Page 74 of Siren Problems
But when this spell hits the water, it’ll call to him.
And if there’s any part of him left that still wants to be free—he’ll come.
Even if it kills us both.
CHAPTER 24
CALDER
Ifeel it in my chest before I even hit the shore.
Not pain. Not pressure.
Somethingmissing.
The current stutters near the cove like it’s been clipped, interrupted. As if some part of the magic holding me down has... shifted.
I stumble through the foam, boots sinking in the slush of half-tide muck. A gull screeches overhead—too close, too loud. My balance falters. Something’s wrong with the ley flow. Not broken, butchanged.
I’ve felt this before, once—long ago—when the curse first wrapped around my throat. When it silenced my voice and sang a thousand lies into my blood.
But now? It’s humming.
Soft. Wild. Human.
I round the bend of the bluff just as Nerida’s translucent form rises from the seafoam. Her hair whips like a banner in the wind.
She doesn’t waste time.
“Your human has rewritten the ritual,” she says. Her voice is low, almost reverent. “With emotion. With truth.”
“What does that mean?”
“She turned down the grant.”
I blink, as if that’ll clear the absurdity from the air.
“No.” My voice is a growl. “She wouldn’t do that. She—she fought for that funding. Sheneedsit.”
“She sent back the stipend. Burned the fine print. Sent her thesis in with every mention of you stripped out. You’ve been wiped from the academic record, Calder.”
“That’s suicide.” My heart thunders. “That’s her career. That’s everything.”
Nerida cocks her head. “She choseyou.”
And that does something brutal to me.
I turn from her, nearly tripping over my own boots in the sand. “She shouldn’t have.”
“But she did.”
I squeeze my eyes shut, pulse pounding in my throat. It’s too much. I wanted her gone. Safe. Out of reach. Not because I didn’t care—but because Ido.Because letting her near the broken pieces means she might try to hold them, and if she drops them... they’ll cut her to the bone.
I’ve destroyed people I loved before.
And I swore I’d never let that happen again.
“Where is she?” I rasp.
