“Well, do you want to be our singer? We could get some kind of tank for you, or like a wading pool or something.” Dorian halfway leered at her. “I bet you’d be pretty good.”

Luce stared at the mass of his body sitting hunched in the violet-gray darkness. He probably wouldn’t be able to see it if she did cry, but still, maybe it would be simpler just to leave. “This is horrible.” The words leaped out of her unexpectedly.

“What’s horrible? That I’m starting a band?”

“That we’re fighting like this. Dorian, I don’t want to feel angry with you. And there’s still so much I haven’t told you, and maybe it’s important.” Dorian reached out for her for the first time, curling his fingers around her shoulder, pulling her close. Luce didn’t resist, but she didn’t go to him either.

“Tell me everything later.” He had her tight in his arms now, tugging her far enough onto the beach that her tail was barely covered by each new wave rolling in; intermittent breaths of icy air prickled on her scales. Luce felt herself go tense, ready to fight. “Just kiss me now. Okay?”

“Let me get a little deeper in the water, then.” Luce squirmed in his arms, trying to work her way down the beach’s slope.

“Is the air hurting you?”

“It isn’t really hurting. There’s still enough water hitting my tail that it just stings a little.” The real problem was that it made her nervous, not that it hurt. She couldn’t completely rid herself of the fear that he might suddenly wrench around and send her flopping up onto the shore. He might imagine he could turn her human that way and wind up killing her by accident. But how could she say that to him? Luce thrashed hard enough that his grip loosened, and she was able to slide three feet down. Immediately she felt better, her tail cool and secure in the rocking sea.

“I don’t see what the big deal is, then,” Dorian said. He was still sulking, but he kissed her anyway. After a moment Luce lost herself in the endless warmth of his mouth, the drifting tremor of his hands exploring her skin.

Something crunched back in the woods. At first Luce didn’t react. There were so many wild animals here; something was always crackling through the branches. Then an unsettling thought flashed through Luce’s mind: maybe Ben Ellison had followed Dorian down here? She listened for a while longer, but there was only the hiss of wind in the spruce trees.