"Secrets never stay buried long in a place where the ocean listens."
Lightning still echoed in Kael's ears.
The crackle of its aftershock was nothing compared to the silence that followed. Lyra had gone still, unnaturally still, as if the very air around her held its breath. Kael's heart pounded, not from fear, but something stranger—recognition. Not of a face or voice, but of a presence that didn't belong in the mortal world.
Elli stood a few feet away, her hands clenched into fists at her sides, eyes wide as the static hissed out of the air. Her damp blonde hair clung to her cheek, the torch she held guttering in the breeze that followed the strike.
"You two... shouldn't be here," she whispered, voice trembling like the tide.
Kael took a slow step forward. "You followed me?"
Elli's gaze snapped to Lyra. "I didn't come for you."
For the first time, Lyra looked shaken. Not afraid—but wary. She stepped between Elli and Kael. "How much did you hear?"
"Enough to know he's cursed," Elli replied. "And you're the reason."
A rustle interrupted them. From behind the rocks, the new arrival stepped forward—the merman. His silver hair hung in damp waves over his bare shoulders, and his dark teal eyes scanned the trio with amusement. The ocean itself seemed to hush as he emerged.
"Playing with mortals again, Lyra?" His voice was silky, cold.
Lyra's spine stiffened. "Vaelen."
Kael flinched. "Vaelen?"
"He's not your business," Lyra said, her voice flattening. "Leave."
Kaelen's smile widened. "But it's so rare you take a pet. I had to see him for myself."
Kael's jaw tightened. Pet?
"I'm not hers," he muttered.
"Not yet," Vaelen said, voice dripping with mockery. "But you wear her charm. The sea doesn't lie."
Kael's fingers went instinctively to the charm around his neck. He hadn't even realized he was still wearing it—the one Miri had slipped into his hand during their brief encounter.
Miri.
Where was she?
Kaelen seemed to sense the thought and turned toward Elli. "This one's new. A girl from the village, right? But I smell the sea on her."
"I'm not part of this," Elli said quickly, stepping back. "I only came to warn him. The villagers know something's wrong."
Kael turned to her. "Then why stay?"
Elli hesitated, then said, "Because I saw her. The other girl. The one who sang."
Lyra turned, sharp. "You saw Miri?"
Elli nodded. "She was on the shore, watching the storm. She looked like she was waiting for you."
Kael's pulse jumped. He hadn't heard her approach. Hadn't seen her leave. And yet, she'd left him that charm—the one Vaelen had sensed.
"What do you mean she looked like she was waiting for Lyra?"
"She was humming," Elli said. "A song that didn't belong to this world."
Kaelen laughed. "Oh, this just gets better. Lyra, your shadows are gathering."
Lyra ignored him and turned to Kael. "You need to come with me. Now."
"I'm not going anywhere until someone explains what the hell is happening."
Kaelen stepped forward. "Let me explain, then. Your precious Lyra isn't the only cursed creature crawling along the shores. She's not even the worst."
"Shut up," Lyra snapped.
He grinned, baring sharp teeth. "You know who Miri is, don't you?"
Kael's blood chilled.
"Of course she does," Vaelen continued. "You think Lyra's the only siren who's been watching the land? The only one with secrets?"
Elli gasped. "Siren?"
Kael turned to Lyra. "Is it true?"
Lyra hesitated, which was all the answer he needed.
The wind picked up suddenly, carrying a low hum—faint, musical, and bone-deep familiar. The melody pulled at something in Kael's chest.
Elli clutched her ears. "That's the song. That's her."
"Miri," Kael whispered.
Lyra grabbed his arm. "We leave. Now."
"She's here, isn't she?"
A silhouette appeared at the edge of the cliff, framed by lightning. Long hair. Bare feet. Glowing eyes that didn't belong to any human.
Miri.
Kael stepped forward, but Lyra pulled him back. "Don't."
But it was too late. Miri opened her mouth.
And began to sing.
The air around them seemed to shimmer.
Kael's breath caught as the melody began, soft and ancient, curling around the salt-touched wind like a living thing. Miri's voice wasn't just a sound—it was a memory, a curse, a lullaby sung by the sea to those it never let go. Lyra stiffened, her eyes widening in immediate recognition, tail flexing against the sand as if ready to bolt into the waves.
