Page 21 of Siren Problems
But I feel them waiting.
The cliffs rise like jagged teeth behind the cove, wind-scoured and ancient, older than any map dares to mark. I climb them without thinking, boots slipping on moss-slick stone, hands scraped by sharp shale. The wind up here cuts deep and cold, like it wants to peel the skin off your thoughts.
I welcome it.
It’s easier than feeling anything else.
Below, the tide churns around the rocks where I left her—where I lost it.The relic, the control, the last sliver of calm I’ve been clinging to.
I press the heels of my palms into my eyes and curse under my breath.
Why did I let her get that close?
Why didn’t Itake itwhen I had the chance—to warn her off, to shove her out of this storm before she gets swallowed whole?
I lean against a boulder, wind howling past, and force myself to look down.
She’s still there.
Luna.
Kneeling where I left her, watching the surf like it might give her answers if she just stares hard enough. Her hair’s plastered to her cheeks, strands tangled in her lashes. Her hands are limp at her sides. She looks smaller now, quieter. But not broken.
She doesn’t run.
She doesn’t flinch.
She doesn’t treat me like I’m the monster the council warns against, or the ghost everyone’s politely agreed to ignore.
She looked at me and asked me to behonest.
And gods help me... I wanted to be.
I dig my fingers into the rock, the sharp sting a poor substitute for the chaos in my chest.
She’s the first person indecadeswho hasn’t looked at me with fear.
Not when I warned her off or when I yelled.
Not even when I let the sea answer me.
There’s something dangerous in that.
Because if she keeps looking at me like that—like I’mworthunderstanding—I don’t know if I’ll be able to keep lying. To her. To myself.
And I can’t afford to open that door.
Not when I’ve spent a century sealing it shut.
Below, Luna stands. She doesn’t look up. But she walks the shore with purpose again, boots splashing in the tide, already scanning the rock pools for more evidence. For more truths.
She’s relentless.
She’s brilliant.
And she’s going to get herselfkilledif I don’t step in.
But I don’t move.
