Dana was beginning to get over her astonishment at being spoken to by a human, and a wicked look came into her eyes. She was clearly eager to prove this presumptuous boy wrong, and she smiled as she started to hum very faintly. Dorian could defend himself perfectly well against mermaid song, Luce knew, but still . . .

“Stop it!” Luce yelled.

Dana wheeled around to confront her. “Luce, if this upsets you then you don’t have to watch. Head south and we’ll catch up with you in a few minutes, okay?”

“It’s not going to work,” Dorian repeated coolly, and the three mermaids spun to stare at him again. “Singing to me. I know how to keep from getting enchanted. And anyway, Dana, I’m not your enemy. Killing me would be totally stupid.”

Dana and Violet both started speaking at the same instant. “Dana, I mean, he hasn’t actually heard us sing yet,” Violet objected shyly, just as Dana snapped, “How do you know my name?”

Dorian looked back and forth between the two of them, then grinned blatantly at Luce. He clearly found the situation entertaining, but Luce’s insides were ice cold and her heart thrummed painfully. Much as Luce loved Dorian’s courage, this seemed like a horrible moment for him to make a display of it. “Don’t you know who I am, Dana?” Dorian asked.

Dana’s face turned green. “The boy Luce killed. The boy she said she killed . . .”

“She tried. Twice. Like I said, I’m not that easy.” Dorian smiled with unconcealed amusement. “Now we’ve settled that, maybe we can be friends. I’m Dorian.”

“Dorian,” Dana said. Her voice was as empty as the charred remains of a burned-out house. She turned to look at Luce, and her blank, violated face was the most horrible thing Luce had ever seen. “You lied to me.” She sounded much too calm.

“I . . .” Luce began, but she couldn’t keep going, and she couldn’t look away from those ruined eyes. “Dana, I . . .”