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“Your faces and names always change, but it's the same story—every time. You think you’re entitled to whatever the fuck you want,” I said, biting out the words as my eyes burned more blue with every step Jake took.

He tried to scream, but my magic was sound, no longer hindered by keeping my human glamour.

“You think you can just walk away from the wreckage,” I continued, my voice dropping deeper and angrier. “As if the only thing that matters is what you want. Like the people you destroy and take advantage of don't mean shit.”

The water nipped at Jake's neck as he stood in front of me, his body shaking. His mouth tried to move, to plead and beg, but no sound came out under the weight of my golden song.

I reached up and caressed his face, my clawed finger slicing across his skin. Blood welled, slowly dripping down his cheek. “Do you remember when I asked you what you wanted earlier?” His eyes bulged, but his voice remained locked behind my control. “Well, now I’m going to tell you what I want, Jake…”

The sound of his rapid breathing mixed with the frantic chattering of his teeth. The water pulsed from the erratic contractions of his chest.

This is exactly how you should be feeling right now.

Leaning in, my lips caressed his ear. “I want you to know…” I whispered, “...what it feels like to drown in sorrow.”

My hand plunged into his chest, the burning desire for his darkness roaring inside of me as I wrapped my hands around his heart. The irresistible rot of every thought, desire, and insufferable greed that permeated from it was finally in my hand. Jake’s heart pulsed frantically as he looked back in terror.

With a vindictive smile, I pulled.

Jake's body convulsed, eyes wide, mouth open in a silent scream. His heart’s essence ripped free of its human vessel, magically torn from his body. The swirling shadows of darkness undulating around it slowly siphoned itself into my mouth. Relief flooded through me, and the pain finally subsided.

The glow of darkness from his heart lingered for just a moment before it dissolved to ash, scattering from my hands in the wind. Jake's body sank into the black water, pulled down beneath the waves until he disappeared completely.

I felt nothing.

You got exactly what you deserved, I thought.

They’d find him by the morning, maybe. That or the fish would first—it didn't matter to me.

Water coursed over my body as I dove deeper, the lights from the pier fading fast above me. My lungs stabilized, and I felt like I could finally breathe again, my gills flaring as they transformed the salt water into oxygen.

After following the paths I’d become familiar with, I reached the dark and silent layer of water where I drifted in quiet solitude, the power of Jake's heart still warm in my chest.

Despite it all, there was no feeling of retribution. No satisfaction. Just the familiar ache of emptiness that seeped its way inside me after every kill.

I was so close, but I still don't know where that bastard is. Damnit.

The time to wallow was cut short as I looked around, a familiar feeling creeping up within me and prickling my skin. A voice called from inside an even deeper darkness than the water I was currently in.

“Bravo…my little drowned one. You’ve grown so much.”

Layne.

Layne’s familiar voice crept its way through the dark murk, coiling itself around me. My body went rigid almost by instinct, whirling around and leaving bubbles scattering.

His voice was unmistakable, despite not having seen or spoken to him for weeks since he’d enacted the curse. But he was, unfortunately, a man who was hard to forget.

“You again? Don't you have another drowning girl to save or something?” I scoffed as my eyes darted through the slowly crawling shadows that had begun to billow around me. If he was there, I couldn't make him out, but his presence was palpable.

Shadows undulated around me, slowly coalescing from a billowing mass into the chiseled body I had pretended to forget. The shadowy murk around his face was the last to dissipate, his golden gaze appearing first, followed by that devious grin that left a tingle on my neck. A feeling I immediately tried to brush away.

In an instant, he appeared behind me, his whisper tickling my ear. “What? Didn’t you miss me? Ouch…”

So fucking dramatic.

A chill ran up my spine, and the scales all over my body prickled in response. I hoped he hadn’t seen it. I was still learning the anatomy of my new body, and whatever this feeling was, I wanted to keep that to myself.

“I told you that I don't need any more of your help,” I sneered, lifting my tail and creating a divider between us. “And stop sneaking up like that, you’re creepy enough as it is.” I backed away from him, diverting my gaze as it subconsciously raked over the muscles of his body. I swallowed hard.