Chapter 2

For the next few days I didn't leave my cabin.

Every day I studied that roll of parchment.

On the evening of the sixth day, the fleet put in at Blackrock Harbor.

Captain Basque sent someone to tell me to visit the clinic in town and have my legs examined.

I wheeled myself onto the deck, where Oslan and Reno were directing the sailors unloading.

Lilia had changed into a brand-new dress and stood to one side, ordering everyone around.

I went down the gangway in my chair, wanting some air in town.

Lilia appeared out of nowhere and hurried toward me with eager concern.

"Heloise, are you going ashore? Let me push you!"

As she reached for my wheelchair, I brushed her hand aside in disgust.

At that light contact, Lilia suddenly shrieked and fell, scraping a wide patch of skin from her palm.

"Lilia!" Reno dropped the rope and came tearing over, gathering her tenderly into his arms.

Oslan walked over and looked at me, every glance an accusation sharpened by utter disappointment.

"Heloise, how long are you going to keep this up? Your little refusal stunt wasn't enough, so now you're hurting people?"

I didn't give either of them a glance. I put both hands to the wheels and rolled myself over the flagstones toward the crowded harbor market.

I stopped as I passed a jewelry shop called the Light of the Deep.

The window displayed all kinds of fine gems, and I had no interest in any of them.

I only wanted somewhere to rest.

I was about to leave when a simpering voice came from behind me.

"Heloise, do you have money for jewelry?"

Lilia emerged from the shop on Oslan's arm.

Reno followed them, carrying shopping bags of every size.

Lilia deliberately thrust her arm in front of me, showing off the glittering diamond bracelet around her wrist.

"Look, the new bracelet Oslan bought me. Isn't it pretty?"

"Your bracelet doesn't have one-hundredth of the luster of my scales."

I said it coldly and turned my chair to go.

And at that moment the sky went dark.

Black clouds massed overhead as thunder rolled.

A vast wave rose off the sea and an enormous black tentacle broke the surface and came down hard on the dock.

The crowd erupted in terrified screaming and scattered.

It was the deep-sea beast.

Its tentacles were impossibly long, and it moved as fast as a dragon in flight.

A second later another tentacle came in, swept up a fruit stall by the road, and hurled it into the crowd.

My chair was far too slow. There was no getting out of the way.

Reno was closest to me, and I called out without thinking. "Reno!"

But a few yards off Lilia was screaming too. "Reno! Save me!"

Reno looked at me and didn't hesitate for an instant. He turned and threw himself over Lilia, covering her.

I was knocked to the ground by the crowd.

The beast's tentacles lashed through the air and struck at the crowd.

A man ran past me, and the tentacle halted its attack at once.

Those tentacles only attacked women!

I was about to warn everyone when several fleeing women were seized and dragged into the sea.

A thick tentacle swept toward Lilia!

Oslan stood beside her, terror in his eyes.

He suddenly turned his head and looked at me on the ground.

His eyes told me he had worked out the tentacles' secret too!

The next second, a vicious glint flashed in his eyes.

I said in horror, "No... Oslan... don't..."

But he didn't hesitate. He seized my collar and hurled me away from Lilia.

I slammed into the ground. At the impact, the tentacle instantly changed course and curled toward me.

I closed my eyes in despair.

And in the instant before it reached me, a blinding bolt of lightning struck the beast.

It let out a deafening scream and the tentacles withdrew rapidly into the sea.

The clouds cleared and sunlight came back across the dock.

In a moment the sea was calm again.

All that remained was wreckage strewn across the dock and a panicked crowd.

I lay sprawled on the ground, injured from head to toe and gasping for air.

Oslan ran over, looking concerned. "Heloise, are you all right?"

I stared at him coldly and bit out each word. "You threw me over there a moment ago, and now you pretend to care?"

Oslan avoided my eyes and made his excuse. "You're a mermaid. You're one of their kind. It wouldn't have hurt you. Lilia is only human. She couldn't have survived it."

I looked at Oslan, and the face I knew so well suddenly felt like a stranger's.

This was the man I had sacrificed everything to save.

"I don't blame you, Oslan."

Because your curse was about to return.