Always Remembered (17 page)

The swim
home was excruciating torture. Every muscle ached in Evan’s body.
For the first time in months, he had a beast of a headache. After
the success he experienced yesterday, he was expecting to make
progress again today. It took everything in him to keep Ken
ignorant of the plan. The mantle plume didn’t grow, but it didn’t
shrink either. They were at a standstill, and today, there were no
winners. Both of them looked like death warmed over on the swim
home.

Usually, Ken made sure Evan went back to his
room. Not today. They parted ways as soon as they crossed into
Belle Trésor grounds. Evan assumed Ken planned to take a nap, too.
At this point, he didn’t care what Ken did. Eyelids heavy like lead
weights, the only thing Evan wanted was sleep.

****

When he woke and stretched, the blue and
purple jewels of evening told him he’d slept for hours—most of the
day, actually. The good news was he felt completely recharged. Now
that the day was almost done, he wasn’t sure what to do. Getting
food was probably a smart idea. He hadn’t eaten since
breakfast.

The decision of cave or dome was easy. The
cave reminded him too much of a high school cafeteria, and it would
have way more prying eyes. He was really starting to enjoy the mall
at the dry dome. Ken paid him today, too. A good thing, since
Deanna was working tonight. She worked most nights this week. For a
second, he wondered if Ken was trying to keep them apart. Then he
decided that Ken was too busy trying to destroy the Selkies to
worry about Evan’s love life.

He reached the doors of the glass structure
without even realizing it. Who knew that he would become so
comfortable with his new home that he could find his way while
daydreaming?

Relaxing in the dry room, he let the heat
ease his aching muscles. When he’d loitered there long enough, he
chose jeans and a plain green T-shirt. No one here would appreciate
any of the witty sayings he might otherwise pick. The humor was
lost when you had to explain it.

The first floor wasn’t too crowded tonight.
Usually, groups of Sirens and Blue Men mulled about, getting drinks
in the bar area or crowding the bowling alley. Tonight, these areas
were quiet. In fact, on his walk to the stairwell, he didn’t see
another soul. A little odd, Evan mused, but maybe something was
going on somewhere else.

When he reached the second level, he heard
voices before he exited the stairwell. There were definitely more
people here. The room was alive with the smell of fried food,
strong coffee, and the mingled, heady scent of too many perfumes in
one place. Sirens loved to lay on the perfume, especially when they
had to work.

“Evan! Hey, Evan! Over here!” The Siren with
the bright purple hair waved to him. What was her name again?
Kristin? No… Krystal. It was Krystal.

“Hi, Krystal.” He smiled at her, and then
nodded at her companion. “You’re Vesh, right?”

“You remembered. I’m touched.” Vesh leaned
forward and shook Evan’s hand. “Have a seat. We’re about to get
some dinner.”

Evan sat across from the couple. It was
crowded. There were more people in the mall than he had ever seen
before. “Is something going on tonight?”

“A band,” Krystal said with a sparkle in her
eye. “I hope they play good dance music.”

“Doubt it.” Vesh laughed. “It’s Slate’s band.
They’re pretty hardcore.”

Krystal pouted her lips and crossed her arms,
but her face brightened considerably a moment later. She started
waving frantically like she had at Evan.

Evan turned, expecting to see the other
Siren, Melody, but the person approaching their table was another
one of the Blue Men. He looked familiar. When he was only a few
feet away, Evan realized why. This was the guy from the stairwell.
The one he met the first time Deanna brought Evan here.

“Dex!” Krystal squealed and threw her arms
around his neck. He hugged her back, a wide smile on his face,
until he saw Evan and his expression turned nervous.

“Prince,” Dex said with a nod of
greeting.

Evan winced. “Please don’t call me that.
Where I’m from, that’s the name of a flamboyant singer, or rather
was, until he changed his name to a symbol.”

Three blank faces stared at him. Finally,
Vesh asked, “Why would someone do that?”

“I—” Evan had no reasonable answer. He
decided to let it drop. “Never mind, just call me Evan.”

“Evan,” Dex said. “I can do that.”

“Want to get a pizza?” Vesh asked. “I’m
starved.”

Evan shrugged. “Pizza sounds good.” Anything
sounded good at this point. Hunger gnawed at his insides, making
him queasy.

