25

Erie

I don’t know why Finn’s laughing, but I love the sound of it and never want it to stop. If I can keep him happy, he’ll free me. “Watch movie?”

“Sure, sweetness,” Finn says. “But I’m taking a nap. Jen’ll have to put it on.” He yawns, stretches, and winces. “Wake me when it’s over.”

I can’t tell time in this tank, because I can’t see the sun or feel the tides, so I don’t know how long the movie is. When it’s done, I knock on the glass. “Movie over.” Finn doesn’t move, and I knock harder. “Finn! Wake up—movie over.”

Jen touches his arm, then his forehead as he groans and opens his eyes. “Jesus Christ, you’re burning up.”

“I’m fine,” he croaks and sits up. The melted ice falls from his ankle, revealing blood-soaked skin. “Oh. That’s not good.”

Jen grabs the ice pack from the floor. “We’re going to the hospital.”

“We can’t,” he says. “Erie—”

“Will be fine. Tell them you went for an early morning swim and ran into a dolphin, I don’t care. We’re going.”

She shoves her shoulder under his arm and helps him stand. I press my palms into the cold glass, wishing I could help. “Finn? You okay?”

“I’ll be fine, sweetness.” He flashes a brief smile that falls from his face with his first step.

Soon, they’re gone, the next movie has started, and I turn to Niku. He’s on the other side of the tank, his back to me. I ball my fists until my nails dig into my palms. “I’m trying to get us out of here, Neek. You have to trust me.”

He doesn’t bother to turn around. “Get us out by swimming with the landfolk? That’s a stupid idea.”

“It worked.”

“Finn’s the one keeping us here, Princess. Hes the one who won’t let us go home. Hes the one forcing us to do stupid tricks, feeding us dead fish. Hes the one who almost killed you the other day, and I will kill him for that.”

I huff a breath through my gills. “He didn’t mean to. He said he’d get us out.” My arms fall to my sides. “Finn promised, Neek. He said it would take a while, but he’ll find a way to get us home.”

Niku finally faces me. “He lied.”

“Don’t say that.”

“Is that an order, Princess?”

My lips part in surprise—Niku has never spoken to me with such disdain before. When I speak, my voice is tight. “Finn is our only way out of here, and if you kill him, I will relieve you from your service as my guard.”

I turn my back on him and sink to the bottom of the tank, wrapping in my tail.

Jen and Finn are still gone when the second movie ends. It was another one where a non-human became human at the end. This time, it was a giant beast who was redeemed by the love of a human woman. At the very end, the beast died, and the woman cried a tear that turned him into a human and brought him back to life. For a moment, I wish desperately that I could cry and turn Finn into a sea-human, but this must be another untrue thing from movies.

I ignore the next movie when it starts, and am dozing off when a familiar voice speaks. “Finn? Jen?”

I sit to find Sergio. “Where are your trainers?” he says.

Finn told me not to talk to anyone except him and Jen, but he also said Sergio was his friend. If it was my friend, I’d want to know if he was hurt, so I decide to tell him. Maybe Sergio can help.

“Jen took to ‘hospital’ because he ‘burning up.’”

“Burning up? Does he have the flu?”

“What ‘flu’?”

“Sneezing, coughing, fever—”

I don’t know what any of those things are. “Niku bit him.”

“Niku?”

I point to the dolphin sulking in the back of the tank.

Red creeps up Sergio’s neck to his face. “How did Niku bite Finn? Was he stupid enough to stick his hand in the water?”

No, he was stupid enough to stick his whole body in the water. “Niku bit ankle.”

“His ankle?” Sergio yells, his hands falling to fists at his sides. “How the hell did Niku bite his ankle?”

I back up—maybe telling Sergio was a bad idea after all. When I speak again, my voice is soft. “In ‘arena.’ Finn jumped in, and Niku grabbed.” Sergio’s face reddens, and I hurry on. “It okay! I made Niku release and took Finn to surface.”

Sergio’s jaw hardens in anger, and I wish I hadn’t said anything. I’m definitely not telling him about swimming with Finn.

“Sergio?”

He presses his finger against the glass. “You better hope they don’t kill your dolphin for that. They’ll kill you, too.” He spins and walks out of the room.

Kill me, too? Why would they kill me when I saved Finn? I turn to Niku. “I hope you’re happy—we’re in a lot of trouble for what you did. Sergio says they might kill us.”

“Death would be better than this life.”

I turn my back on him and wrap up in my tail. I can’t die in this gray cage with a friend who doesn’t trust me. I have to get out. I have to tell Father what happened to Clair, and tell Huron’s parents where he is. For some reason, Finn doesn’t treat me like the other merfolk, which means, I’m the only one who has a chance at getting free, so long as Niku doesn’t sabotage it by killing Finn.

Niku surfaces and blows an angry spray of water, but he doesn’t apologize. He doesn’t say anything at all. I really wish I could cry.