Fathom L. Standage (books for 8th graders .TXT) 📖

said. “I like him a lot and I’ll be totally bummed when he leaves, so for right now I just want to enjoy being his friend until he does. So could you get off my back about it, or are you going to go all Cordelia on me?”

Wow. I narrowed my eyes, grabbed a rubber band out of my suitcase to pull my hair back, stuffed my feet into my sandals, and stormed out of the room.

So, it was okay for Samantha to force me into flirting, but when I told her she should probably tone it down a notch, I was labeling every male a scumbag and going Cordelia on her? I sulked as I went down the hallway, roughly grabbing and pulling at my hair to bind it into a ponytail and hurried down the stairs where everyone was eating sausages and biscuits.

“You okay, Olivia?” asked Natasha when I came into the kitchen. “You look bothered.”

“I’m fine,” I said, grabbing a biscuit and going to slump on the couch. I noticed Seidon watching me. He came to sit next to me as everyone else turned back to their conversation and breakfast. That’s right, Olivia was pissed. What else was new?

“I couldn’t help but overhear,” he said in a quiet voice. I widened my eyes and felt the color drain from my face as I thought back on my argument with Sam. I completely forgot about the merpeople’s sharp hearing.

“I didn’t mean,” I began, “I didn’t say you were…I do think you’re cool and all, but—”

“No, you don’t have to explain anything.” He glanced upstairs. “And you were right. I don’t belong here, though I do enjoy being Samantha’s friend. She’s about as human as you can possibly get.”

I shook my head in surprise. “Why are you so nice?”

He shrugged. “Humans fascinate me. It embarrasses my family when I say that, but really, I don’t see a reason to treat you like enemies. I think you’re ‘cool’ too.” He grinned to himself, then did a quick look over his shoulder. “And by the way? Calder was staring at you.”

His smile grew as he got up and walked back to the kitchen to get more food. I glanced toward Calder, who leaned his back against the wall, his attention on his food. If he had been staring at me, it was probably only because he was throwing me his usual glower.

Still, as I forced my eyes back to my breakfast, my heart involuntarily stuttered.

“Now then,” said Cordelia once everyone—including a moping Sam—gathered in the family room, “we have what we need, and I believe the threat on our people is over.”

“What makes you certain?” asked Eamon. I kept glancing at Calder to see if he would look my way again, but he didn’t.

“Though information has been leaked, it is unlikely that Linnaeus will understand the meaning of what he saw in the vessel,” Cordelia continued. “And since it is now in our possession, our people can store physical evidence of it being in his hands. He’s marked.”

“What do you mean, marked?” I asked. “I handled the vessel too. Am I marked?”

“No, no,” said Seidon quickly. “Only our enemies are marked.”

“Vessels have their own security measures,” said Cordelia. “Marinus wasn’t aware of it because that information is classified. Vessels are able to store the fingerprint of every person who has handled them. Those who have touched the vessel without authorization will have their name and description listed in our records. If they come too close to us, all merpeople have license to capture and kill if necessary.”

“But I’m studying to be a marine biologist.”

“You won’t be listed on that record, Olivia,” said Seidon, seeing my worry. “But don’t come too close to our city, just in case.” He winked.

Cordelia sighed with impatience. “You can still become a marine biologist and remain unharmed. Unless you double cross us.”

“Not a chance,” I replied. I glanced once at Calder. He looked away.

“Very well, then. Since Linnaeus has been unsuccessful in obtaining a mermaid for his habitat, it’s likely he’ll just have to cancel his little party and have done with it.”

“Is there anything else we can do for you, Captain?” Walter asked. “I’m happy to take you and Prince Seidon to open water in the boat if it would make the journey easier.”

“Thank you, Mr. Andrus, but that won’t be necessary. We would, however, appreciate an escort to the end of the pier. The prince and I can make our way home from there.”

“Does that mean Sam and I can go home?” I asked, feeling a rising hope I’d be back at Aunt Shannon’s sooner than I thought. I needed to get back to work on my neglected scholarship project pronto.

“Yes, it does,” Eamon said. “But you can’t stay in San Diego. You’ll have to return to your home in Arizona.”

My face fell, along with my hopes. I looked at Sam, but she made a study of her fingernails. “But…” I trailed off.

“I’m sorry, Olivia,” Eamon continued. “With Linnaeus out there, it really isn’t safe here for you two once the rest of us have moved on. We’ll be leaving California as soon as Captain Cordelia and Prince Seidon have gone home.”

“Will it make any difference where I am? Because Linnaeus might just follow me.”

“We’ll monitor his movements. He won’t bother to pursue people who aren’t a threat to him.”

“It will be all right,” said Uther. “This isn’t the first time we have done this.” He leaned a little closer. “All the same, I’d knock on wood.”

Defeated, I sighed. A whole summer of ocean study wasted. And what would Aunt Shannon say when I told her we had to go home two months early?

“You’re invited to stay as long as we’re here,” said Eamon. I nodded and snuck one more glance at Calder. Strange how my blood could freeze and my face flush all in the half second his eyes were on me.

Later that morning, Eamon, Uther, and Walter went