Chapter 3

Somewhere between sleep and waking, I felt fingers running through my hair.

Something warm dripped onto my lips. Salty.

"Seren, if none of this had ever happened... wouldn't that have been something?"

Lucian?

Was he crying?

I forced my eyes open. No one was there.

The corridor was freezing. The shackles had rubbed my ankles raw, and thin lines of blood seeped through the skin.

Nothing. There was nothing.

...

Lucian had left the estate.

That meant Vivienne was in charge.

The basement door swung open. The click of heels came closer, one step at a time.

Vivienne stood over me, belly round under her dress, phone in hand.

"Seren, it must be so boring down here all by yourself. I thought I'd keep you company."

She crouched in front of me and turned the screen around.

It was Lucian.

In the video, he was on one knee, sliding a ring onto Vivienne's finger.

"Viv, you're the only one I'll ever love."

His eyes were so soft. So sure.

Vivienne held the phone closer to my face.

"See? He said it himself. Only me."

I turned away.

She didn't let me. Her fingers dug into my jaw, forcing me to watch.

The next video.

Lucian was behind Vivienne, arms wrapped around her, chin resting on her shoulder, one hand on her belly, smiling.

"Our baby is going to be just as beautiful as you."

Vivienne put the phone away and tilted her head at me.

"What's wrong? Going to cry?"

I held on as hard as I could. Bit down until my lips went white.

But my eyes burned anyway.

One tear slipped out — and never hit the ground.

It hardened mid-air into a pearl, bounced off the concrete floor, and rang out sharp and clear.

Vivienne's eyes lit up instantly.

"So that's what your tears are worth."

She picked up the pearl and held it to the light.

"So much prettier than the ones from those lesser merfolk. Bigger too, and perfectly clear."

She pocketed it. Then reached into her bag and pulled out more.

Photos. Laid out in front of me, one by one.

Lucian kissing Vivienne's forehead.

Lucian draping his coat over Vivienne's shoulders.

Lucian whispering in Vivienne's ear, both of them laughing, lost in each other.

Every single one cut right through me.

The tears wouldn't stop.

Pearls formed one after another, clinking against the concrete in a steady rain.

Vivienne crouched down, picking them up one by one, admiring each before tucking it away.

"Keep going. Don't stop."

I tried to hold it in, but something strange happened — my mind went blank.

Lucian, when we were children... he held my hand? Where did we go?

He said something. Something important.

I knew he'd said it. I could almost hear it. But the words were fading, slipping out of reach no matter how hard I tried to hold on.

The fear hit harder than any pain.

I was forgetting.

Every pearl that fell took a memory with it.

"No..." I pressed my hands over my eyes, desperate to stop the tears.

Vivienne stood up and brushed off her skirt.

"That's fine. I'll come back tomorrow."

She paused at the door and looked back.

"Oh — the maid said you haven't done your bleeding today. Three buckets, same as always. Knife's in the corner."

The door closed.

I sat in the corner, shaking all over.

The warm memories in my head were peeling away, piece by piece.

I still remembered his face. His voice. His cruelty.

But were we ever happy together?

We must have been. Why else would I have come here?

I just couldn't remember anymore.

...

I dragged the blade across my wrist and watched the blood drip into the bucket.

The knife was rusted. Every cut left a jagged edge, and each one felt more like sawing than slicing.

By the time all three buckets were full, there was no color left in my lips.

I leaned against the wall and heard maids passing by outside, carrying laundry, chatting as they went.

"Mrs. Voss's paintings are gorgeous, but the materials are such a hassle. Takes several dead merfolk just to get a pinch of soul-pearl dust."

"And some of the blood isn't even pure. Freaks are freaks — they'll never be the same as us."

Every hair on my body stood on end. I braced myself against the wall and got to my feet.

I made it to the courtyard, barely. The first thing I heard was screaming — high, raw, inhuman.

The ground around Vivienne was littered with mermaid remains. Broken tails, split torsos, still wet.

She had one foot on a tail fin, digging a soul pearl out of a mermaid's chest. She crushed it under her heel.

Then frowned.

"Blue again. I only want white."

She looked up and saw me. Smiled.

"Seren, I just learned something interesting today — every mermaid's soul pearl is a different color."

"Too bad I only need white ones. Why don't you help me out? Crack them open and check —"

Her gaze drifted past my shoulder, toward the far corner of the courtyard.

I turned to follow it.

A glass tank. Inside, a small mermaid — ten years old, too young to take human form. His tail flicked weakly in the shallow water.

The moment he saw me, he threw himself against the glass.

"Sister! Sister, help me!"

It was my brother.