Page 81 of Whispers of the Starlit Sea
She gasped, flailing — then froze.
In the dim light, her sapphire scales shimmered beneath the ragged hem of her gown. Her fin gleamed, long and strong, slicing the water with every panicked kick.
She stared at her fin — her real fin — and couldn’t process what it meant.
She was free. The curse was broken. She was a mermaid again.
But at what cost?
“Huh. Guess he was capable of it after all,” Rona said coolly. “Too bad for him.”
Sorcha’s breath hitched.
“He…he broke my curse.”
The words caught, fractured by sobs she couldn’t hold back.
Arick’s act of selflessness — throwing himself between her and the falling stone — had shattered her curse.
And shattered everything else with it.
She turned toward him.
He didn’t move.
His chest was still. Blood streaked the stones, seeping into the rising water in dark tendrils.
The band around her heart clamped tighter, not loosening with the broken curse but locking into place forever.
He was gone.
Because of her.
No.
Her gaze snapped to Rona.
Because ofher.
“Why are you doing this?” Sorcha demanded, fighting to keep herself afloat. Her skirts kept dragging her down, and she suspected Rona was doing something to add to that.
“I told you. We need that piece of glass.”
“Find another way! If you kill the humans, they’re going to start a war against the mer. How are our people going to protect themselves against the weapons humans have?”
Rona smirked. “Once we have the mirror, then we won’t need to fear the land-dwellers any longer.”
She looked around, desperate for some way to stop them. Maybe, if she could disrupt the magic, even for a moment, the storm would weaken.
Sorcha set her jaw and dove beneath the water. She shot toward Ewan, hoping to disrupt his focus — anything to stop the bracer’s magic.
But Rona was ready.
A sudden current slammed into Sorcha’s side, hurling her into the stone wall. Pain burst through her ribs, and the impact left her reeling. She twisted back into the flow, but the water fought her at every turn. Rona’s magic surged through it, turning the cavern into a trap she couldn’t escape.
Again and again, she tried — racing forward, singing, clawing for anything that might give her the edge.
But she couldn’t reach them.
