With any other human it would have been ridiculously easy. Luce could have gone to the cliffs and gently uncurled her song of enchantment: the death song, wilder and lovelier than any music on Earth. The melody would insinuate its way into the victim’s mind, promising that all the sorrows and wounds of his whole life would be healed, promising that every bad or cruel thing he’d ever done would be forgiven completely. A human who heard that music would want to die. They’d dive into the water under the spell of her fantastical song, even swim straight for the bottom of the sea. And, just as long as Luce kept singing to them, they’d die without any pain or fear. More than that, they’d die with their minds flooded with sweet, silky bliss, with a sense of rapturous homecoming.

But that wouldn’t work on the bronze-haired boy. As much as Luce hated the idea of killing him, what was even worse was that she’d have no way to protect him from torment while he died.

Dusk fell over the sea like a judgment. Luce knew she couldn’t turn back, but it occurred to her that it might be best if she died along with him. Much as she wanted to hate him, Luce couldn’t help feeling a soft but definite bond with the boy she was about to murder. It would be by far the ugliest thing she’d ever done. She would live through it physically, but she knew beyond all doubt that her spirit could never survive an act like that.

She swam slowly along the surface, looking at a world turned a thousand shades of blue by the twilight. Then she noticed how the northern horizon was melting, its contours softening into a purple vapor, and forced herself to swim a bit faster. The fog was rolling in. The boy had to be able to see her for her plan to work. She curved away from the harbor in front of the village, then passed the pebble beach. The memory was so potent that it came over her like a vision: she watched her former self lashing frantically through the surf with the bronze-haired boy caught in one arm. She could see her dark jagged hair emerging from waves where they collided with the beach, her pale back straining as she pushed the boy as far onto land as she could. She watched his weakened crawl up the shore, and saw how he turned to stare back at her as she rose and fell in the heart of a wave . . .

The cliffs were next. Luce closed her eyes, trying to shut out the impending horror, but she still kept swimming.