Page 88 of Drown Me Gently

“What does it say?” Auren asked, his voice shaking. He knew it was important. That this one was different. “Ulric—what does it say?”

Ulric grit his teeth, voice rasping. “Oath… breaker.”

Auren’s eyebrows knit in confusion. What oath? What had Ulric done to— but his thoughts were erased as Ulric’s body went slack in his arms. Like he wasn’t trying to get up anymore.

“No, no—don’t you dare,” Auren choked. “I’ve got you. I’ll get you back to the cabin. I’ll give you your tonics⁠—”

Ulric shook his head. “Auren, listen. You have to go. Go back to the sea. I can’t—can’t hold it any longer.”

Auren reeled. “No. No, I’m not leaving you. All you need is a tonic, and it’ll get better,” Auren gently laid Ulric’s head on the sand, standing, ready to take off at a run. “I’ll be back with⁠—”

Then pain.

Agony.

It lanced through his neck and into his throat, as though claws sank behind his ears and dragged down, tearing him open. He staggered, eyes wide, clutching his neck as his knees buckled. He gasped—no, screamed—as the fire spread into his legs, his calves cramping, bones grinding beneath skin that didn’t feel like his own.

And then—just as fast as it had come—it vanished. A shaky, phantom ache lingering in its place.

Ulric looked up at him, eyes full of pain and—guilt.

“It’s what I’ve been holding back,” he rasped. “All this time… I’ve kept it off you.”

Auren’s heart broke open. This was what Ulric had been bearing. The weight. The agony he took upon himself to give Auren just a few more days in a borrowed body.

“Come with me,” Auren begged. But Ulric didn’t move—didn’t even try. Panic flared sharp in Auren’s chest. “Then I’ll carry you, you stubborn ass!” he shouted, looping Ulric’s arm over his shoulder. “I’ll carry you—we’ll make it to the water, just hold on⁠—”

But he barely managed a few staggering steps before Ulric let out a cry that ripped the sky open. His body jerked, twisted, and then erupted.

A sickening sound split the air as his clothes shredded apart. Muscle rippled, and from his back erupted all nine tentacles—slick, black, massive. They curled on the sand like wounded things, recoiling from the heat of the sun as though it burned. The Kraken had returned in full. The sight stole Auren’s breath—and what remained of his strength.

Another scream burst from his lips as he hit the ground, clutching his ribs as pain flared again. Gills tore open on his neck, his vision fractured with pressure. His Mer form clawing its way to the surface.

“No—no, I can’t⁠—”

He couldn't hear himself over the roar of the tide, as though the sea were calling him home.

“Go!” Ulric’s voice wasn’t human anymore. It echoed, reverberated—deeper than any voice should go. “It’s taking all I have to keep it off you. Please, go!”

Auren couldn’t breathe. He couldn’t think through the panic.

“I won’t leave you!”

“As soon as you hit the sea,” Ulric growled, “you’ll transform. I won’t have to hold it anymore. I’ll have enough strength to follow. But not unless you go. You have to go first.”

Auren’s chest heaved. Gills tore wide, fluttering. The pain was unbearable—but Ulric was right. He could feel it. The second he submerged, the transformation would be complete. Ulric could release him. And they’d survive this.

“You’ll be right behind me?”

Auren’s voice was a raw, bleeding wound.

“Yes,” Ulric gasped. “I swear.”

“I’ll be waiting.”

Then, with legs barely steady enough to hold him, Auren turned toward the ocean-

-and ran.