“You’re welcome.”
A wave splashed over her boots, and when it was gone so was the mermaid. When the next came, Alora’s boots had vanished. Another, and she was up to her knees.
The water was still rather frigid, a shockingly pure cold, and she looked out at the boundless sea, at the bare outline of a burgeoning moon, and closed her eyes.
She could feel morning easing nearer but thought Mrs. Flops could wait a bit longer. Mr. Zanfold had promised to check in on her, and Alora had not gone to the ocean in so long.
In her hand, dangled her membership card.
“Thoughts of joining the mermaid?”
Alora’s body responded to that voice, though she did not turn. Or open her eyes. “Perhaps. Do you think I might imagine myself gills? Or maybe just bigger lungs, like a sea serpent.”
The crunch of sand changed in her ears. He’d dismounted, coming toward her. Alora shook her head. She’d left him behind to see to the continued dismantling of Opulence. Either it hadn’t lasted so long as she thought, or he worried she’d become entrapped again.
Or fall to the depths in melancholy.
“Lungs, probably. So you can go between land and water.”
“That would be wiser, I suppose.”
A touch on her back, and an arm was easing around her waist, dragging her backward, onto the beach. “Are you well?”
Alora stared up at Bash. He’d donned the vest again, the silver setting off his coloring. His eyes were warm, concerned. She said, “Opulence is finished, everyone freed. Soon, it will be a bad memory. Why wouldn’t I be well?” At his raised eyebrow, she huffed, scowling. “What? Did you think I would fall apart that we didn’t break it? That I’m still entranced? At least I am entranced by agoodperson. A friend. She won’t hurt me or convince me to commit diabolical things.”
When he shifted at her words, her eyes dropped, and when they did, she noticed what was tucked beneath his arm.
Alora stumbled backward, her feet sinking into cold, wet sand. “What are you doing?”
Bash brought the skull to his middle. “Hear me out, Alora—”
“Bash, no!”
His jaw hardened. “Ineedyou tohear me out. Will you?”
She dropped her head into her hands, as if she could wipe the beach clean of him by blocking her sight. But she couldn’t. Shewouldn’t.“Tell me.”
“You can look at me. I’m not my—I’m not him.”
Alora lowered her hands at once, her mouth parted. “I would never eventhinkthat! I only don’t want you to repeat to me of your leaving.”
Bash’s eyes cleared, the darkness receding. “It isn’t that. I only thought of it after everything was done, and I had time to consider it all.”
“And what have you thought of?” Her eyebrows met, awaiting his explanation.
“Allow me to transfer your entrancement to me. To try this one thing. If it doesn’t work, we can transfer it again. Back to Lennox.” At her silence, he pressed, “Do you trust me?”
Alora gazed up at him—at his hard earnestness—and said, “Completely.”
Bash’s shoulders lowered. He drew a deep breath to respond—only she interrupted. This was a quiet moment if she’d ever experienced one, and she couldn’t hold it in any longer. Couldn’t fathom how long he’d held it in himself.
“Merridon told me about you as a child,” she began. “Only a little, but he told me about the two boys he traded for. To hear it from him… I’m so sorry, Bash.”
The lantern’s light struggled in the deep night, but it did fine in revealing an old hurt in Bash’s eyes. His throat hitched before he scoffed. “Miserable years. Topped with a promotion. Quite the gift it was to be named a captain of my adoptive father’s band of henchmen. Even better to discover the name to be a repurposing of an old insult. I’m surprised he told you.”
Alora could not quell the welling of her tears. “He was despicably cruel.”
Bash’s gaze fell to the sand. “It’s embarrassing to admit that a decade ago, I still had hope that I could fix it. Mend or mold our relationship into something resembling a real family. I signed that contract willingly. It was my greatest mistake, and I will spend the rest of my life in atonement for what I’ve done.”