"No," Lyra breathed. "That song… stop singing it!"
But Miri didn't stop. The notes were hauntingly beautiful, threaded with grief and power and the bone-deep ache of someone who remembered too much. The sea responded, waves rising in sync with the swell of her voice, casting flickering light against the jagged cliffs.
Kael moved forward, shaking off the spell it tried to weave around him.
"Miri," he said, voice firm but quiet, "What are you doing?"
She finally fell silent, her lips still parted as though the song continued without her. For a moment, only the sea spoke.
"I was just humming," she said, tilting her head like a bird listening to a distant echo. "It's an old tune. One my grandmother sang. Or maybe it wasn't her. Maybe it was... someone older."
Lyra stepped forward, shielding Kael unconsciously. "You shouldn't know that song. No one should. Not unless you were there when the curse was cast."
"I never said I wasn't," Miri said, too calmly.
Kael felt the tension thrum between the three of them. He reached into his shirt, fingers brushing the smooth surface of the sea charm Miri had given him back when she'd first approached him near the tidepools. It pulsed slightly—warm, then cold.
He didn't understand what it meant.
Before he could speak, a ripple cut through the air. Not the sea. The air.
From the surf rose Vaelen.
Unlike Lyra, his presence wasn't subtle. He emerged tall and cold, hair like silver seafoam and eyes far too ancient. His skin shimmered with opalescent scale-fragments, and his expression held no trace of warmth as it settled on Miri.
"You," he said, voice the sound of waves crashing against long-forgotten stone. "Still playing your little games."
Miri smiled sweetly. "Still playing yours, Vaelen?"
Kael stepped between them instinctively. "Who is he?"
Lyra answered without hesitation. "An enforcer. One of the old guard. He keeps the borders of our kind... intact."
"And what are you doing here, Vaelen?" she asked coldly.
"I was following a breach. A song hummed by the wrong tongue in the wrong world. I didn't expect it to be her."
Miri gave a curtsy, mocking. "I'm just a girl who likes the sea."
Kael looked between them, frustration rising. "You're not just a girl, are you?"
Miri looked at him with pity. "I'm many things. And right now, I'm what's keeping the sea from swallowing this village whole."
Vaelen's eyes narrowed. "You've interfered before."
"And you've failed before," she snapped back.
Lyra turned to Kael. "This is spiraling. We need to leave."
But Kael stood firm. "No. Not until I understand what's going on. What is she, Lyra?"
"She's not one of us," Lyra said. "But she's close enough to be dangerous."
"And Vaelen?" Kael pressed.
"My kind," Lyra said. "But bound by oaths and politics older than the stars."
Vaelen suddenly moved, too fast for Kael to follow. One moment he stood in the surf; the next, he held Miri by the wrist, his hand glowing faintly with magic.
"You've interfered with a cursed soul," he said. "The boy bears a mark."
"He's not a boy," Lyra snarled, moving closer. "And that charm? She gave it to him."
Vaelen ignored her. "You want to protect him?"
"I want you to let her go."
Kael's voice cut through the storm of tension, quiet and firm.
"I'll protect myself."
He held up the charm. "This means something. So does the song. And whatever game the two of you are playing, I'm done being a pawn."
Vaelen let go of Miri, eyes assessing Kael.
"Interesting," he said. "She's changed you."
He nodded toward Lyra. "And so has she. Perhaps there's something to this."
Then, to Lyra, he added, "You'll want to keep an eye on both of them. Your past is catching up."
With that, Vaelen vanished into the sea like a ripple fading into silence.
Miri rubbed her wrist, unfazed. "Charming as ever."
Kael turned to her. "What exactly are you?"
Miri met his gaze. "Let's just say… I'm bored out of my scales."
Lyra groaned. "Great. Another cryptic sea thing."
Miri only grinned.
"You'll need me soon enough," she said, walking toward the edge of the cove. "Call when the sea screams."
Then she disappeared, leaving Kael and Lyra alone under a sky crackling with the energy of secrets.
"I need answers," Kael said.
Lyra touched his shoulder. "And I'll give them. But not tonight."
"Why not?"
"Because the tide's turning," she said. "And when it does, nothing stays the same."
He looked down at the charm again, heart thudding.
Far beneath the waves, something stirred