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I kept my back turned, squeezing my eyes shut.

The lighthouse beam swept across us both as Ethan disappeared behind the sandy dunes.

Red.

White.

Red.

My legs gave out, and I collapsed onto the rocks, the sharp stones digging into my skin. I didn't even feel the pain until I noticed the slow pooling of blood.

The world tilted.

The dam burst.

Tears spilled down my cheeks, streaking across my skin in luminous drops that sparkled like crystals. As they hit the ground, they glimmered with an ethereal turquoise glow.

The magic of my siren’s curse had embedded itself into every fiber of my being.

Even my tears were no longer my own.

I wasn’t sure how long I sat there, staring out at the dark water below. Time had frozen, along with the image of Ethan’s face, broken and staring back at me.

The way I had killed his hope so deliberately and methodically made my stomach turn.

Just like everything else I touch.

I shook the thought away as something rigid and cold settled where my heart used to be, or maybe it had never even been there at all?

In two days, I’d walk onto that yacht, and Preston Willows would finally pay for everything he’d taken from me. Even if Ethan Ward’s broken face would haunt me for whatever eternity I had left.

Pushing myself up from the ground, I took off in a sprint towards the cliffs’ edge and leaped into the night air, plummeting into the dark waters below.

The lighthouse beam swept past one final time.

Red for the love I’d killed.

White for Ethan’s light, now extinguished.

Red for Preston's blood on my hands.

The glamour dissolved as I dove beneath the brackish surface, and the cold depths washed over me. Swimming toward the Drowned Tree, I followed the rocky shelf along the bluff into deeper water.

Before I could round the bend, the water rippled as the shadowy telltale sign of Layne’s presence crawled over the area.

Swirling around me, his shadows coalesced into solid form as his hands rested gently on my shoulders.

Please don't let him see me cry, I thought, willing my mind to obey.

Leaning into him, I let my eyes fall shut as the warmth of his arms embraced me. Even though I was happy to have him here with me, I knew my feelings for Ethan must be affecting him, right?

Whatever tethered connection the curse had created between us, the question had always needled at my mind, especially when those feelings were ones I’d rather have kept to myself.

Did you feel my heart break for him?

If he did, I could hardly tell behind that rigid mask he always wore. Although lately, I’d finally started to see it crack.

“How much did you see?” I whispered.