Page 45 of Make Out With A Merman

I stand thigh-deep in the cove just before dawn, the water cold against my legs, the relic from last night still in my hand.

The coral’s gone darker. Almost black now. The silver braids pulsing faintly under the surface like veins.

It’s calling something.

And it’s not subtle anymore.

I close my eyes.

Let my fingers drift.

Feel the pulse of it. The rhythm.

The hum of the lake in my blood.

It answers like it always has quick and sharp. Like muscle memory. Like instinct.

And before I know it, the water moves.

Around me.

Withme.

A soft swirl at first. Gentle.

Then sharper.

A current spiraling outward like a ripple pushed through time.

I don’t have to touch it. Iamit.

And it should feel right.

It used to.

Before I broke it.

Julie findsme on the dock an hour later, dripping and stone-faced.

She doesn’t speak. Just folds her arms and waits.

“I summoned,” I say flatly.

Her eyes go wide. “On purpose?”

I nod.

“Ryder…”

“I needed to test the boundary. The artifact’s a trigger, it’s echoing through the old currents. Something’s responding.”

“You’re sure it’s not just you responding?”

I glance up sharply. “I’ve kept it buried since I was sixteen. Ifeltwhat it could do.”

Julie’s face softens. “You were a kid. And it was an accident.”

“An accident that shattered someone’s spine.”

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