This fate can be eluded if the merfolk chooses, instead, to take the human’s life before sun’s first light. This shall be done by plunging a dagger of carved bone into the heart of the human who once was loved. By this act, the merfolk will once more become a creature of the sea and nevermore will they be permitted to venture to the world of man.
I read the warnings with interest, if not fear. Surely Samuel would marry me and we would be joyful together for eternity, but I did not relish the thought of feeling as though a sword were cutting through my stomach or daggers were being thrust into the soles of my human feet. Imagining it made me feel faint, but I thought of Samuel and his kiss, and resolved myself.
After all, what was a lifetime of pain when coupled with a lifetime of bliss?
I set aside the book of spells and began to gather my ingredients. Two weeks was a long time to wait. An eternity to wait.
But when Samuel returned for me, I would forever leave this miserable ocean behind.
The elixir was black as squid ink, though when it caught the light, it shone as if a sky full of stars were captured inside. I used my dagger—recovered from the ship’s wreckage—to scoop the pasty liquid into an empty snail shell and tried not to imagine it sticking to my throat as I drank. Trying not to imagine anything beyond Samuel’s arms around me.
Clutching the shell in one fist and my knife in the other, I took one last turn around my cave. I had done little to clean it up. There was no point. I would never see it again, and even now I felt no sadness at its loss. There was nothing to miss. No one to say good-bye to.
I flicked my tail, pushing myself toward the surface.
The moon was drooping near the horizon when I burst out of the waves. It was as bright and round as the gem on the Sea King’s scepter, and the water around me was alive with green glowing algae. It was a perfect evening to be ashore. I swam to the beach, my stomach feeling as if I had swallowed an entire school of herring.
Samuel wasn’t there yet, which was for the best. I didn’t want him to witness my pain as the spell undid my body and wove it back together.
Setting the knife on a rock, I cradled the shell in both hands. I looked into the swirling, inky liquid, then down at the tail that was not as strong or graceful as some of the other merfolk’s, but that I had always thought a fine sort of tail.
Fine or not, it was keeping me from being with Samuel.
I tilted the shell against my lips and drank.
No sooner had the elixir slipped down my throat than I felt a stab of pain cutting through my belly. I gasped and reached for my stomach, certain that I would find a blade buried in my flesh, but there was nothing there.
The pain continued, searing through my guts until I was sure I was being turned inside out.
I screamed in agony and collapsed.
It was with much effort that I opened my eyes again. The world was bleary. Dried salt had tangled my lashes together. My heart was throbbing. My blood a chaotic rush through my ears. I gasped for air. It tasted different. Colder. Crisper.
It was still night, but the moon had trekked halfway across the sky. Storm clouds were on the horizon, threatening to reach land within the hour. There would be no sun tomorrow, my first day as human.
I bolted upright.
Human.
My jaw fell as I took in my body. Somehow, the absence of my tail was more shocking than the addition of human legs. I traced my shaking hands down my pale thighs, over the hard shins, to the toes that curled on my command, as obedient as my fins had once been.
A cry of elation escaped me.
I was human.
I rolled onto my side and moved to stand, but as I put my weight onto my feet for the first time, I yelped and my legs buckled, hurtling me back to the sand.
The pain was furious—not as horrible as when I had first tasted the elixir, but enough to leave me whimpering when I thought of standing again.
I had to, though. For Samuel. For our future together.
Gritting my teeth, I tried again, and this time I succeeded, locking my knees to hold my body upright. It was as if I stood on needles. I hissed, my face scrunched against tears.
It was tolerable, I told myself.
I would tolerate it.
I took a step. Flinched. Stepped again.
The pain did not lessen, but through strength of will I kept myself moving forward. I was walking. It was painful, but it would not kill me. I could go on, and so I would.
Soon Samuel would be here. He would embrace me and give me his arm, and what would pain be then? Nothing but an annoyance buried beneath my elation.
With this thought, I heard him.
I turned toward the footsteps coming down the beach. I spotted him before he spotted me and my body lightened, my heart soaring on the feathers of a white-winged tern. He was just as I remembered him, moving among the driftwood with an eager gait, picking his way among the broken shells and stringy kelp.
He looked up, beaming. “Nerit, you’re here. I—”
He halted, his smile deadening as he realized that I was not lying on the sand, waiting for him. His expression slackened as he took in my body, all bare skin and uncertain legs.
I had never been embarrassed by my nakedness before, but suddenly I felt vulnerable standing before him. I swallowed, believing it must be the newness of my strange body, but I could not keep from wrapping my arms around myself.
“Samuel,” I breathed. I wanted him to grin again. I wanted him to scoop me into his arms and laugh with glee at my unexpected transformation.
He did none of those things. He seemed stunned and, after a long moment, horrified.
“What did you do?” he asked—nay, demanded.
My smile became strained. “I . . . I’ve made it possible,” I said, daring a painful step forward. “I’ve made it so we can be together, like we wanted. After this night, we will never have to be parted, just like you said.”
“No. This can’t be.” He stepped back even as I came nearer. His hands went to his head, burying his fingers in his hair until it stuck out at all angles. “No, no, no.”
“Samuel, what—”
A shrill whistle sent a cascade of ice down my spine, followed by a male voice that I didn’t recognize.
“She is a beauty, I’ll afford you that.”
I looked up and spotted a pair of men standing on the nearest dune. They held an assortment of chains between them.
The man who had spoken shook his head. “But I don’t see any fish’s tail. Where is the mermaid, Sam?”
“She . . . this is . . . she was a mermaid, I swear.” Samuel gestured toward my body with dismay. “I don’t understand. This is some dark magic. She . . . she must be a witch! Take her as a witch!”
I stumbled backward. “Samuel, what’s going on? Who are these men?”
“We have a witch already,” said the second stranger. “Vladlena with the All-Seeing Third Eye.”
“But if this girl needs a job, I think we can come up with something for her to do,” the first man said with a hideous smirk. “Fisker and Holt’s Traveling Circus is always looking for offstage talent. Will save us from having to build that saltwater tank, too.”