Clouds heavy with snow blotted out the blue sky and cast a gray pallor on the jewel toned waters of Shipwreck Cove. Icy winds blew across the beach, stirring up sand and ice and lashing it through the air like a knife tipped whip. Mermaid tears clacked together as the surf pushed them ashore and dragged them back to the sea. A few never made the return trip, instead, lodging between older glass pieces and slowly becoming covered in mist and powder.

I sat on the rock that jutted up through the frothy, snow laced waters just a few yards from the beach–the one Kieran brought me to our first day together on Merrow Island. That day the sun had been shining and the temperature several degrees higher, but I was far warmer now than then, my Merrow skin providing a staunch barrier against the cold. Even in my human form, the winter air felt like a spring breeze, and if I transformed and dove into the depths, it would be warmer still. A perfect shelter against the coming storm.

Once, I thought the ocean would be my prison. Now, it was my refuge.

With a sigh, I dropped into the water and waded out until all but my head was submerged. Sometimes I enjoyed swimming like a human and pretending for a moment that nothing had really changed, but the moment never lasted long. The temptation to shift was always too strong.

The shift was easier now, happening with a thought. Scales like iridescent pearls and diamonds covered my tail, swirled up my abdomen, and obscured my breasts, though there was a jagged breaking up the beautiful pattern just above my right breast where Molly's claws had ripped into me. Thankfully, the rip in my fin healed well and without evidence of any injury.

Stones from the cave collapsed littered the sea floor. The Islanders had removed the ones that had covered the beach, restoring the area to its former beauty. Those rocks were used to mark the graves of those who had perished that night–twenty-two souls, my father included, though the marker was a formality since his body had never been recovered. I'd found it odd that the Merrow buried their dead on land. At first, I assumed it was a tradition born during the Cursed years, but it had always been a part of their culture. Kieran told me the sea had enough ghosts.

Cutting to the right, I swam around the high cliffs. Mermaid tears and sand tickled my belly when I dipped low, and when I shot toward the surface, they scattered in a ring around the tip of my tail. Repeating the maneuver several times, I let loose an exhilarated laugh as I launched my body into the air and over the churning waves before plunging in head first. No matter how many times I did this, it never grew old.

A dark shape materialized below me during one leap. A year ago, seeing something like that in the ocean would have made my heart stop, but now, I grinned as I pointed my fingers toward the surface and slipped back into the blue.

The water washed over me like a velvet caress, and my auburn hair streamed behind me like a flag as I picked up speed, hunting for whatever was following me. It could be a dolphin–they seemed to find me wherever I went–or a shark. Niko called them sea puppies and preferred them over dolphins. But the emerald flash I caught in a brief burst of sunlight told me it was an entirely different beast.

I dropped low, hugging the sea floor as tightly as possible. Becoming incognito wasn't easy for me, with my bright, glimmering tail. Closer to the shores, I could blend in with the light sands and sea glass. Out here–I was a beacon in the gloom. Overcast skies reduced the risk of sun rays striking my scales, but shifting clouds meant shadows weren't reliable. It made this game of hide and seek very unfair, but that just meant I had to change the game.

My grin turned wicked when I spied a cluster of manganese nodules. This was a trick Tara showed me, and after months of practicing, I trusted I could channel just enough electricity to stun but not hurt. The current always zipping just below my skin pushed outward at my command and struck the nodules. A second later, there was a muffled yelp and another flash of green to my left. Knowing he'd been spotted, he shot upward, trading hide and seek for tag.

"There's nowhere to go," I projected.

"No, there's no limit to how far we can go. The ocean goes on forever. You just have to be fast enough to ca–"

"Catch you?" I squealed as I snagged Kieran's arm.

Dark curls weighed down by water fell into his hazel eyes as he stared at me with a stunned expression. "Isla, when did you get so fast?"

"Practice," I admitted, omitting the details about who I'd been practicing with. "When you're this flashy, you have to be fast."

He put his arms around me and drew me close, his tail snaking around mine in a way that made my face red. I hadn't understood how intimate this gesture was the first time I'd done it to him, but the sorrow that clouded my mind then was long gone.

"That sounds like something Ridley would say." Ridley's name came out like a curse. "Merrow don't have to be dull and dark because we don't live in the depths of the ocean with monsters, and I don't care what your mother or yer... or Ridley say–yer not going to live with the Finfolk."

"I know." I laid my head on his shoulder and fought the urge to cry. These stolen moments with Kieran were precious. I wouldn't sully them with pessimism. "I'm just trying to play the game. Last time I didn't, I was locked in the house, remember?"

His chest rumbled with laughter, but it quickly faded. He tipped my head back and pressed a salty kiss against my lips. "This time we're all on the same team. No one is going to let the Finfolk take the Cursebreaker, least of all me."

"I didn't–"

Another kiss silenced me. "Protesting won't change it. Now come on, let's get to Niko and Tara. The last time we were late, they didn't stop teasing me for a week."

"They'll just find something else," I laughed, taking his hand before we dived. Kieran was right. My mother and Ridley could cook up all the schemes they wished, but I would not be leaving Merrow Island or its people. It was my home, and–I glanced at Kieran–my friends were the family I chose.