I'd made it a point to stay out of town since the curse broke. Too many people stopped me to apologize, beg for forgiveness, or praise me. I wasn't angry at them. After all, most didn't know the true consequences of breaking the curse, and I had accepted my fate before going to Lorelai.

It was that I hated that they made me out to be something special. All I'd done to contribute to the breaking was to be born a girl in the Halloran bloodline, and even then, if someone was to be technical about it, my father had broken the curse.

The worst of it had died off as time passed, but eyes followed me and lingered, making the spot between my shoulders itch, and so far today had not been bad. Gray and drizzly, the weather kept most people in their homes, and only a few curtains had twitched when I walked by.

But today, it really didn't matter. They could have a parade lined up, and I would brave the cobblestone streets and stone buildings if it meant escaping my house, my mother, and my fiance.

I gagged on the word. Ridley dropped that bomb last night as casually as if he was telling me it would rain today, and neither he nor my mother understood why I was so upset. His confusion, I could accept. The man barely picked up the most basic social queues on land, but my mother...

Had she always dismissed my feelings, or had she played the part of the doting mother to prepare me for this day? Knowing what I knew now—about how long she planned this entire thing and offered me up to the Finfolk—I heartily believed it was the latter. Gritting my teeth, I pushed inside the Merrow Cafe and made a beeline for the table in the back corner, ignoring Mrs. Rose's good natured greeting.

"Am I late?" I asked upon finding Leslie waiting for me.

She pulled her attention away from her book and blinked up at me. Since the curse broke, color had returned to her features. While still pale, she no longer looked washed out. A rosy pink tone flushed her light skin, and her clear eyes were now tinged with a touch of sea green that glimmered in the perfect light. Perhaps the magic she and her mother dabbled in truly changed how they looked, because I'd never seen anyone so otherworldly.

"No, I came early. I wanted to read a few chapters, and it's impossible to do at home. My mother is forever badgering me to help in the store."

"Is it a Merrow mother thing or just mothers in general?" I grumbled.

"Mothers are instinctually driven to guide their young–"

"Nope. It was a rhetorical question."

I'd learned over the last few weeks that Leslie was witty and quite enjoyable to be around, but sometimes, she sounded so much like Branna Goode, I wanted to shake her. And maybe I was a little jealous. She might complain about her mother being annoying, but there was a genuine camaraderie between the two of them. And respect.

"Did you find out anything?"

Her red brows bunched together, and she picked at a page in her book with a mossy green painted nail. "Nothing that will help. Accords are difficult magic, Isla. Hard to forge. Harder to break. My mother... she's knowledgeable, but not very powerful. It's why she couldn't stop Molly so long ago."

"But you're powerful..."

"And not even half trained."

"Isla!"

Mrs. Rose said as she sat a cup of hot chocolate down in front me. She was every bit of the kind, jovial woman my father introduced me to months ago, but since his death, I could never look at her quite the same. She'd known that day what my future was supposed to be and still she hugged me. So, maybe I was a little angry after all.

"Thank you."

"Sure enough. Can I get you girls anything else?" She glanced at Leslie and her smile faltered. Between the Curse and the Sea Witch roaming the waters, most Merrow distrusted magic and anyone who toyed with it.

"No. We're fine."

I waited until she was out of listening range and hissed, "We have to figure this out, Leslie. I can't do it again."

She tilted her head. "Do what? You've broken a magically bound betrothal before, have you?"

Rolling my eyes, I wrapped my hands around the mug and let the warmth soak into my frigid fingers. "No. Offer myself as a sacrifice to save everyone again. If I don't marry Ridley, I'm dooming this entire island to something terrible. Neither he nor my mother will admit what exactly, but she used the word catastrophic. And if I marry him, I'm basically declaring war against the Sea Witch and the Finfolk, who are on her side."

Leslie nodded, understanding heavy in her gaze. "I'll keep looking, but speaking of the Sea Witch, have you considered reaching out to her? She might help."

The thought had crossed my mind. First, last night when I found out about the contract, and for two seconds after Ridley explained she was his enemy. It was one thing to ask her to break the contract when it benefited everyone, but I couldn't doom Ridley and his followers to her wrath. Not to mention...

"She's not trustworthy," I explained. "I made a deal with her before, and then found out later that she left out the bit about me dying. Who's saying she won't take the easy way out and kill me? I'm sure stabbing someone is a lot easier than performing the magic to break an Accord."

"It is," Leslie agreed bluntly.

A bell jingled as the cafe door opened, filling the space with cold air and cheerful voices. Two, I recognized immediately. Al and Tara, bickering as usual. It would seem the blustery day drove most inland rather than out to sea.

"You would think after centuries of being stuck on this cursed island, they would spend all their free time in the ocean," Leslie said, as if reading my thoughts.

"Why aren't you out there?" I asked, knowing she'd turned seventeen a couple of weeks before. One other boy had turned seventeen since the curse broke, and I didn't know the Merrow could party that hard. People celebrated for days, and then we all gathered on the beach to watch as he dove beneath the waves and transformed for the first time.

Instead of answering, Leslie threw her hand into the air and waved wildly, catching the attention of our friends. Twin grins spread across their faces and they weaved through the tables. The door opened again, and this time Niko and Kieran entered.

"Shoot," I muttered, even as my heart picked up speed in Kieran's presence. "Thanks, Leslie."

Undeterred by my sarcasm, she pulled more chairs to our table and scooted closer to me. She whispered, "I'm guessing you haven't told them the newest development?"

"No, and please don't say anything. Not yet. I don't want to bring everyone down if we can find a solution."

"Leaving your friends out of your plans didn't go so well last time."

"We're all alive and Merrow now, aren't we?" I retorted.

"Oh my god, that hot chocolate looks divine," Niko crowed, signaling to Mrs. Rose so she could order one. She flipped her chair backward and dropped into the seat. Her tight skirt hiked up her thighs. "Bitch, why didn't you answer your phone?"

"Leave her alone, Niko," Kieran protested, taking the seat next to me and putting his arm around my shoulder.

Tara huffed. "He says that so casually, like he wasn't organizing a search party before we walked in here."

"Shut it." He pushed her chair with his toe, nearly sending her to the floor and eliciting laughter from everyone else. While Niko calmed her girlfriend down and Al wiped tears from his eyes, Kieran leaned into me. "Everything okay?"

"I must have left my phone on silent," I said. Leslie's eyes burned into me, but she remained quiet. "Everything is fine."