“Why don’t you order, sweetheart?” Vesh
handed Krystal money, giving her a playful slap on her curvy
backside when she turned. Krystal giggled as she walked away, which
surprised Evan.
Human women
, he thought,
would get
annoyed or feel degraded by that gesture
. Apparently, the
exchange worked for Vesh and Krystal.

When she was out of earshot and waiting at
the pizza stand, Vesh leaned forward, an inquisitive expression on
his face. Evan looked at Dex, who shrugged and leaned in, too.
Curious, Evan joined them.

“Can we trust you?” Vesh asked. The question
was directed at Evan.

“With what?” Evan replied, genuinely
surprised. What was this guy going on about?

Vesh leaned back and crossed his arms. He
exchanged a look with Dex, and although neither spoke, some
agreement must’ve been reached. “Deanna trusts you?”

“I assume so. I mean, we’re kinda…”

Vesh snorted. “Sex is not trust. Don’t
confuse the two.”

“No,” Evan said, feeling dumb. “I mean, we’re
more…”

“He’s just giving you a hard time, Evan,” Dex
chimed in, his voice soft and level. “What Vesh is trying to ask
is, are you loyal to Ken?”

Speechless, Evan swallowed hard. They were
seriously asking him that? Here? In a public place where Ken or any
of his lackeys could hear? Evan also didn’t know where these guys
stood. They watched him expectantly, waiting for his answer.
Clearly, there was a right one and a wrong one. Going with his gut,
Evan gave them a vague truth. “If you ask him, I am.”

“Good answer.” Vesh seemed pleased. “Yes, I
think we can trust you.”

“Great,” Evan said. He felt relieved, but he
still didn’t know why. Had he passed some kind of test? It felt
like it. Who were these two? What about Slate? Was he part of their
group? Were the Sirens, too? “Maybe you can fill me in on what
you’re talking about then.”

Dex laughed, and Vesh flashed his teeth in a
quick grin. “In time, my friend. This is not the place for it, and
oh, our pizza is here. Thanks, love.” He kissed Krystal’s cheek
when she leaned over him to put the pizza on the table. The smell
made Evan salivate.

“Dig in, boys.” Krystal smiled and
straightened. “I’ll get some drinks. Be right back.”

The sauce burnt the roof of his mouth, but
Evan didn’t care. He was tired of feeling hungry. One meal a day
didn’t cut it, and while the Siren food was okay, he missed his
mom’s cooking. Meatloaf, mashed potatoes, and buttered rolls
sounded good right now. His mom made great meatloaf. He could
almost smell it. Heck, he’d even eat the broccoli she was always
coaxing him to finish.

“You want anymore?”

Vesh pushed the tray over. Only two slices
remained. While Evan was daydreaming, they almost polished off the
rest of the pizza. He grabbed one and slid it onto his plate.
“Thanks.”

“Is this like the pizza you ate on land?” Dex
asked.

“Similar,” Evan said. There were vegetables
on this pizza he didn’t recognize, but the sauce was red and tasted
like normal pizza sauce. The cheese seemed a little more creamy,
but overall, it tasted good.

Hanging out with Dex and Vesh, Evan could
almost pretend he was back at home hanging out in the Halifax mall
with the guys. That was, until he looked down and noticed his blue
arms and clawed hands. The other two looked human. Dex, with his
glasses and mousy, brown hair, would blend in anywhere. Vesh wore
his black hair spiky. He had a ring in his nose and another in his
eyebrow. The look was a little edgier than Evan was used to, but it
seemed to work for the guy. The Sirens certainly appeared to like
Vesh’s looks. They might like how Evan looked too if they saw him
in his human form. Would Ken ever let Evan return to it? He missed
being human. As much as he was envious of Meara’s ability to swim
unhindered, and now he could, too, he’d trade it all to go back to
life the way it was before.

“You alright, Evan?” Vesh shouted to be heard
above the band. They were on their second song. Evan guessed that
they recently formed the group. The band members were still feeling
out each other’s style.

Evan shrugged. “I’m okay. Missing land, I
guess.”

“Want to get out of here?” Vesh asked.

“Don’t you need to wait for Krystal?” Evan
asked. He wondered if Vesh and Krystal were dating. They didn’t
really act like it. After she served them pizza, then brought over
a pitcher of something that was green, but tasted fruity, she
headed over to the space in front of the stage. All the girls were
currently dancing there, waving their hands in time to the
music.

