two together and she helped me find Scott, with the traffic cameras. She asked other SWIMMERs for help.”

   “That was two months ago!”

   “And I’ve been trying to tell Julian every day! Except it’s never the right time, and there’s real value in having the SWIMMER network helping us out, and Gill only wants to help, I swear!”

   Matt passed his hands over his wet hair, muttering this is bad. “Julian needs to know,” Matt said after a full minute of silence went by. “Drake needs to know. The freaking Council needs to know.”

   Alex nodded. “I know. I just—”

   “—can’t find the right moment, you’ve told me,” Matt said, glaring at him.

   “She hasn’t said anything, okay? In two months, she’s kept her mouth shut. She doesn’t even want to know, Matt. She’s never asked me a single merfolk question because she doesn’t want to betray us.”

   “Save it for Julian, kid.”

   Alex opened his mouth, but nothing came. He suddenly felt small, and stupid, and so, so screwed. Beside him, Matt sighed. “You know you should have told him right away, don’t you?” he asked in a more conciliatory tone. Alex nodded. Matt nodded with him, and then sighed again. “She kissed you, huh?”

   Alex nodded once more, enthusiastically this time.

   “Squid, you’re so screwed,” Matt said with a chuckle, punching him lightly. “I hope it was worth it.”

   And to Alex’s surprise, he answered with an honest and heartfelt, “Yes!”

* * *

Matthew was looking at the ocean. The sun was high in the sky, and the water was drying off his skin, while he sat at the back of his yacht.

   No, that can’t be right, he thought, frowning. As he looked down, his vibrant red and orange scales were replaced by blue and light-blue ones, and the unexpected change of colors made him jump back, right out of Chris’s body and into his.

   It took him a long moment to realize that he was trapped in one of Chris’s dreams. Looking around, he felt slightly disoriented as he recognized his brother’s yacht, The Deep C, a boat Matt hadn’t seen for the past seven months. Julian wanted to sell it—get rid of it, really—but Christopher wouldn’t make up his mind about it. This had been the boat where he’d been attacked, and Chris himself had never come back.

   And dreaming a peaceful dream, for once, Matt thought with a relieved sigh. He couldn’t interact with Christopher without waking his brother up, so he contently sat beside his brother and enjoyed the view. The sky was cloudless, and his brother was happy. With all that had happened lately, Matt had honestly thought Chris was going to be having more nightmares than usual, so this was a welco—

   A shadow passed behind them. The skies above became stormy and the sea restless, even if the boat itself remained perfectly still amid the changing weather. A presence stood behind them, but Chris refused to turn around, afraid of what he was going to see. And if Chris didn’t want to look, neither did Matt.

   Wind blew, playing with Matt’s hair, the salty smell of the ocean bringing myriad memories spent with his adopted family. Laughter and banter and hugs. Happy memories. Memories Chris was holding on to with all his might, because once he turned—

   Once he turns, he’s going to be attacked, Matt realized with shock, and as he turned to look at his brother’s attacker, at the man who was responsible for everything, pain exploded in his mind, splitting Matt’s head in two million pieces.

   Matt screamed out of the dream, and down the corridor, he heard both Alex and Chris screaming as well. Julian’s presence came a second later, though it did little for the pain. It was nothing compared with the time when Chris had been wacked for real, but the headache was strong enough that Matt grabbed his head.

   Almost blindly, he went out of his room in search of Chris, only to see the light already on. Julian was already soothing his brother, whispering it’s okay as Chris buried his head in Julian’s shoulder.

   Alex joined them a moment later, holding his head against the doorframe.

   “It was so real,” Chris said miserably from his father’s side. “It dragged me, somehow, I couldn’t stop it, I just—”

   “It was a bad dream…” Julian said, but even in the middle of the night and with a raging migraine, Matt could see that Julian didn’t quite believe that.

   “It felt like more than a dream,” Matt said, getting everybody’s attention. “I’ve been getting into your dreams for a few weeks now—unintentionally!” he hastily added at the horrified look on his brother’s face. “You just…drag me into them. I usually don’t realize I’m there until I wake up.”

   “You should’ve told me,” Chris whispered.

   “There was nothing you could do about it. But you’re right, it felt different…different from your other dreams.”

   “Maybe it was a memory, then,” Scott said, scaring the hell out of Alex and Matt as he spoke between them. “What? I heard you all screaming,” he said, rubbing his eye. “I came to see what the problem was.”

   “It’s hard to get dragged into a dream,” Julian said, “but a strong memory might do the trick.”

   “Did you remember who attacked you?” Alex asked, suddenly alert.

   “I can’t remember past the pain,” Chris said, while Matt shook his head.

   “The dream ended before he could see it,” Matt explained. “But I think you saw something, Chris. You felt a presence, you saw a shadow. You were thinking about us—that’s probably why we all woke up with you right now.”

   Everyone turned to look at Chris, who looked completely lost. “I—I shouldn’t be here,” he said, getting away from Julian and standing up. “I should go to a hotel, get a place out—”

   “Chris,” Julian said, standing with him.

