The strange man from the restaurant stood between her and the door. Cassie knew she would never be able to get away from him. If she screamed, it might wake Rafe who remained in a deep sleep upstairs. He would come running if he woke. If he didn't, would the old harbormaster help her?

The man took a step back. "Don't be frightened. I'm not a hunter."

How could he not be? He knew so much about her. How did he get away from Nico? How did he even find her? 

"I'm not one of them," the man repeated, "but I used to be. I know how they operate. They're coming for you, Cassandra. They might already be here. I'm your best chance of evading them."

"I'm not going anywhere with you." Fear made her voice tremble.

The harbormaster picked up the desk phone. "Leave her be, mister. I'm dialing the cops."

The man looked at the harbormaster. "Wait!" He looked at Cassie. "Let me show you something." From his wallet, he pulled what looked like a coin and set it on the counter, slid it toward her.

She picked up the coin. "My mother gave me this token. How did you get it?"

"You gave it to me five years ago. Do you remember?"

For the longest time when Cassie tried to remember where she had kept her token, it had been like a fog settled into her brain. There existed a hazy outline of a memory, a frustration of a remembrance just beyond her reach. Eventually, she had given up trying to find the thing. Now, the fog lifted. "The vending machine ate your money."

The man smiled. "I knew exactly where you were all this time and never betrayed you. That's how you know you can trust me."

Cassie recalled her mother's words. The person who held the token would be her custodian. She started breathing easier and slid the old coin along the counter toward him. "I believe you need to hold onto this while you and I remain bound."

He returned it to a slot in his wallet and faced the harbormaster. "How about that waverunner?"

A few minutes later, after all the paperwork had been processed, Cassie went to the door. She was anxious to get going and face whatever awaited her among the sponges.

Her custodian stopped her. "Pull your hoodie over your head. Those long braids are too easy to spot."

She did as he asked and let him go first. He opened the door and looked all around before motioning her forward. "Right now, we're at our most vulnerable. Once we get into open water, we should be relatively safe."

Cassie's heart beat all the way up in her throat while he led the way. Her senses remained hyperaware for anything unusual, and she figured this was what it felt like to be a prey animal being pursued by predators.

They found the dock where the waverunner was moored. Both slipped into life jackets. Cassie climbed on behind her custodian and wrapped her arms around his waist. Moments later they were underway.

After clearing the harbor, he took a direct course toward Anclote Key, but halfway there he veered off and joined in with a group of others on waverunners racing up the coast.

"You're going the wrong way," she shouted to be heard above the screaming motors.

"I don't like the sudden appearance of that helicopter. We need cover."

What helicopter? She scanned the sky and spotted it. The aircraft circled their group as if searching. Eventually, it broke away and headed inland toward where they had come. After it had flown out of sight, he changed course to their original heading.

It took longer than she expected to get there. He was piloting the waverunner toward the pier where the tourist boats docked.

"No," she yelled. "Go around to the Gulf side."

He did as she requested with no objection.

They sped around the southern tip of the key. She got a good look at the old, abandoned lighthouse.

"Sirena."

The calling was clearer here. It guided her. "Turn slightly to starboard."

He did so. She asked him to slow down and make a few more course corrections until she yelled, "Stop."

He powered down.

Anclote Key lay about a quarter mile distant, the lighthouse serving as a guidepost.

"Why did you want me to stop?"

Cassie studied him. Would he cause her a problem over what she needed to do next? Could she convince him without enthralling him. "You asked me to trust you. Now it's your turn to trust me."

Her custodian tried turning around in his seat to face her, but it was too awkward to do so, like sitting on a horse. "I thought you wanted to come here to hideout."

"I do, but I need to do something else first." She removed her life jacket and pulled her soaked hoodie over her head and handed them to him. "Keep these things for me."

"Cassandra, are you sure you know what you're doing?"

She studied the shoreline and pointed. "See the thick shrubs to the left of that bent tree?"

"Yes."

"Wait for me there."

"How long?"

"I'm not sure."

"Can you swim that far?"

"Piece of cake."

"Cassandra, if it were anyone other than you, no way would I leave you alone way out here."

"I know." She had a thought. "I just now remembered your name. It's Webb. Don't worry, Mister Webb. What's about to happen was meant to happen. I think you understand, don't you?"

"No, and I'm going to worry."

She dismounted and lowered herself into the water. "Thank you for watching over me. I was never aware of your vigil. I appreciate it more than you can know." She took several deep breaths.

"Cassandra," he started to say, but she didn't want to delay any longer. She arced her body gracefully against the surface and disappeared beneath the swell kicking straight down.

She wore nothing but a bathing suit, no swim fins, no dive mask making it hard to see. The salt water stung her eyes, so she kept them closed. She didn't need to see. The spirit living within the fire sponges guided her. Cassie reckoned she had reached a depth of thirty feet and opened her eyes. The sponges rooted to the reef swayed in the current, their flexible arms waving, beckoning.

"Sirena."

She held her hands in front of her and kicked toward them. She made contact with her right hand, then her left. Cassie felt nothing unusual. Not at first.

Her hands got caught up in the sponges. She tried pulling free but couldn't. They tugged Cassie forward until her arms were buried up to her shoulders. Soon her entire body was swallowed. It felt as if a giant bale of soft cotton surrounded her.

Her lungs started to burn with lack of oxygen, but the sponges' caress calmed her. If she drowned here, it wouldn't be so bad, a peaceful end.

All at once, hundreds of needle-sharp spicules pierced her all over, injecting their venom. The pain was like nothing she could ever imagine. She tried screaming but the sponges sealed her mouth and nose making it impossible for her to expel her spent air or fill her lungs with water.

Everything went black.

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