Regaining consciousness was like pulling myself out of a bottomless, dark pit. Every bone ached; every muscle throbbed like I'd swum a great distance without rest. As I opened my eyes and took a deep breath, everything from the past twenty-four hours came flooding back. I saw the crossbow bolt shattering the window and lodging itself in my mattress. After pushing the bed onto its side, we'd crouched behind it, and I'd urged Ani to get Mom and Dad and swim to Aegrem. Finally, I had a fateful confrontation with Wyatt, which revealed some painful truths.

Before the thought had even finished crossing my mind, I realized where I was. When Ani appeared in the doorway, face pale and tear-streaked, she let out a ragged sob before flying into my arms. I felt her trembling with the force of her tears, and I hugged her tightly, hoping to ease some of the fear and anxiety that emanated from her.

The sudden movement made my back twinge, but I ignored the pain. After a few minutes, the sobs finally subsided to heartbreaking whimpers. Wordlessly, I took one of her hands and placed it on my chest, right over my heart.

I'd since learned that, for either of us, feeling the other's heartbeat calmed us down instantly. Ani's chest hitched as she tried to get her breathing under control. When the fear and anxiety finally drained from her body, she sagged against me, her face buried in my neck. "I w-was so s-scared. W-when I s-saw you—" Her voice broke, and she shook her head, tears spilling down her cheeks again.

My eyes darkened as I recalled Wyatt's words, the casual way he'd spoken—ensuring each word found its mark while keeping his tone void of malice or fury. "'How's it feel to be the last surviving member of the Mercers? First, your birth parents, then both of your sisters—it must be hard having each of their deaths on your conscience. Living with that shame and guilt must eat you up inside.'"

"Drew?" I blinked, Ani's red-rimmed eyes scanning my face. As I recalled the memory, my hands involuntarily formed into fists, and I noticed that I was speaking aloud. Her face was pale, and she was trembling.

I lifted a hand to her cheek, and she leaned into the touch. "I'm here. I'm okay."

She nodded, her eyes flicking from my own down my body and then back up to my face. "Where'd you go?" I knew she didn't mean earlier today.

I closed my eyes and let out a ragged breath. "Can you get my parents? There's something all of you need to hear." All I wanted to do was sleep, but I knew I wouldn't be able to until I got this off my chest. She nodded, quickly disappearing from the suite and reappearing moments later with Mom and Dad in tow.

I'd scarcely opened my mouth before another knock sounded on the suite door. Dad excused himself to answer it, reappearing moments later with Aunt Nerissa and Uncle Jay, who wore concerned expressions as they saw me. With Dad already having shared the story with them, their presence barely made a difference as I prepared to recount what had happened again.

"Wyatt," I said by way of greeting. "He ambushed me right after Ani left the suite. After baiting me without response, he finally revealed why he'd come. He explained that his sister had been acting strange recently—going out at all hours of the night and not returning until the following morning. Whenever he saw her after she returned, she'd be cryptically vague about where she'd been.

"Waverly Marshal was, as of a few days ago, the last living Siren in existence." I'd given Ani a brief rundown of Faye's frenemy, but she'd never met her. "She regained consciousness two days ago, right before Sara confessed some shocking news. A few days before Waverly ended up in the infirmary, Sara had been desperate to find out if someone else had experienced what she had—vivid dreams in which a mermaid called to her, telling her to come home.

"Sara had been having these dreams for a few months but had brushed them off as nothing. But when they started occurring more frequently, she began to think there might have been more to it. She told Wyatt that the mermaid in the dream had blue eyes, caramel hair, and honey skin. She also told him that the mermaid never told her who she was, but her face became stuck in her mind, awake and asleep."

Mom just stared at me, her face drained of color. Dad's face was white, and he kept clenching and unclenching his fists. "He was baiting me," I said softly, the words barely audible. I shook my head as if I could physically rid myself of the memory. "'How's it feel to be the last surviving member of the Mercers? First, your birth parents, and then both of your sisters—it must be hard having each of their deaths on your conscience. Living with that shame and guilt must eat you up inside.'"

I bit my tongue so hard blood flooded into my mouth as Wyatt's voice echoed in my head. The shame and guilt indeed weighed heavily enough on me that I found myself speaking the words just to get them out of my mind. "'How's it feel to be the last surviving member of the Mercers? First, your birth parents, and then both of your sisters—it must be hard having each of their deaths on your conscience. Living with that shame and guilt must eat you up inside.'"

