“I…I’m sorry.”
“Oh, Mom. You don’t need to apologize. I understand now,” Ling said. “Just don’t give up on us, okay?”
“I love you,” her mother croaked. “Please…be careful.”
“I love you, too, Mom. I’ll be back. And Dad will, too. One day, we’ll all be together again.”
Ling kissed her mother’s cheek. Then, before she could change her mind, she went to the kitchen, grabbed her backpack, and swam out of her house, wishing she could believe her own words.
“ARE YOU SURE you have enough food?” Elisabetta asked Becca.
Becca looked at her over the top of her eyeglasses. “Are you serious? You’ve packed so much for me, I can barely carry it. And if I run out, which I won’t, I have currensea.”
The Marlin was bobbing in the gray waters of the North Sea. It had been three days since Becca, Marco, and Elisabetta had evaded Mfeme’s boats.
“We’re five leagues west of the camp,” Elisabetta said. “We don’t dare drop you any closer. The Meerteufel subscribe to the shoot-first-ask-questions-later school of defense,” she added wryly. “Approach the camp from the seafloor, and you won’t spook them. You have transparensea pearls in case of death riders, and—”
Becca threw her arms around Elisabetta, cutting her off. “Stop worrying, El. I’ll be fine. I’m almost there,” she said, hugging her tightly.
Elisabetta hugged her back, then held her by the shoulders. “Be careful,” she said.
“I will. Thank you, El. I’d be chum if it wasn’t for you and Marco. And who knows what would’ve become of the talisman. I owe you everything.”
“No, Becca, we owe you everything,” said Elisabetta. “You and your friends. Stop them—Vallerio, Traho, Mfeme. Stop them before it’s too late.”
Marco came belowdecks. He handed Elisabetta a pair of binoculars. “An oil tanker and two shipping vessels. That’s all. No sign of Mfeme’s goons.”
“Good. The sooner we get out of here, the better,” Elisabetta said.
She glanced at her brother as she took the binoculars from him. She could see, as Becca could, that his mouth was smiling, but his eyes were not.
“I’ll…uh, say my final good-bye now, Becca. Because I…um…I need to check…the engine,” Elisabetta said awkwardly. She gave Becca a final wave, then climbed up the ladder.
“That was strange,” Becca said as she watched her go.
Marco looked at the floor. “No, not really,” he said. “She knows.”
“Knows what?” Becca asked.
He raised his eyes to hers. “That I have feelings for you.”
Becca caught her breath. She thought she’d only imagined Marco’s interest in her. She’d put her feelings for him aside. It was so much safer that way. Falling for a terragogg was never part of the plan.
“I kind of lied the other day,” Marco continued, all in a rush. “When you asked me what I was going to tell you before Mfeme’s men chased us. I lost my nerve, I guess. What I wanted to say was that I…I think I’ve fallen in love with you, Becca.”
“Marco, you know I’m a mermaid, right?”
He smiled. “I hadn’t noticed.”
“And you’re a human. And no matter what we feel—”
“So you feel the same way?” he asked hopefully.
Becca didn’t answer the question. She finished her sentence. “It’s impossible.”
“Everything’s impossible, Becca,” Marco said, taking her hand. “Getting the talismans is impossible. Defeating Abbadon is impossible. Stopping finners and super trawlers and polluters is impossible. Our feelings are impossible—”
“Marco, I—”
“What? You don’t have feelings for me? Just tell me so and I’ll shut up.”
Becca averted her eyes and didn’t say a word.
“A lot of things in this world are impossible until someone makes them possible,” Marco finished softly.
Becca couldn’t speak. Her practical head was warring with her rebel heart.
“We’re very stupid, Marco,” she finally said.
He winced. “Love is never stupid, Becca.”
“Then I must be.”
“I’m sorry you feel that way,” Marco said, clearly wounded by her words.
“I didn’t mean to be harsh. But this hurts,” Becca said. “As wonderful as the last days have been, I almost wish they’d never happened, because it’s so hard to let go of them now. And of you.”
“Then don’t.”
“How can I not? I’m leaving, Marco. I’m joining my friends to take on death riders, dictators, and a homicidal monster. The odds aren’t in my favor, you know? Chances are, I’m not coming back.”
Becca’s meaning lay heavily in the air between them.
Marco fell silent. Becca did, too. She didn’t know what else to say.