The Twice Lost Read Online Free Page B

“Don’t tell anyone I’m here,” Luce whispered. “Okay?”
    She might have to get away fast, of course. Luce flexed her body, trying to assess her strength; she felt sick and faint and achy, but she hoped she could still outrace most human boats if it came to that.
    The girl stared at her silently for a few moments, pushing back loops of light brown hair. “I won’t,” she whispered back, then hesitated. “Um, are you real?”
    For some reason that made Luce laugh, though she stifled it almost instantly. The laugh sounded harsh, maybe even bitter. The girl looked dismayed, and Luce felt a bit sorry. “Well, I’m real to myself anyway,” she told her gently. “Does that count?”
    Luce stretched again, velvet sand against her sore belly, and noticed that it was the first time she’d felt
real
in weeks. The feeling was painful, and she wished she could go back to sleep.
    The girl considered the question but didn’t answer it. “You got hurt?”
    Luce reached up reflexively, touching the throbbing spot at the side of her head. A triangle of flesh almost an inch deep had been ripped from the side of her right ear, but the cuts in her cheek didn’t feel too bad. Even without looking, she could tell that her stomach was badly bruised where the first squid had crashed into her; that would slow her down. Luce’s physical injuries were the least of her damage, really, but they were all the girl could see. “A squid bit me. I’ll be okay.”
    “Are you hungry?” The girl was digging in the pocket of her windbreaker, pulling out half a candy bar.
    Luce stared at her, suddenly horribly sad. The mermaids had killed so many humans without caring at all. This little girl had no idea what kind of creature she was offering to feed. “I am hungry,” Luce said softly. “Thank you. But . . . I don’t think I can eat that. It’s not mermaid food.”
    The wind curling over her cheeks was warm and soft. It was a beautiful spring day.
    It was also the first time she’d been aware of
beauty
since Dorian had abandoned her, since she’d found the bodies . . .
    “What
do
you eat?”
    “Shellfish, mostly. Some kinds of seaweed are good.”
    “Wait here.” The girl ran off, and Luce watched her wading out along a sandbar down the beach. She was bending low, gathering mussels. The prospect of food hit Luce with stabbing intensity. Now that she thought about it, she wasn’t sure how long it had been since she’d had anything to eat. Two days?
    Footsteps thumped along the planks above Luce’s head. She tensed, but it wasn’t likely that anyone would notice her: by contrast with the brilliant day outside, the shadow covering Luce was very dark. She could see two colored shapes through the gaps between the slats, then she watched them emerge onto the dock. A man and a woman. Sun flashed in their windblown hair as they adjusted life jackets. They were talking about how they couldn’t find one of the paddles for their canoe.
    It had been crazy to fall asleep here, but she hadn’t had much choice. The waters spreading out around the dock were shallow, Luce realized, and the sunlight was bright and piercing. If she swam away, anyone who happened to be looking in the right direction would see her clearly. But maybe it didn’t matter anymore. The FBI knew about the mermaids; soldiers were hunting them down. It was simply too late for secrecy to do them any good. Why shouldn’t
all
the humans know the truth, then?
    The girl was scampering back, a heap of mussels balanced on her outspread hands. A few of them fell as she ran.
    “What are you doing, Chrissy?” The woman on the dock was calling to the little girl.
    “Playing,” the girl said defensively. It sounded like a lie.
    “You know you shouldn’t pick the mussels if you’re not going to eat them.”
    “I’ll put them back in the water. I’m just moving them over here . . .”
    The couple on the dock had finally found the paddle, and they were lowering