That day. Evie and the heavy waves. The dare. The undertow. She would still be alive if Evie hadn’t suggested the race.
The little mermaid began to sob—this time very aware that she could shed no tears as a mermaid like she had been able to in a past life. And, oh, how she craved that release.
She’d drowned that day.
Or nearly drowned—she was clearly alive, though her life had been stolen away. Her father—the sea king—must have saved her, or he wouldn’t have kept her for his own.
He’d lied to her. They’d all lied to her. Told her she was one of them. Kept her in the dark.
The little mermaid sobbed again, her eyes stinging as she watched the ship float along, the life she could’ve been living happening above.
And then the last chunk of blackness evaporated. The last images she’d seen as a human surged forth.
Evie drifting down toward her.
Nik’s lithe form racing toward her friend’s limp body, drawing Evie up to the surface and away. Evie first. Always first.
Then, several minutes later, his shadow returning, his eyes landing on her own body, prone near the seafloor. Him bobbing back to the surface.
Him swimming back down but then stalling out. Caught in the waves by another boy. The one Evie liked—Iker. Another prince.
Nik could’ve fought, but he’d let Iker pull him up. He’d given up.
Their friendship, the way she felt about him, her life—none of that mattered.
The golden glow around her memories of Nik and her human life with him evaporated. Her fond memories of Evie,the girl who was like the sister she never had, gone. Her happy memories of Iker, always a handsome distraction, no more.
All that was left was anger.
Fury.
Ire.
She wanted to break it all. Shatter it all. Ruin it all.
She wanted retribution for all that had been stolen from her.
She wasn’t human anymore because of the choices of these three. She was magic, though. A being of intense and beautiful magic. There was no place the magic ended and she began. She didn’t have her rightful life, her soul, but she had her magic and her anger.
And she wanted to use them.
“Ve∂r.”
Storm. Yes. Storm.
“Ve∂r,”she repeated, feeling the magic surge in her veins, saturate her skin, tingle behind her eyes.
She was magic. She was the storm.
“Ve∂r.”Above a clap of thunder rolled, loud enough to shake her waves. It was the most beautiful music she’d ever heard. Yet she wanted to see this happen. See the destruction. Endless waves, and yet she’d suddenly felt so confined.
But she wasn’t. A light went on in the darkness, and she knew she could go above.
The day she’d been told was her birthday—three days from now—wasn’t her birthday. It was the day she’d lost herrightful life and been reborn, but not the day of her true birth. She’d shared that day with Nik, so if this was his birthday, it was hers as well. She was fifteen. She could go above.
The little mermaid repeated her command as she pushed for the surface. Lightning was growing, the wind was picking up, and the waves were rocking. The boat’s hull swayed and suddenly filled with light. People running from her power. Hiding below.
But not everyone.
