Undertow (Whyborne & Griffin #8.5)(11)

So the stones didn’t differ in some way from each other. I didn’t know if that made me feel better or worse.

A second figure arose from the waves. This ketoi was also a woman, her pearlescent skin marked in a different pattern than Persephone’s. But they had the same, striking eyes.

Persephone grabbed my hand and turned to the other ketoi. “This is Maggie. Maggie, this is my mother, Speaker of Stories.”

The feel of Persephone’s fingers wrapping around mine distracted me, so it was a moment before I realized what she’d said. “Mrs. Whyborne?” I gasped.

I couldn’t stop staring at her. She’d been married to one of the richest men in America, at the very pinnacle of society. Now she emerged from beneath the ocean with a mouth filled with shark’s teeth, dressed only in a knotted skirt of seaweed and gold netting, her neck and arms laden with jewelry.

She approached with the same, awkward gait as any ketoi on land. “I no longer use that name. You may call me Heliabel,” she said with a close-lipped smile. No doubt she knew firsthand how unsettling the sight of their teeth could be on humans. “I’ve heard a great deal about you, Maggie.”

It took a moment to realize what she’d said. “You h-have?”

She glanced at Persephone. “Oh, yes. Percival spoke of you quite fondly.”

Persephone’s tentacle hair lashed around her shoulders. “Did he?” she asked. Her grip on my hand tightened.

I blinked. “You mean…Dr. Whyborne?” The idea that Dr. Whyborne might be fond of me would have made me giddy not so long ago. But now it was a sense of awkwardness that brought a blush to my cheeks.

“Oh yes,” Heliabel said. “He says he’s come to rely on you in many ways.”

“Percival is stupid,” Persephone muttered. “And he has stupid hair.” She glanced at me. “Not like your hair, Maggie.”

“Well, then,” Heliabel said. I had the strangest impression she was trying not to laugh at us. “I’ll leave you two ladies alone.”

“No!” I exclaimed, then blushed again, this time at my own rudeness. “I’m so sorry. I mean, you can go, of course you can, but I summoned you here for a reason. Not you, that is, I was hoping to speak to Persephone, but you might be able to help, too.” Oh dear, I sounded like a babbling idiot.

Persephone let go of my hand. “You need my help? What’s happened?”

“Irene Vale is missing.” I struggled to keep any sour note from my voice. “It was her stone I used to summon you, so I assume you know who that is.”

Heliabel shot me a curious glance, as if I’d given away more than I intended. “Sings Above the Waves?” she asked, using her daughter’s sea name. “Do you know this Miss Vale?”

Persephone’s features settled into a serious expression, such as I seldom saw on her face. “Of course,” she said. “Irene is one of ours. A hybrid.”

*

“A ketoi hybrid, you mean?” I asked, shocked. “But she seemed so…normal.”

“So did I, once upon a time,” Heliabel said dryly. “And I imagine you didn’t think Percival a monster, when you first met him.”

“Of course not.” Dr. Whyborne was shy and gentle, kind and brave. “I mean, I don’t. He isn’t…there’s nothing monstrous about him.”

Heliabel arched a brow, then glanced at Persephone. “Even some among the ketoi fear the twins.”

“Fools,” Persephone said dismissively. “Maggie, Irene was sent to guard you.”

“Wait. Guard…me?” I stared at her blankly.

Persephone looked down at her feet. Her long toes flicked a stone away. “The rat creature attacked you in July. I didn’t wish anything to happen to you, and I couldn’t watch over you myself, so…”

“Oh.” I wasn’t entirely certain what I thought about that. “And neither of you bothered to tell me?”

“The hybrids—those who are even aware of their heritage—are instructed from birth not to tell anyone who isn’t of our blood themselves,” Heliabel said. “I doubt it ever crossed Irene’s mind to confess to you. She knew only that her chieftess had told her to keep you safe.”

“So she wasn’t really my friend at all.” My shoulders sank beneath the revelation. “It was just an act.”

“No!” Persephone put a hand to my arm. “She liked you—she said she did, when I spoke with her. I…I should have told you. Or let her tell you. I was afraid you’d argue, try to send her away, and there wouldn’t be anyone there to protect you.”

“Considering she’s the one who’s vanished, it seems Irene needed the bodyguard,” I snapped. “I know I’m just a-a secretary, that I can’t cast spells, or shoot guns, or read dead languages. But that doesn’t mean I appreciate being deceived.”

Persephone glanced down, then back at me. “You’re right. I’m sorry.”

I wanted to stay angry, but it was impossible when she looked at me like that. “Just don’t do it again,” I muttered.

“Irene wouldn’t have simply left, not without letting us know.” Persephone let her hand fall away from my arm. “Tell me everything that happened.”