Page 97 of Mermaid on Heels

Faelina huffed and pocketed the mirror, crossing her arms. “You are no fun.”

Is she even serious?“What do you want, Faelina?”

“What doIwant?” Faelina countered, suddenly losing her cool. “When did this become about me? What doyouwant, Liriya? That is the right way to ask it becauseyouare the one always in the way.”

“I beg your pardon?” Liriya narrowed her eyes incredulously.

Faelina rolled her eyes. “Stop being so dramatic.”

“No,youstop the drama, Faelina,” Liriya shot back. “What are you doing? What do you want? Why areyoualways inourway? You took our kingdom, killed our father, got what you wanted, and you are still after us? What do you want from us?Whatdid we ever do to you?”

Faelina scoffed. “That is the thing, Liriya, you did nothing. You didnothingand you got things you didn’t put in the least effort for—in fact, youstolewhat I had been working for, for months!”

Liriya’s breaths came furiously. “What are you talking about?”

“This was why I said let us sit and talk things through from the beginning, but you are so arrogant.” Amusement replaced Faelina’s impulsive sourness. “Princesses are not supposed to be arrogant, you know that right? Perhaps I chased you off from Pearltuna for good; those people deserve someone better than you.”

“Oh, and that isyouthen?” Liriya snorted with a roll of her eyes. “If so, what are you doinghere?”

“Silly, I told you from the beginning—I didnotwant Pearltuna, I didn’t want an underwater kingdom to rule. I wanted my domain on the land, preciselyhere,and you are ruining it now.”

Liriya crossed her arms. “Yourdomain.” It was her turn to be amused.

“Yes,mydomain. But when I saw you at the ball, everything changed, and my plans were turned upside down.”

It was time to give Faelina a taste of her own medicine. Liriya touched a hand to her chest dramatically and made a melted facial expression. “Aw, Faelina, you just melted my heart! I did not know I was capable of changing things—for more than one person at a time.”

Faelina’s nostrils flared for a moment before she composed herself and raised her chin with a smirk. “Playing fair now, are we?”

Liriya imitated her posture. “And you thought only you knew how to play.”

Faelina shrugged. “If you had played nice in the beginning, I would have considered offering you a role in my domain—don’t forget that I offered peace between our kingdoms, too.”

“Ifyouthink I want something from you other than you leaving us alone, then you are an utter fool, Faelina.” Liriya shook her head, feeling amused. She was no longer fuming, all of this suddenly felt like a joke to her.

“I have been called bad.” Faelina shrugged casually.

Liriya recoiled. Before she could mull over her words, she found herself asking, “Was it true, what you said about envying me for my sisterhood?”

Faelina blinked. Then she threw her head back and laughed, her sound irritatingly musical.

Liriya rolled her eyes at the ceiling; she didn’t intend to make it sound likethat—like how Faelina was taking it. She simply wanted to know if Faelina, in the course of all the evil that she was, had room for vulnerability in her. Because to Liriya,I have been called badsounded more than just sarcasm.

Who was Faelina? Who was this girl?

Liriya suddenly realized that she didn’t know anything about this half-siren-turned-human other than what she already did; their evil half-sister, their father’s murderer, their mother’s captor, their kingdom’s invader, their threat, and…

Liriya recalled Faelina’s bizarre transformation and her mind raced, trying to grasp the horrifying reality of the situation. How had Faelina achieved this monstrous transformation? What dark sorcery had she harnessed to steal a person’s very identity?

No one was born like this, surely. Then, whatmadeher?

“Now, now, Liriya, you are the fool of the century if you actually believed that.” Faelina barely held back her laugh as she choked out her reply. “I knew the mention of my name grated on your nerves and I enjoyed it. To be honest, I was shocked when you told the elites and myself—Aeira—that you had an older sister named Faelina. Probably the greatest mistake you ever made, am I correct? However, back to the matter, I have been planning for this precise moment for a long time, since I noticed how captivated dear Luke was by you, and I was simply stringing us towards my intended dramatic revealing scene, taking advantage of my final chance to grate on your nerves as someone else. Apparently, envying your sisterhood was the only ruse that worked.”

Liriya stared at her, studying her.

“What?” Faelina tilted her head. “Is there something on my face?”

“Who are you, Faelina?”

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