And even though Sawyer was basically kidnapping her, she didn’t want to hurt him. Not really. He couldn’t control what he was doing, and in the few moments of clarity he’d had around her, he’d been a nice guy. He didn’t deserve to get hurt, and she didn’t want to tear him apart.

Gemma closed her eyes, concentrating as hard as she could to stop the change. She’d never tried to prevent herself from shifting into a mermaid before, or vice versa, so she didn’t completely understand how it worked.

One thing she knew for sure was that she had to get away from Sawyer. He’d gotten her down to an isolated dock, and her fear of being trapped was triggering the transformation. The siren part of her was instinctively trying to protect her by turning into a monster.

Using her talons, she clawed more forcefully at his arm, and finally his grip slipped and Gemma pulled away from him. They were on the docks, and she only ran a few steps down from him. She was in mid-transformation and had no idea what she looked like, but she knew she couldn’t be seen by the public.

She crouched down, putting her hands over her head, and concentrated as hard as she could. Her back had begun to itch, and she was afraid wings might unfurl from it. But then the itching stopped, and slowly the tingling began to fade as her body went back to normal.

“What are you doing?” Sawyer asked, and Gemma lifted her head to see him standing beside her, looking down at her. His arms were scratched up from her fighting him off, but none of his wounds looked particularly awful.

“I’m trying not to kill you,” Gemma admitted, and stood up. “So I suggest you let me go.”

“I can’t let you go,” Sawyer said, like it hadn’t even occurred to him. “We have to wait at the docks until the sirens come.”

“Listen to me, Sawyer,” Gemma said. “If you try to stop me from leaving, I will hurt you. I don’t want to, but I will. Just let me go, and everything will be okay.”

“No, Gemma, you can’t go.” His eyes were glassy, but his voice was firm. He grabbed Gemma’s wrist with the same iron grip he’d had before. “You must wait here until Penn tells me otherwise. I can’t let you go.”

“Sawyer, please,” Gemma begged him. “You’re enchanted right now, but you just need to clear your head and remember that you don’t have to do everything the sirens say. You don’t even like them that much.”

She started pulling her wrist, trying to get away from him, but Sawyer wouldn’t let go. The damn sirens had him trained too well, and her only hope of escape might be turning into a monster.