“She’s fine. We’re not together, if that’s
what you’re thinking.” Vesh wiggled his eyebrows and flashed his
teeth in a devilish smile. “I don’t like to get attached. We hang
out sometimes, but that’s about it.”

Evan let it drop. The whole relationship
slash dating process was confusing at best on land, and down here,
he had no idea. There were very few couples that he could see. At
least, monogamous ones. If he saw two individuals together one day,
the next day they might be with someone else. The lifestyle was
completely foreign.

“What do I owe?” Evan asked and pulled out
his wallet.

Vesh waved him off. “I got it. You can pick
up the tab next time.” He turned to Dex, who had been sitting
quietly this whole time. Presumably, he was listening to the band.
“You coming, Dexter?’

It was odd that Vesh used his full name, but
Dex didn’t seem to notice or mind. He shook his head. “I want to
catch the set. I’ll see you later.”

Vesh patted Dex’s shoulder, then stood and
motioned for Evan to follow. They headed up to the first floor.
“Have you been to the gardens yet?” Vesh asked over his
shoulder.

“Briefly,” Evan said. “Well, I walked by them
when Deanna gave me a tour of the dome.”

“Then you haven’t really seen them.” Vesh
took the remaining stairs two at a time. The guy had a lot of
nervous energy. Maybe all Blue Men were like that. Evan used so
much power earlier today that he was already starting to feel tired
again.

Once upstairs, they walked past the bowling
alley and down the back hall to the gardens. There were three
different rooms, mimicking various climates on land. One was
tropical, one dry like the desert, and the last one was somewhere
in between.

Vesh headed to the tropical room. “I work in
here. The money’s not bad, and the view can’t be beat,” he said. “I
think you’ll like it.”

Evan stepped in, and the hot, humid air took
his breath away. For a moment, he closed his eyes and tilted his
head toward the ceiling. Pretending the bright, intense light was
the sun shining down on him, a sigh escaped before he could stop
it. How he missed the feeling of the sun on his skin.

Vesh cleared his throat, and Evan opened his
eyes. His embarrassment was overshadowed by the pure comfort of the
warm light and dry land. “Sorry,” Evan said automatically. He
didn’t feel apologetic, but he didn’t know what else to say.

“It’s okay, man. I thought this might remind
you of home. Was I right?”

Evan nodded. “Where I’m from, it’s rarely
this hot but, if I close my eyes, the light does feel similar to
the sun. Have you been on land?”

“Not for a long time.” An unrecognizable
emotion crossed Vesh’s eyes. Was it sadness? Wistfulness? “Since
Azuria died, very few of us have been out of the sea. Ken controls
who can leave the ocean, and mainly, it has been only those closest
to him.” Vesh walked further into the room, and Evan fell into step
alongside him. They were the only two people in the bright, quiet
room.

“Where are we going?” Evan was curious more
than anything.

“There’s an area in the back I want to show
you.” Vesh smiled at him. “Do you recognize any of these
plants?”

Evan glanced around. He wasn’t much of a
plant expert. A few things looked familiar. Were those bananas? And
pineapple? The air was heady with the exotic perfumes of brightly
colored blooms. Most of the plants did not look like anything he’d
seen before.

“Some,” Evan said. “But not most.”

“That makes sense.” Vesh’s eyes lit with
amusement at Evan’s confusion. “Centuries ago, the Sirens
cultivated plants from the land, but most of those plants required
sunlight to live. They did not do well with the gases down here.
Most of the vegetation you see is a hybrid of land and sea plants.
They are hardier, yield more, and thrive in these specific
conditions.”

“Fascinating.” Evan didn’t care much about
horticulture, but it was interesting that the Sirens would think to
blend land and sea plants together.

“This is it.” Vesh stopped suddenly and
stepped to the side so Evan could see around him. The view was
breathtaking. Palm trees, sand, and crystal blue water. It was an
underwater oasis in a deep-sea dome.

“Why is this here?” Evan asked.

“Irrigation system,” Vesh explained. “Too
much salt kills the plants, so we pump it in and filter it. This is
the reservoir used by all three rooms.” Vesh grinned. “Some of us
also use it as a swimming pool. Fresh water swimming is so
different from salt water.”

“Tell me about it.” Evan longed to sit in the
sand and put his feet in the water. “Can we sit here for a
while?”