Page 51 of Siren Problems
“Because Iwantedto.”
Kai nods like she’s seen this a hundred times, because she has.
Because behind her glitter and glam, she’s the unofficial therapist of half the magical beings in Lowtide.
“You didn’t do anything wrong, Luna,” she says. “You let yourself hope. That’s not weakness. That’shuman.”
“I’m not used to it.”
“You’re used to research and snark and keeping your heart in a lab drawer.”
“Yeah. Where it’s safe and labeled and doesn’t get crushed by a shirtless sea prince with a hero complex.”
She laughs, but then it fades.
“You’re scared,” she says simply. “Of being too much. Or not enough.”
I swallow.
Because yeah.
That’s it.
“That’s the thing,” I whisper. “He makes me feel liketoo much and not enoughall at once.”
Kai squeezes my hand.
“You don’t have to fix him,” she says. “You’re not a curse mechanic. You’re not a magical bandaid. You’re a person who deserves to be chosen.Freely.”
Tears sting my eyes, and I blink them away.
“You think he’ll come back?” I ask.
She shrugs. “Maybe. If he pulls his head out of his emotionally repressed ass long enough to realize he’s not cursedbecausehe loves you—he’s cursed because he’s convinced he doesn’t deserve it.”
I stare at her.
“That’s... unfairly insightful.”
“I’ve readthreeromance grimoires this week.”
We both laugh, but there’s a crack in mine.
A vulnerability I can’t patch over this time.
“I love him,” I say softly.
“I know.”
“But I don’t know if love is enough.”
Kai doesn’t sugarcoat it.
“Sometimes it isn’t. But sometimes... it’s the thing that breaks the curse.”
Kai slides off the bar, suddenly serious in a way that silences even the leyline hum around us. She plants herself in front of me, arms crossed, eyes sharp.
“No more deflecting,” she says. “We’re done with safe answers.”
