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I didn't know who, or what, this man was, and honestly, I didn't care. Whatever this bargain was—either some kind of salvation or damnation—pulled at me with a burning desire. I would do anything to have it. In my mind and heart, the decision was made, and my thoughts manifested themselves into existence.

Yes. I’ll do it. Whatever it costs, I said in my mind.

The shadowed man’s eyes gleamed with sinister glee. “Deal,” he said with a grin, and the ocean boomed with a deep bellowing echo.

As soon as the thought left my mind, I snapped back into my body and was immediately afflicted with a cold fire that raced through my veins. The pain was far worse than the suffocating water that had filled my lungs. It was as if my entire body was being taken apart, piece by piece, and reassembled. A scorching sensation spread across my entire body, setting my skin ablaze. I grasped at my neck as a burning pain bloomed inside my throat. I screamed into the blackness of the water as it ripped through my vocal cords. Instead of a stifled gurgle, a piercing melodic screech that glimmered with a golden light rang out, splitting the water in two.

A whirlpool exploded around me, enveloping me in a blur of shadows and golden light. I writhed in the eye of the tempest as the magic weaved itself into the fabric of my being. Glimpses of the shadowed man peeked through the maelstrom, his golden eyes surging with power, watching me. I felt my soul, raw and naked, held inside his gaze.

A scream ripped from my mouth as the outer layer of skin was pulled away. Black iridescent scales erupted across my body, gleaming with a dark luster. I gasped and water filled my lungs, but instead of choking, I felt the familiar rush of air. Gill-like slits opened across my neck, filtering my lungs with oxygen as I breathed the brackish water in.

I yearned for the pain to be over.

I should have just stayed dead, I thought as the pain radiated throughout my body.

Or maybe this was actually hell and just the start of some fucked up eternal punishment.

My hands clawed at my scalp as the burning sensation tore at my roots. As I looked down at the clumps of brown hair in my hands, the terror only grew. Exploding in length, the strands of my old hair disappeared, replaced by long, flowing black hair that spilled past my shoulders and down my back. It glowed with an ethereal luminance, swirling around me like ink in the water.

Pain shot through my lower limbs as they began to fuse. I stared in horror as my body fought against the natural laws of anatomy. I tried to pull them apart, to kick, anything to separate them, but I could feel my bones reshaping within me. Muscle and sinew latched and grasped toward each other, pulling my legs together into one solid mass, birthing into a new form—a powerful tail. More layers of black scales burst forth, coating my lower body.

As the pain subsided, I felt power crackling within me, prickling my skin. A strange feeling tugged at my chest, like some kind of invisible thread, pulling at me from above.

I clenched my fists but released them, as black, knife-like claws pierced into my palms. I looked in awe at my hands, the space between my fingers now encased in a webbed mesh.

The vortex around me subsided, and the pain finally ended. I opened my eyes, now a piercing, icy blue that glowed, cutting through the darkness of the water with a crystal clarity.

I had been reborn, but into what, I didn’t know.

My gaze darted around me, searching for my Faustian savior. I looked up, eyes catching his form as he hovered above, bathed in his inky shadows. He watched me with a delicious reverence.

His eyes traced over my new form, and his voice curled through the waters, echoing in my mind.

All debts will be paid, Evelyn Graymore.

Every. Last. One.

I had been reborn into this world as something different, and a debt was now owed —one I did not yet fully understand, but I knew my life was forever changed. Dad’s words echoed in my mind: “Strong girls last longer, Evie. The sea will keep you strong.” I intended to make sure those words remained true.

Turning my gaze toward the surface, I glared at Preston's boat, now just a tiny blip against the glowing Seattle skyline. The glow of my blue eyes surged with rage.

As I tried to swim toward it, toward him, my body refused to move. My tail thrashed uselessly in the water, foreign and unwieldy, and I found myself quickly sinking to the ocean floor.

Panic twisted my stomach as the surface shrank above me, the moonlight fading to a pale smear. My clawed and webbed hands slapped at the water, but my new body was a stranger to me, unmoving.

The shadowed man followed me as I sank to the bottom, exhaustion washing over me. His golden eyes were the last thing I saw before the darkness swallowed everything.

“Rest now, little siren. We have much work to do.”

The ocean floor, cold and soft, held my body as I lay across its sandy surface. A strange hollowness gnawed at my chest, something beyond the rage I felt. Something hungry.

My eyes fluttered shut as the weight of the sea pressed down, and the world around me faded to black.

Darkness surrounded me. My thoughts and body were still catching up to everything that had just happened, if it had even been real.

Was this a dream? I thought. Had I made a deal with the devil himself? Better yet—who was that man, if he even was a man?

Yes, this must just be some fucked up dream, and I’d wake up back at home soon. Dad would probably be rummaging around downstairs in the shop any minute now.