   “No, what if next time is worse? What if from now on you’ll go to bed just waiting for me—”

   “Chris, you’re being unreasonable,” Julian insisted.

   “—to hit you all in the head, basically. I can’t do that to you.”

   “Christopher,” Julian said, holding him by the shoulders. “You’re not going anywhere. Certainly not at 2:00 a.m., with a rampant headache. You need to rest.”

   “But—!”

   “No buts. Go back to bed, all of you. We’ll talk about it in the morning, okay?”

   They all reluctantly left. As Matt got into his bed and punched his pillow into a comfortable shape, he thought Chris had it all wrong: Matt wanted to get back into that dream-memory thing. He was sure Chris had seen who’d attacked him, and Matt was dying to see that bastard’s face.

* * *

Being called into school was a rather unusual event in Julian’s life. As he walked the quiet halls of Saavan Academy, he remembered the first time he’d come, looking for a suitable establishment for Christopher’s schooling. Up to the moment he’d come to Julian, he’d been homeschooled, and although it had many advantages, Julian still wanted to see what private education could bring.

   That had been eighteen years ago.

   Since then, Julian had walked down this path to the principal’s office several times: The first four months Matt had been here, Julian had been called repeatedly after his son had picked random fights with random people. And a couple of years later, with Alex, when he’d started daring into cyberspace, and had been developing a dangerous addiction to being connected at all times. He still spent too much time on the computer, but at least he was sleeping eight hours and keeping his grades up in all his classes. That had been the compromise. Truth be told, he couldn’t deny his son had an extraordinary talent that had been extremely useful in getting Chris out of ORCAS and in tracking Scott down back in January.

   This was the first time he’d been called to the office for Scott, though. The principal, one Lesly Sherman, had requested the meeting last week regarding Scott, saying it was important. So far, the little rascal had been steadily catching up, and had surprised Julian with how organized he was about homework. Maybe organized bordering on OCD, Julian thought as he reached the office. He hadn’t gotten much in the way of sleep last night, but he was not going to change this meeting come hell or high water.

   “Mr. Brooks! How nice to see you,” the secretary said, almost tripping over the office plant to greet him. “Ms. Sherman is already waiting for you, please.”

   “Thank you,” he said politely, relieved he wasn’t picking up Scott after a fight or cyber escaping class.

   “Mr. Brooks,” Ms. Sherman said with a kind smile as she shook hands with him. The office was richly decorated with dark wood and several pictures of historic figures. Shelves with books on education, science, and psychology stood behind her, along with several university diplomas she’d acquired over the years. She was a warm, Afro-American woman who couldn’t have it easy dealing with rich parents and their rich brats every day of the week, all year around. “I’m so glad you came.”

   “You said it was important, Ms. Sherman,” Julian said as he took a seat. “There’s nothing more important than family.”

   “You would be surprised how many parents don’t want to come to these meetings. I end up talking with chauffeurs and nannies more times than actual moms and dads.”

   “Parenthood can be a scary enterprise,” Julian said, remembering all too well how much he’d dreaded the whole thing twenty years ago.

   “Indeed, and responsibility is not something you can buy,” she pointed out, a little too stern. He liked this woman: honest and to the point. Ms. Sherman had been a covert ally from the moment Christopher had come into his life, helping Julian navigate Matthew’s and Alexander’s first steps into the Academy as well as into their new family.

   “But let’s talk about the reason we’re here,” she said, clasping her hands on her desk. “I wanted to give you an update on how Scott’s been doing since he started coming five months ago.”

   “It hardly seems that long,” Julian said, as she gathered some papers and notes in front of her.

   “When you first brought Matthew, we talked about how hard adjustments were going to be for him after the unfortunate past he had with his parents. Adapting to new social norms and rules is never easy, and he was already uncomfortable with the whole arrangement, if I remember correctly.”

   “He fought a lot,” Julian said, nodding.

   “And we expected it—didn’t tolerate it, but certainly expected it. And eventually it got better.”

   “Scott has been fighting?”

   “Not at all. Your youngest son has an iron grip on his control. You said you didn’t know much about his experiences in foster homes, but it wouldn’t surprise me if he had military foster parents when he was younger.”

   “I see.”

   “Maybe not, Mr. Brooks. What Matthew did was wrong, but at least he had an outlet until he found the swimming team. Scott is the exact opposite: He’s not letting anything out, which is equally unhealthy. All his teachers have told me how fast he caught up with the rest of the class in the first three months. His improvement is stellar, and I have no doubt he has a bright future ahead of him—if he can work on his emotions.”

   “You want him to start punching people,” Julian said with a ghost of a smile. Ms. Sherman chuckled.

   “Figuratively speaking, yes. To be honest, he hasn’t made any significant friends, though your sons have always been reserved. But the real reason I called you today is because something’s been changing in your son’s behavior. Since he came back from that pneumonia infection he got a few weeks ago, he’s been more subdued. Less participative. He doesn’t seem to be engaged half of the time.”

   “Disconnected,” Julian said above a whisper. Scott might have had a sense of closure regarding Wallace, but he’d lost his brilliant telepathic skills. In a literal sense, his son had been disconnected from the merfolk world.

