Page 78 of Make Out With A Merman

They lock on mine.

And gods,he sees me.

He tries to speak.

Can’t.

But I don’t need words.

I feel it through the spell.

The tether’s working.

We’re bound now, threaded together by a spell born of glitter, guts, and a girl too stubborn to let the world end without her boyfriend.

And just like that, the magicfights back.

The old rift magichateswhat we are.

It coils around us like a storm made of teeth. Screams in my head. Shoves against the bond like it can tear me away.

But it can’t.

Because Hazel knew what she was doing.

And I did, too.

I reach for Ryder’s other hand.

He takes it.

Shaking. Bleeding magic.

Butalive.

And suddenly, I’m not scared.

Not of this.

Not of what’s coming.

Because whatever happens,we’re tethered.

And I’m not letting go.

The moment his hand tightens around mine, the spellshifts.

It’s not just light now, it’sopen.

And I fall into it.

Not the lake.

Not the pressure.

Something else.

Somethingdeeper.

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