She’d been so excited to tell him everything, but now as Luce went on she felt close to tears. He was so angry at the risks she’d taken when she’d secretly hoped he would be proud of her, thrilled with how brave she’d been. It was hard to keep going. “The trawler had swung way out, and I had to chase it. I was swimming so fast I could barely see where I was going.”

“You told me it’s too dangerous to swim out now. Because of the orcas.” Dorian’s voice was still flat, and Luce found herself flushing.

“I was going too fast for them, though. I mean, I saw a few of them, but . . .” Luce felt a powerful impulse to understate the danger she’d gone through, but she could tell by Dorian’s expression that he wasn’t fooled. He listened to her with his lips set in a grim line, not saying anything, until Luce reached Nausicaa’s confrontation with Anais.

“That all sounds completely amazing.” He said it coldly, still glowering down at her. Luce wished he’d climb off the rock at least, even if he was too angry to touch her.

“Dorian, I—” Why couldn’t he understand that she’d only done what she had to do? “I couldn’t have left her to die that way. Really. I had to at least try.”

“My life must seem so boring to you, compared to that. I can see why you don’t want to be human again. Even though that’s the only way we could really be together.”

You probably wouldn’t love me anymore if I was human, Luce thought. But out loud she said, “You know I can’t, though! Dorian, I can’t ever turn back.”

“You don’t know that.” He almost snarled the words.

“Anyway, you said you wanted to be the one to change. Into a merman.” If anyone knew a way to make that happen, Luce thought, it would be Nausicaa. But then she’d have to tell Nausicaa the truth.

“But that’s just because—” Dorian hesitated. “I mean, I’m fifteen now, Luce. But what about when I’m seventeen, or twenty, and you’re still only fourteen, and we still can’t be together? I’ll go crazy.” Suddenly Luce understood what he meant by the words “be together” and flinched. Why remind her of that when he knew she’d never be able to be with him in that way? It was hard enough for her to know that she would never experience that kind of closeness, while her body still retained its human cravings. “So I thought, if I became a merman, it would be the one way I could deal with it. Like, it might not bother me then. That you can’t even grow up or anything—”

“Who wants to grow up?” Luce heard her voice going sharp and high-pitched.