As her tail began to transform back into human legs, she ran her hands over it. She could actually feel the scales shifting beneath her fingertips.

“That’s incredible,” Gemma breathed, staring in awe at her skin. “How is this possible?”

“It’s the salt water,” Thea answered and threw a sundress at her.

Gemma caught it and stood up. She half expected her legs to collapse back into a tail beneath her, but they stood strong. Hurriedly, she pulled the dress over her head, putting it on over her tank top, and kicking off her torn up shorts.

“Well, it’s not just the salt,” Penn corrected her. “You can add salt to freshwater, but it won’t really work. It’s the sea. You may feel hints of it in ordinary water, but you won’t transform unless you’re in the ocean.”

“But … what if I hadn’t transformed?” Gemma asked. “I would’ve died if I hadn’t turned into a siren.”

“You’re fine now,” Thea said. She crouched down in the center of the cove and began building a fire.

“Of course, it hurts when you do a back-flop into the ocean.” Lexi giggled. “You’re supposed to dive, silly.”

“I didn’t know that, since you pushed me.” Gemma glared at Penn. “Why didn’t you just tell me what was going on?”

“That would spoil all the fun.” Penn winked at her, as if she were referring to a private joke instead of Gemma’s near-death.

The fire Thea had been working on suddenly roared into life, filling the dark cove with warm light. Penn sat close to the flames, stretching out her long legs and leaning back on her arms. Lexi sat next to her while Thea seemed content to kneel in front of the pit, stoking the fire.

“You did this to me,” Gemma said, but she wasn’t accusatory. She wasn’t sure what exactly they had done to her, so she couldn’t tell if it was a gift or a curse. So far, it felt a lot like a gift, but she still didn’t trust Penn. “You turned me into this siren or whatever. Why?”

“Well, that’s the crux of the matter, isn’t it?” Penn smiled.

“Why don’t you have a seat?” Lexi patted the ground next to her. “It’s a rather long story.”

Gemma stayed where she was, standing by the mouth of the cove. The waves from the bay lapped against the shore, and the engines of boats hummed in the distance. She glanced out at the night, already longing to get back into the ocean.

The last time she’d been out here, Penn had nearly killed her, and it was only a few minutes ago that Penn had pushed her off the top of a cliff. It was hard to juxtapose that with the knowledge that they had given her the most wonderful, exhilarating experience of her life.