Tension threaded along my muscles as I swam, my knuckles white from gripping my bag. Without looking back, I knew that Drew was indeed behind me—far enough away not to be considered following me but close enough to keep an eye on me discreetly. As much as I wanted to turn around and tell him to go back home, a small part of me was glad that he was there to keep an eye on me.

If something were to happen, I wouldn't be able to defend myself. I'd spent these last few days rebuilding the strength in my tail, but I still tired quickly—especially after swimming long distances. Hence my collapse in Nepptheas. Even with the daggers at my sides, I felt helpless. Defenseless.

The first half of my journey was blessedly uneventful. I had to stop several times to rest and regroup, finding a sea cave to hole up in until I regained my strength. I finally reached Aquireth's entrance just after sunset, pausing to run a trembling hand over my face. Lava torches placed sporadically across the realm were glowing brightly in the approaching darkness.

Drew had followed silently behind me this whole time, never saying a word. When he spoke, I sucked in a sharp breath as I spun around and met his gaze. "What are you going to do when you find her, Faye?" His voice was harsh—something I'd never heard before.

When I looked into his eyes, though, I saw worry mixed with fear, undermining his harsh tone. "I want to be the one to look Raina in the eye when I ask her if she's responsible for the Siren murders. I want to catch her off guard—I don't want to give her more time to craft an explanation. Enough has passed already. I'd be willing to bet she has a somewhat convincing explanation prepared already for this exact scenario."

His expression had only darkened as I spoke, and now it was practically stormy. "You're exhausted. We're not going to find any answers tonight. Let's find another sea cave to shelter in and start again tomorrow." When I opened my mouth to object, he grabbed my arm and shook his head.

"Faye, please." He looked down, and his face paled as his eyes widened. "Your tail's bleeding again. She'll still be here when we wake up tomorrow." His voice softened as the last word left his mouth.

I looked down and saw that he was right—blood was oozing from the wound, turning the seaweed an ugly shade of red. A bolt of pain shot through my tail, and I had to bite my tongue to silence the cry that slipped past my lips. Movement out of the corner of my eye had me tensing, reaching for the daggers at my sides. Drew's hand tightened on my arm as he opened his mouth, speaking low and fast.

"I saw a cave about a league east of here. Haul tail and I'll meet you there. Don't stop for any reason." Without another word, he sped off in the opposite direction, never looking back. I turned, intending to make wake for the cave myself, but I froze.

A figure materialized a few yards before me, cloaked in darkness. I couldn't make out any distinguishing features, but I knew the mermaid's face—the ebony skin, the crease on her forehead whenever she frowned, the dimple that appeared whenever she smiled. I opened my mouth, but nothing came out. When I heard her voice, my heart simultaneously leaped and slammed to a halt.

"You really thought I was dead, didn't you? I hadn't considered myself that good of an actress, but maybe I'd missed my calling." It was Raina's voice—of that I had no doubt. It was the bitterness and hatred oozing from it that had me faltering. The Raina I knew loved me and would never have said such things about me.

I took a shaky breath, steeling myself as I opened my mouth. "How did you survive? We thought you were dead. When I got the letter..." My voice trailed off as a lump formed in my throat. Tears pricked at the corners of my eyes, but I hastily brushed them away.

"I never thought you would be stupid enough to fall for that. You, of all people, should know how the Lost Soul Pendant works—it can either take a life or give it back. In my case, it was the latter. I don't remember much. I opened my eyes and saw the dagger sticking out of my chest and the pendant dangling from my neck.

"It took me a minute to extract the dagger from my chest, but once I did, I was able to get up off the ground. I never did find out who brought me back; I was hoping maybe you could help me figure it out." Her words and voice sounded so genuine that I had to bite my tongue again to avoid agreeing.

"Did you kill all those mermaids?" The words were blunt and harsh, yet I didn't regret one. As my words echoed in the tense silence that had fallen over us, I saw her face pale. Her confidence wavered for a heartbeat before she steadied herself.

"Yes." She said it so matter-of-fact that I blinked, momentarily caught off guard. Her face was void of any emotion, her eyes cold as they met my own. "It was the only way to make you wake up. We're Sirens—mermaids blessed with a voice unlike any other. We're murderers. We can either use our song for good or evil."

As the words left her mouth, a bolt of pain shot through my tail, so intense tears welled in my eyes. I clenched them shut, breathing raggedly until the pain subsided. When I opened them again, Raina was studying me with a quizzical look on her face. If I didn't know any better, I'd say I saw a glint of concern in her eyes.

As quickly as it appeared, it was gone, replaced with the same quizzical look. "Tell me, Faye: do you still hear his voice? How long has it been?" Pure malice and scorn oozed from her words; she knew exactly what buttons she was pushing.

I hadn't realized it until now, but I had forgotten what Jacob's voice sounded like. His last words had faded from my mind, but they resurfaced a heartbeat later. As clear as if I was hearing them for the first time. "'I know I haven't always been the best father, but I truly believe that this is the only way I can atone for my sins. And the only way I'll get to see Carla again.'"

I took a shaky breath, running a trembling hand over my face. "F-five years," I whispered hoarsely. The realization knocked the water from my lungs as if someone had punched me in the gut. It had been five years since that day. The day that changed my life forever.

I looked down at my hands, watching them tremble of their own accord. "It's been five years since..." I trailed off, guilt, shame, and regret coming together to form a knot in my stomach.

Since I killed him. The unspoken words seemed to hang in the water between us, as potent as if I had spoken aloud. Raina nodded. She was smiling, a sadistic sparkle in her eyes as she stared at me. "That's right, Faye. You killed him. You killed your father. You murdered him—you watched the light leave his eyes as you held him in your arms."

She swam closer to me, her eyes glittering with malice now. "Do you still sing? Or is it impossible to even breathe a note—because if you do, you'll remind yourself of what you did?"

I hadn't sung—or tried to—in years. Since Zander's untimely death, come to think of it. I had been so focused on making it through the day that something that had become so easy as breathing was foreign to me now. Even now, the mere thought of attempting to sing—of reopening that wound that had finally healed—sent me perilously close to one of my old panic attacks.

"Why are you doing this?" The words were weak and small, but she heard them nonetheless. Her lips curled in a sadistic grin.

"I thought you would have figured it out by now. I want to watch as you lose everything—and everyone—you love."

I clutched my chest when the words left her mouth as if she'd delivered a physical blow. She might as well have. It was word-for-word what she'd written in the letter. I was left gasping for water with tears streaming down my face as she swam away, not even giving me a backward glance. That's when my tail exploded in pain.

It was as if someone had poured poison on the wound. My ears began ringing as I struggled to bring water into my lungs. Black spots swam in my vision, but I blinked them away as I opened my mouth to call for help. I vaguely remembered Drew giving me instructions right before he'd left, but I couldn't remember what they were. Was I supposed to go west? Or east?

I couldn't make my mouth work. The pain from my tail seemed to have short-circuited my brain. Groaning, I began to drag myself forward, intending to make it to our rendezvous point. I had barely moved an inch before my body ultimately gave out, and I collapsed on the ground.

My chest was heaving as I struggled to breathe. My vision blurred, then went black as I lost consciousness, bleeding and wounded out in the open.

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