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Chapters (86)
  1. Title Page
  2. CONTENTS
  3. Love
  4. Before
  5. One
  6. ONE
  7. Two
  8. TWO
  9. Three
  10. THREE
  11. Four
  12. FOUR
  13. Five
  14. FIVE
  15. Six
  16. SIX
  17. Seven
  18. SEVEN
  19. Eight
  20. EIGHT
  21. Nine
  22. NINE
  23. Ten
  24. TEN
  25. Eleven
  26. ELEVEN
  27. After
  28. One
  29. ONE
  30. Two
  31. TWO
  32. Three
  33. THREE
  34. Four
  35. FOUR
  36. Five
  37. FIVE
  38. Six
  39. SIX
  40. Seven
  41. SEVEN
  42. Eight
  43. EIGHT
  44. Nine
  45. NINE
  46. Ten
  47. TEN
  48. Eleven
  49. ELEVEN
  50. Twelve
  51. TWELVE
  52. Thirteen
  53. THIRTEEN
  54. Fourteen
  55. FOURTEEN
  56. Fifteen
  57. FIFTEEN
  58. Sixteen
  59. SIXTEEN
  60. Seventeen
  61. SEVENTEEN
  62. Eighteen
  63. EIGHTEEN
  64. Nineteen
  65. NINETEEN
  66. Twenty
  67. TWENTY
  68. Twenty-One
  69. TWENTY-ONE
  70. Twenty-Two
  71. TWENTY-TWO
  72. Twenty-Three
  73. TWENTY-THREE
  74. Twenty-Four
  75. TWENTY-FOUR
  76. Twenty-Five
  77. TWENTY-FIVE
  78. Twenty-Six
  79. TWENTY-SIX
  80. Twenty-Seven
  81. TWENTY-SEVEN
  82. Twenty-Eight
  83. TWENTY-EIGHT
  84. Eleven Months Later
  85. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
  86. Copyright

I want to tell her what Esen said at the party, tell her to wait for me, that I’ll find her, but before I can, she’s gone, tipping forward and disappearing so suddenly that I wonder if something has yanked her under. I open my mouth to scream, but nothing comes out as I stare at the surface of the water, waiting for it to part and for her to reappear, but she doesn’t. So I blindly reach down, grasping at nothing. Again and again until I grab a fistful of her jumper, yanking her back up. She breaks the surface with a squeal and a gasp, clearly thrilled.

‘Poppy, what the fuck?’ I bark as she smooths her hair back with her hands.

She just laughs.

‘It’s not funny!’ I tell her, kicking my legs furiously, trying to keep afloat.

She smiles at me the way she did the afternoon we met on the boat, in that slow, mischievous way that makes me forgive her immediately. Before I can kiss her and tell her not to do it again, her whole body jerks. I reach for her, wondering if she’s been stung by a jellyfish, or something, or if a piece of seaweed is grabbing at her ankle, but then she’s gone, her eyes closed and her mouth open as the sea pulls her back under.

‘Poppy!’ I plunge my hand into the water, but my fingers grasp at nothing. I find something – her hair, I think – but then it’s gone and my hand is empty. A second becomes a few seconds which becomes a minute and I’m frantic. She’s going to drown. But then I find the collar of her jumper and drag her up.

She bursts from the water with a wild laugh.

I slap her on the arm this time. ‘Poppy! Don’t do that!’

She laughs, clearly unrepentant.

‘Right,’ I say through my teeth and I sound like my mother. ‘We’re going back.’

To my surprise, she does as she’s told, which is good because I need her help. After all, staying in the same spot without drowning is one thing, finding my way back to the shore is quite another. I don’t dare take my eyes off her, my hand still fisted in her jumper as she leads us back, terrified that I’m going to lose her again. She’s looking at me as well, giggling and apologising for scaring me, telling me that she’s always wondered what it’s like to be a mermaid.

I glance at the shore and I’m relieved to find that we’re closer than I thought. I can see everything begin to take shape again – the pale-green arches of the terrace, the biscuit-coloured pebbles, our clothes in a hasty heap, the yellow of her scarf the only thread of colour among them – and I see something else.

Charon.

Twenty-Eight

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TWENTY-EIGHT