   “Disconnected, yes. We’re worried that he’s suddenly losing interest in school, because his grades are starting to slip. Or maybe something happened at home that you’ll wish to address. Mr. Brooks, in my experience, these are the first flags that something’s going on, and we’re right on time to catch them, understand them, and do something about them.”

   Of all the little puzzles in his life, Scott was certainly the toughest to put together. I should’ve sensed he isn’t coping as well as I thought. I have to stop relaying on senses he no longer shares with me.

   “Do you have any suggestions?” he asked.

   “Well, for starters, any kind of physical activity might get his mind off things and help him focus on less destructive paths.”

   “He tried the swimming team on Matthew’s insistence, but he didn’t like it.”

   Ms. Sherman nodded. “The coach said he might have an authority problem, but he’s the only teacher who has mentioned that.”

   “So basically, find him a hobby.”

   Scott’s last “hobby” had involved tracking his parents’ murderer, and before that, it had included tracking the merman story all the way to Maine, where he’d been shot and taken prisoner by the government. And before that, he’d been living on the streets, escaping foster home after foster home, fearing his merman heritage would be discovered. In one moment of panic, Julian thought he was never going to survive being Scott’s father.

   “Don’t despair, Mr. Brooks,” the principal said with raised eyebrows, reading him like an open book. “Besides, that’s the easy part. You need to connect with your son. To show him you care about whatever it is he cares about. It might be videogames, or insects, or a reality TV show. Whatever inane or obscure theme your son loves, you’ll ask him about it, and actively listen when he talks your ear off, even if you’d rather be swimming with sharks. Once he realizes that what he’s saying matters to you, he’ll understand that he, as a whole, matters.”

   “He’s such a serious kid,” Julian said, exhaling. Christopher, Matthew, and Alexander had all been in their own world, but they had all shared it with him of their own accord. Scott wasn’t, and by the sounds of it, he probably never would without some serious intervention from Julian’s part.

   “He’s had a serious life, and this was his way of dealing with it. Unfortunately for all of us, he lost his childhood too early, and adulthood is becoming too heavy on his young shoulders. You have to ease that burden and give him back the carefreeness that he lost, Mr. Brooks. He’ll never get to be a child again, but he doesn’t have to miss his teenage years, either.”

* * *

 “She basically said I needed to figure out how to introduce Scott to a suitable hobby,” Julian said as Gwen brought him a cup of coffee. He’d come to talk about the hospital tests they’d run yesterday, and somehow the conversation had ended up about his morning meeting with the school’s principal.

   “So, what does he like to do?” she asked, sitting in front of him. It was such a normal parental concern that it was almost hilarious to think the man in front of her was anything but normal.

   “He likes people-watching—I think.”

   “No respectable thirteen-year-old boy likes people-watching,” she said. This was going to be harder than she’d thought.

   “He loved to brag about his superior skills, but now all that’s gone.”

   “Bragging, even justified, is not conducive to good social skills,” she said, sipping her coffee.

   “That’s not what I meant,” Julian said, frowning. “He was extremely good with his telepathic skills, but without them, he’s cut off from us. In a strange way, it’s like raising a human child. He was already a difficult challenge, but now I have no experience with this situation.”

   “Well, here’s a radical idea: why don’t you just ask him?”

   Julian smiled. “I asked Christopher for months how he was doing, and all I got was fine. If the one who loves to talk isn’t talking, I’m hopeless with the one who loves to stare you down.”

   “I guess you’ll need a hobby where staring you down is a thing, then,” she said, pondering Julian’s dilemma. They both laughed.

   “There’s something else I need to talk to you about,” Julian said, changing the subject. “How are things going for you? Are people still bothering you about ORCAS?”

   “Nothing I can’t handle. And now that I’m working again, I have more things to worry about than the next stupid question. Why? Have you heard anything?”

   “There’s…a deal we made with Major White.”

   “Sounds ominous.”

   “We think it will go smoothly for the most part. Drake will accompany Major White next week to run some tests on a new diving suit prototype we gave them.”

   “Well, if someone knows about diving, that would be you guys.”

   Julian smiled, but it didn’t reach his eyes. “There are some risks involved, though. Things might not go as planned, or someone might get other ideas. There’s a slight chance the deal might fall through.”

   “You might leave in a hurry?”

   “We have our own contingency plans and responsibilities. But I’m worried you might be collateral damage of these games we’re playing.”

   “You want me to be ready to leave,” Gwen rephrased, not too pleased.

   “Our lawyers have instructions on what to do in the event we’re no longer here. Dr. Higgs and Nathan are well protected under the United Nations, but you won’t enjoy those perks. That’s why we’ve set up a trust fund for you and Andrew. I don’t think it would be as drastic as moving, but if you need to start over someplace else, you will have the means to do it.”

   “Nonsense. If something does happen, Julian, we’ll be here to help you. Let them try to stop us. There’s no way we’ll quietly go away. Hell, there’s no way we’ll loudly go away.”

   This time, the smile did reach Julian’s eyes. “Somehow, Gwen, I don’t doubt that.”

 

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