The Blue Divide

Chapter 25

Lainey pedaled home as fast as she could. She still wasn't sure if she believed Peter, but she couldn't deny that the photographs he had shown her looked real. Even if it was some sort of hoax, they still proved that Eko was connected to Mr. Kerring and his crew.

What if he had been lying about having amnesia the whole time? What if everything had been a ruse to help the Blood? Or maybe he was trying to escape them. Either way, she was going to get answers. If he truly didn't remember, she would make him remember.

It was dark by the time she reached home. She ran up the steps and threw open the door. Her grandpa was leaning forward in his armchair. The living room was dark and silent.

Lainey flicked on the lights. "What are you doing sitting all alone in the dark?" She

plopped on the couch and ruffled through her school bag. It was strange to be home with no music playing. No record, no violin tunes. "Where's Eko?"

Her grandpa sat up straight. "I don't know."

She turned to look at him. "What do you mean?"

"I didn't take him out with me today. When I got home, he was gone. I hoped that maybe

he went to watch you play tennis."

Frost glazed the inside of her chest as she shook her head. "I haven't seen him." Her eyes flickered toward the dark window. Could he have run away? Or worse, tried to drown himself again? She thought about the night she had pulled him from the water. Had he been trying to go back to wherever he came from? Surely things had changed since then. He wouldn't leave without telling her. Not on purpose. Would he?

She jumped to her feet. "I have to look for him."

"Lainey, I don't want you wandering around out there in the dark. Let's give him some time. No use worrying yet."

But she was worried, and she could tell that he was too. Much more than he would admit. Since the day Alec had taught Eko haw to play the violin, the two had been inseparable. Her grandpa seemed happier around him. Healthier.

"I'm just going to the shore," she said. "He likes to go down there sometimes." She zipped up her jacket and ran out the door. The waves were louder than normal and she had to shout to make her voice heard.

"Eko!" she cried, cupping her hand around her mouth. "Eko!" She looked out into the water and around the rocks, but there was no sign of him. Shoulders slumping, she walked up the broken staircase and back into the cottage.

She paced through the living room like a zombie, her pulse pounding in her neck. Her

mind wandered to the night on the rock. The feel of his warm lips against hers. The curve of his hard muscles under her hands. The heat of his body surrounding her own. He had felt so real, so human, that despite what Peter had said, she couldn't believe otherwise.

"Grandpa?" Alec had his eyes closed, but she could tell by the way he was clenching and unclenching his hand that he wasn't asleep. "Does the word merrow mean anything to you?"

He raised his eyebrows. "Studying mythology at school?"

"Yeah, something like that."

He crinkled his brow. "My grandfather used to tell me stories from his childhood, living on the Irish coast. I remember one about a merrow. Some people say they were sailors who fell overboard in a storm that enchanted fish breathed life into. Others say they were witches, cursed to live beneath the waves so their magic wouldn't hurt anyone. There was one story about a young fisherman, Ronan Gallagher, who went out deep and heard strange music all day. He thought he might be going mad, but when he brought up his net, there was a merrow trapped inside. She was the most beautiful creature he ever saw, with green hair, stony gray skin, and a tail like mother of pearl. He offered her freedom in exchange for a kiss. Each week he would sail out to the same spot and play her music on a flute and she would appear and sing for him. He grew more and more in love with her. He begged her to take him with her to her home beneath the waves, or come ashore with him, but time and time again she refused. Finally he couldn't bear to be parted from her any longer. He set a trap and caught her again in his net. Despite her screams, he brought her home and put her in his bed. Little did he know that if a merrow is above the water for more than twenty-four hours their enchantment wears off and they start to change. Her beautiful mother of pearl scales peeled off, revealing human legs. She started to wail and cry, but he promised everything would be all right. Now they could marry and she could stay on land with him for the rest of their lives. But by morning she was dead. In despair, Ronan went out to sea and played her song until the breath left him and he fell overboard beneath the waves where some fisherman can still hear his chilling melody to this day."