“I’ve spent ten years searching for answers,” he said. “Every lead, every rumor, every whisper about curse-breaking magic. Nothing has worked. And the curse keeps accelerating, keeps taking more, and my father keeps pretending it isn’t happening?—”
The next words barely held together. “I don’t know how to stop. If I stop, everything falls apart.”
His exhaustion folded over her like a wet blanket. Not just physical. The wearing kind that came from carrying too much for too long with no end in sight.
She didn’t have words. She didn’t have solutions.
She shifted closer until their shoulders touched.
Warmth bloomed in her chest: his surprise, and underneath it, gratitude. The simple relief of not being alone.
“We should get back,” she said eventually. “The cake.”
“The cake.”
Neither of them moved.
They returned to find the party in full swing and the cake already half-demolished by enthusiastic mermaids. Marina made her rounds, accepting compliments on the scones and promises to order for future events.
Alessandro trailed behind her, suffering through conversations with a patience that surprised her. Mrs. Waverly pinched his cheek and called him Marina’s “handsome catch” again. He endured it with only minimal teeth-grinding.
His discomfort radiated off him in waves, and so did his determination to endure it anyway. For her sake.
He’s trying, she realized.He’s actually trying.
At the bar, a siren in a silver dress had cornered Alessandro. She was beautiful in the way sirens always were: otherworldly, untouchable, the kind of beauty that made ordinary people feel invisible. Her hair cascaded down her back in waves that seemed to move on their own, catching the fairy lights strung across the deck.
Marina watched from across the party as the woman laughed too loudly, touched his arm too often, leaned in close enough that her perfume must have been overwhelming. Alessandro stood rigid, polite but clearly uncomfortable, his drink untouched in his hand.
She had no claim on him. The bond was temporary. In twenty-three days, they’d go their separate ways and never speak again.
But right now, watching this stranger flirt with him, Marina wanted to cross the deck and?—
She felt Alessandro notice her jealousy.
Oh no.
His eyes found hers across the party. Surprise danced across his face. Or satisfaction.
He extricated himself from the siren with pointed politeness and crossed directly to Marina.
“The birthday girl’s mother asked me to help carry gifts to her car,” he said, as if nothing had happened. “I said I’d find you first.”
“I saw you talking to her.”
“She wanted to know if I was single.” He held her gaze. “I told her I wasn’t available.”
“That’s probably easier than explaining the bond,” Marina said.
“Probably.”
They didn’t look away from each other.
The party swirled around them, music and laughter and the crash of waves, but Marina barely noticed. She was too aware of Alessandro. The heat of him. The way the sunset light caught the gold flecks in his dark eyes.
Twenty-three days, she reminded herself.This ends in twenty-three days.
But right now, she couldn’t quite remember why that mattered.