When I felt the tears well in my eyes, I hurriedly swiped them away before any could fall. "'I'm not going to kill my sister if that's what you're thinking. I had wanted to kill Waverly, but she's smarter than I gave her credit for. If only Faye had been that smart, maybe she'd still be alive.'" As hard as I tried to keep my face steady, it crumpled as the last word left my mouth.

Dad swallowed hard before he spoke. "With Waverly and Wyatt's sister being the last two living Sirens, the odds have changed now. He is going to be trying harder than ever to kill Waverly if only to ensure his sister doesn't go down the same path as her and Faye." His voice broke when he breathed Faye's name, and he exhaled shakily, swiping at his eyes.

A knock sounded on the suite door, startling us all except Aunt Nerissa. While Dad swam back to the door, she swam to my side and took my hand, her grip warm and reassuring. Though neither of us spoke, I felt the worry and concern emanating from her. When Dad swam back into the bedroom, Waverly in tow, I sat up straighter. Despite her frail appearance and unsteady demeanor, her eyes were bright and unwavering as they met mine.

He pulled a chair from the sitting room, put his arm around her shoulder, and guided Waverly to the chair. She sank into it with a grateful smile before fixing her gaze back on me. "He didn't hurt me," she interjected as if she'd known that had been what I'd been about to ask. As if she, too, had recalled the last time she and Wyatt had crossed paths.

Her eyes flicked from my face down to my tail and then back up again. "Are you okay?" She glanced from me to Ani as if she could see the metaphorical string tying us together. Ani didn't break Waverly's gaze, but I felt her squeeze my hand tighter.

"I'm fine." I met Waverly's gaze directly, letting her see the unspoken words in my eyes. I wasn't ready to talk about what had happened (to me or Ani), but I would eventually. She nodded as she quickly changed the subject.

"Mom and I have been discussing what we would do should W-Wyatt come after us again." If anyone besides me heard the stumble, they didn't let on. "After a long discussion last night, we both decided it would be best if we went off the grid from now on."

Waverly's words had taken everyone aback, as evident from the shocked glances around the room, including myself. I could only stare at her, shaking my head as I opened and closed my mouth several times. Gathering my strength, I rose from the bed and swam to her, taking her hands and squeezing them gently. Her eyes gleamed with tears when she looked up at me.

"The little time I spent with Wyatt told me one thing loud and clear: he's unstable. And I fear that learning more about his sister's lineage will only lead him down that path until it's too late. I will do everything possible to keep myself, my mother, and your family safe."

She took a shaky breath, and her voice broke when she spoke again. "You have to know how much I regret what I said to Faye that day. It haunts my thoughts, waking and asleep. When I heard the news of her death, I fell into an abyss of guilt, grief, and regret. The words I spat at her play on an endless loop in my head daily.

"I wish I could have done more to make it up to her when she was still alive, but I have to do this now. For me as much as for her." I saw it then when I looked into her eyes—the genuine guilt, grief, and regret that indeed still haunted her.

Mom spoke next, voicing the words we were all thinking. "Where are you planning on going?" That had indeed been my next question: where could they possibly go where Wyatt couldn't find them?

Waverly looked at me as if she'd heard my unspoken question. Then she looked at Mom, swallowing hard. "That's a plan still in development. But I told Mom I'd tell all of you first. In case this is..." Her voice wavered, tears filling her eyes before spilling down her cheeks. 

My heart dropped as I began vehemently shaking my head. Dad spoke before I could, his voice low. "Don't talk like that. We will see you again." Even as he voiced the words, I could see the tension in his stance and the strain on his face.

I let out a heavy exhale and closed my eyes. Between Wyatt and the shocking revelation he'd thrown at us, I sensed we were approaching our collective breaking point. I only hoped that our family (and Waverly and Laguna) would be strong enough to survive this.

Ani looked over at me and squeezed my hand. "Get some sleep, Drew. Everything will be okay. I promise."

She might have thought she had turned away fast enough for me to avoid seeing her face crumple and fear flood her eyes, but I saw it. Waverly's lineage changed the game entirely. The only question was, how far would Wyatt go before he did something else that would be impossible to undo?

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