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"But once you saw me—that day at Magic's—you remembered being my mom. Right?"

"Yes."

"If you could remember me, why couldn't you remember Dad?"

"Ah, yes. Dad," said Melusina vaguely. "I do not know the enchantment surrounding the memories of the Riven. I remember the feeling of love. But I see only a blank face whenever I try to picture your father."

It seemed terribly cruel that Melusina should have lost all memories of her husband. After all, he was the reason she left her people to live on land.

"Do you remember anything about him?" persisted Lena.

"I remember the moonlight cleaving my tail into legs. I remember the love of a human had tempted me onto land."

"He loved you so much!" cried Lena.

"Did he?" Melusina looked interested.

"Yes! He didn't even get married again for a long time. But finally he thought you were never coming back, so he—" Lena did not finish her sentence. What was the name of his new wife? Lee?

Melusina frowned, as if focusing on some cloudy image in her mind's eye. "He was fair of face, was he not?"

"You mean handsome? Yes! Everyone says so."

"But kind, as well. My heart tells me this was true."

"He's very kind."

"You say he married again?"

"About seven years ago."

"Ah. Time is different for us. I cannot remember how long a year is."

"Well, there are twelve months in a year," said Lena. "So twelve full moons."

"Oh! Yes, yes. Now I understand. We do measure time by the full moon. But the passage of time is different in our world."

"It is?"

Melusina nodded.

"How do you mean?" asked Lena.

"Let me see," said her mother. "If there are twelve moons in a year ... let me see. I would be sixty-two years old, in your world."

Lena looked at her lovely young mother in amazement. "Sixty-two?"

"Yes. I believe that is the number."

"That can't be right. How old is Amphitrite?"

"Well, let's see. She would be ... hmm. One hundred and thirty-sixy ears."

A long silence followed these announcements. Lena did not know what to say. Was time passing differently for her, too, in this undersea world? Had it been only a few minutes since she'd left, back on land?

"What about—"

"Selena, you have asked many questions! And now you must sleep. The cloak protects you until my return," said Melusina. "When you awake, we shall explore the world beneath the waves. But now I must surface."

"Yes, Mama." Lena settled down on the bed of seaweed, closing her eyes and plunging into slumber like an anchor falling to the seafloor.

***

Brian's eyes remained dry while Allie wept—shocking, wracking sobs that rent the night sky. He sat on the sand, in the exact spot where he'd landed when the strength went out of his legs. He wanted to console her, but those words did not exist.

CHAPTER 37

Lena woke up under water.

For a moment, she was disoriented, remembering all the times she had woken up on the beach in the middle of the night. This watery cave was the reverse of those awakenings.

Every time I went sleepwalking, she thought, I was trying to reach my mother. Something inside me—the mermaid part of me—knew she was near.

Lena felt the sealskin cloak tucked warmly around her. She relaxed and closed her eyes again, feeling safe. She could hear voices—some of the mer-folk must be nearby.

She kept her eyes closed, trying to distinguish who was speaking. She had noticed earlier that the voices of the adult mer-folk sounded much alike in her head, although she could tell her mother's voice from everyone else's. Lorelei's voice had contained a distinctive ringing quality, and the children all sounded unique from one another. Lena supposed that the longer she stayed, the easier it would become to match voices to faces.

"...because of the male human on land," she heard someone mutter. "Now we must live in fear that she will remember, and leave us yet again. It is not to be borne!"

"Shh," said a second voice. "You will wake the child."

"Ah, yes. The child." The first voice softened. "She's a lovely little land child. But she belongs to us now. And in time,