The Twice Lost by Sarah Porter Page A

she was.
    “I do, yes. I’m hoping you’ll think it’s good news.” Ellison’s thick brown hands were unsettled, squeezing and releasing a tissue. Dorian began to get the impression that, behind his smiling warmth, the guy was really worried. “How would you like to go back to Chicago? You can re-enroll at your old high school in the fall. Everything’s set. All you have to do is agree.”
    This was the last thing Dorian had expected. “Chicago? But . . .”
    “Theo Margulies. You told me once that he’s been your best friend since first grade.”
    “Yeah, he is. But what—”
    “I talked to Theo’s mother. She’s agreed to take you in until college. You’ll be living with your friend, and you’ll get your old life back, at least to the extent possible.” The warm brown eyes flashed apprehensively as Ellison inspected Dorian’s face. Dorian couldn’t imagine what the problem was. “I truly hope you’ll say yes, Dorian.”
    Ben Ellison did genuinely like him, Dorian knew. But he was still FBI, and Dorian didn’t think the FBI usually got involved in looking for foster homes for orphaned teenagers. “Why do you
care?
”
    “I thought it would be better for you. Staying here, so near where the
Dear Melissa
crashed, can’t be easy. Luckily I was able to make arrangements with the lawyer in charge of your parents’ estate to cover your expenses.” Ben Ellison was looking straight at Dorian, but he was doing it too deliberately, Dorian thought. He was making too much of a display of
not
having anything to hide.
    “I don’t really want to go back, though,” Dorian said. Testing him. He watched Ben Ellison’s broad brown face, saw the nervous lights flare in his eyes. “I mean, you know, there’s my band here now. And there’s Zoe.”
    “And a pair of guardians who you know quite well are dying to be rid of you. And a tremendous number of painful memories.”
    Suddenly insight leaped into Dorian’s mind, and he knew why Ben Ellison was so eager to ship him back to Chicago. He wanted to get him away from the ocean. If that was the idea, well, then Chicago was about the best you could do. Dorian looked up at the older man so sharply that the thought passed between them more loudly than a shout:
This is about Luce, isn’t it? This is to make sure I won’t see her again.
    “She isn’t even
around
anymore,” Dorian objected. His voice was throaty. There was no need to say who “she” meant.
    Unless maybe
that
was what Ellison was hiding? Maybe Luce was back, or they’d seen her traveling north, or . . .
    “I know she isn’t,” Ben Ellison agreed, then hesitated. Dorian was still glaring at him, his blood quickened by the suspicion that Ellison was lying to him. “But Dorian, hasn’t it occurred to you that . . .”
    “That
what?
”
    “That, as someone whose association with mermaids has been established beyond all question, in the eyes of the government you’re . . . a dubious quantity, at best.”
    Dorian was confused. “It’s not like— I don’t have any association with them
now.
It’s not like any of the mermaids who are living up here would try to see me or anything. The ones who even
knew
about me are all gone.”
    “That doesn’t matter.” Ellison’s tone was suddenly dismissive.
    “I mean— What are you saying?”
    “As long as you’re living near the ocean you’ll be regarded as a potential problem, Dorian. There’s no way to
prove
you won’t have any more contact with mermaids while you’re here, and . . . I’d prefer if that wasn’t the case. There are certain individuals whose interest I’d rather you didn’t attract.”
    “What individuals?”
    Ellison shrugged off the question. “I’d like them to forget about you. If you’re far from the sea, back at your old school and keeping your head down, they might decide you’re no longer germane to their concerns.”
    Dorian stared at him, thinking this over. “Thanks, I guess. You’re trying