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promise."
    "Yeah, about that, why didn't you tell me you had a half-brother who was a merman? Kind of an important detail considering how much you hate their kind, don't you think?"
    "Their kind? You mean
your
kind." I waited for her to respond, but she only gave me the evil eye. At least in human form her eyes were the same light brown they used to be. "I didn't tell you because we don't associate. We share blood, that doesn't mean we share anything else."
    "Same mother or father?"
    "Father."
    "I don't understand. How can you be human if he's a merfreak?"
    Sweat dripped down my neck and back. "Long story. I'll explain after we get you home and into some clothes. You must be burning up in that coat."
    She fanned herself. "It is hot under here. How can you wear this thing all the time?"
    "My blood runs cooler than most." But not without my coat. I would have to think through every word I said from now on—unless I came clean. What would happen if I told her the truth?
    "Treygan said I haven't even been gone a full day. Have you checked on Uncle Lloyd? Is he home yet? He got stuck on the mainland during the hurricane. I'm worried about him."
    "Haven't seen him."
    "Is my house damaged?"
    "Definite windburn and water spoilage, but nothing I can't repair. Less than three weeks and you'll forget all of this happened."
    Her head drooped and she kicked a shell along the ground. "I'll never forget this. It's like I'm stuck in a nightmare."
    "I hear ya." My worst imaginable nightmare had come true. I put my arm around her shoulder and pretended we were a happy, normal couple. Yeah, right. It made me nauseous, but at least I had contact with my coat again.
    She stiffened when she saw the house. "The roof! The porch. It's—look at it."
    "It can be fixed."
    "The house is the least of my worries. We need to check on Uncle Lloyd."
    We kept walking past her property. Her eyes lit up when she saw the old man's place. "His is fine! Look!" Same old buttercup-colored dollhouse with gag-me-green shutters and a garden so full of flowers a clan of faeries should have been living in it. You would think after his wife died he would've made an effort to make it look more manly.
    "Come on!" Yara's barrel-you-over spirit hadn't changed. She took off running, but I was hella burning up, and running would've made it worse.
    "You go ahead," I shouted. "I'll catch up."
    Nobody was around so I pulled out a seagarette and lit up. I held my breath for the rest of the walk, letting the ice-cold smoke fill my lungs and cool my insides.
    Four minutes later I stood at Lloyd's doorstep and exhaled a cloud of silver smoke. Smoking made me feel somewhat better, but I would have to make sure this wasn't a long visit. Treygan would be right behind us. Yara needed to hear the truth from me. He would take way too much pleasure in telling her my secret. I couldn't figure out why he hadn't told her already. Sneaky, self-centered fish—they always had an ulterior motive.
    I took one more drag from my seagarette, put it out on the porch railing, and saved the rest for later. Then I wiped the frost from my lips and debated whether or not to knock on Bastard Lloyd's door.
     
     
    U ncle Lloyd was already home. He had removed all the boards from the windows and was polishing the re-hung mermaid portrait. He looked great. Not a scratch on him or the house. After exchanging our usual greetings, I insisted he sit in his leather armchair and relax.
    "You had your dialysis treatment, right?"
    He grunted, which meant yes and he had hated it.
    I sat on the ottoman at his feet and gave his knee a squeeze. "You feeling okay?"
    "Some hours are better than others." He picked up a picture of his wife, Liora, from the side table and polished the frame.
    Liora had passed away before I ever arrived at Eden's Hammock, but that was before he became so sick. Without me around, he would have no one to take care of him. I guiltily looked away from him.
    My life was here with Uncle Lloyd, not