Page 22 of Make Out With A Merman

I stiffen. “What do you mean?”

He doesn’t blink.

I stare.

Then it hits me. Cold and deep.

“You mean?”

Torack nods. “That kid in Cabin Seven. Short, loud, eyes too old for her age.”

My blood freezes.

My voice comes out like gravel. “Lillian.”

“Yeah.”

Torack’s voice softens, but only just. “It’s not just magic or protocol. It’s personal.”

I nod, once. Tight. “Understood.”

“You tell me what you need, Ryder,” he says. “Anchors, markers, old rituals, we’ll give you everything.”

“I’ll stop it,” I promise, voice like stone. “Whatever it takes.”

Torack clasps my shoulder. “Good. Because if we don’t stop it this time…”

He doesn’t finish.

He doesn’t need to.

CHAPTER 9

CALLIE

It starts with a shout.

High, sharp, and wrong.

I spin on the dock just in time to see two campers, Zoe and Gabriel tilting too far to one side in their canoe. The water around them ripples weird, like it’s breathing in.

Suddenly, they vanish.

The boat doesn’t flip. Itsinks.

Straight down, as if the lake decided,nope, I’ll take that now.

I’m moving before I know it. Jason’s yelling something behind me, but I’m already at the edge when I see him.

Ryder.

He explodes out of the water like he was waiting for this moment.

No hesitation. No wasted movement. He cuts through the current like it’s begging to part for him. One second he’s on the surface, the next he’s under again, arms sweeping, legs disappearing in a swirl of foam and silver flicker.

Seconds pass. Too many.

Then he breaks the surface again, Gabriel in one arm, Zoe clinging to his back, wild-eyed and coughing.

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