“I… what happened?”
“I don’t know. I found you here.”
Yearning curled at my insides, my fingers tingling. How I dreamed he could see me, know that it was me who’d saved him.
“My dad…. Fuck. My dad. The boat!”
I shook my head and forced myself to drift back toward the deeper parts of the ocean. There was no use for me being here. It’d make me sick with need. I ducked back into the water and headed toward Atlantia. I wondered if I’d ever see Ethan again. Maybe I could do more than see him, if I talked to the sea witch. He had magic. What if he could give me legs?
Excitement stirred inside me again and my arms tingled.
It wouldn’t hurt to ask.
* * *
It tookme averylong time to find where the sea witch was living and he wasn’t anything like I’d imagined. He wasn’t green, but he wasn’t pretty, either. Scars crisscrossed his face and his eyes were strange: one a vibrant green and the other a strange red. Were his disfigurements the consequences of practicing with dark magic?
“Why are you here, little prince?” The witch sneered, nostrils flaring in irritation. He wasn’tugly, even with the scars and weird eyes. He had a handsome face and soft jaw, and a muscular chest with skin a shade lighter than mine. Definitely not green.
“I want legs,” I announced as confidently as I could.
The witch grunted and flicked his tail, swimming toward what looked like a chair made of stone. He sat, resting his elbow on the arm, and stroked his chin. His deep red hair was cut short like mine, and I’d never seen anything quite like it before. “And why would you want that?”
“I want to be a human and live above the surface. I’ve met the man I will marry.”
“Marry?” The witch laughed, and I cringed at how mocking it sounded. “You poor, innocentchild. Humans are no better than merfolk, if not worse.” His top lip curled and the puckered skin of a scar that swept over his mouth upturned with it. “Love is a trap.”
“I want to be a human,” I repeated with more force as I swam closer. Raising my chin in determination, I held out my hand to him. “I’ll accept any deal.”
“You fool.” He shook his head and clicked his tongue in a way my mother used to when she was mad at me. “Does your brother know you’re here?”
“My brother?” I furrowed my brows in confusion and dropped my arm. “Which one?”
“Wily. He cares deeply about all his brothers. I doubt he’d let you come here.”
My frown deepened. “How do you know Wily?”
The witch snorted and flicked his tail in my direction, and I took it as a gesture that he wanted me to go away. I wasn’t going to do that, though. I’d come here for a reason, and I wasn’t going to leave until I got what I wanted.
“I am a prince of Atlantia. You should do what I say.” I crossed my arms, as though that would make me seem more confident. I’d never used my political position before because I hated being a prince, but I’d do anything to be a human.
He laughed again and cocked his head. “Oh, really? You’re so much like him.”
“Wily?” I asked.
He shook his head and pursed his lips. “Fine. If this is truly what you want, I’ll give it to you.”
Excitement made my skin prickle and I grinned. “Really?”
“Nothing is for free, little prince.” He shot forward and grabbed my chin in his fingers with a hard grip. I gasped, but that only made him tighten his hold. “I’ll give you the legs you want, and the ability to still understand your merfolk family, even as a human, but I want your voice in return.”
“My voice?” I mumbled, eyes widening.
“If you’re so sure this human will love you, make him do it without speaking.” His mouth twisted into a cruel grin. Now I understood what they meant when they said he was ugly because I’d never seen a demented smile like it before. “Your voice for legs.”
I should have said no, but I nodded instead. “Deal.”
I would never forget the way he laughed then.
