“I don’t know.” Dorian suddenly seemed embarrassed. “They said something about—they said I’d been subjected to mind control. That was how the FBI guy put it. That guy Ben Ellison.” Luce looked down at the water swishing gently around her fins. It was a miserable thought, but maybe it made sense. After all, her song had forced dozens of humans to love her more than they’d ever loved anything in their lives. Even if Dorian was able to fight off her magic to some degree, still, maybe he only liked her because her singing had messed up his head. What other reason could he have?

After all, he seemed like someone who never would have noticed her when she was still human.

“I hope not! I mean, I really hope I didn’t do anything like that.” Her voice sounded pathetic even to her; she could hear the note of pain breaking through it. Luce began to wonder if she should just leave. Dorian was staring, his forehead creased with the effort to understand. “Dorian—I’ll go away, you don’t ever have to talk to me again—but if I did do something permanent to your mind it wasn’t on purpose!”

“How can you not know?”

“I mean, you sing back! You’re the only person who knows how to fight off getting enchanted by us. But people who’ve heard us sing aren’t ever supposed to live, and I don’t know, maybe that did something bad to you.”

“But you hope it didn’t? You hope you didn’t, like, do something to make me have—” Dorian broke off abruptly, raking his fingers through the stones. Even as he stared down Luce could see the struggle on his face. She watched him brace himself and gaze up at her again. “Something to make me have feelings for you?”

Luce felt like crying. “If I did, then that’s seriously depressing.”

“Why?”

“Because I only want you to like me if it’s real.” Luce was surprised she’d found the courage to say that. Being so honest with him soothed her heartache, and she didn’t feel on the edge of tears anymore.

“Because you like me?”

“Yes.” Luce considered for a second and then suddenly grinned at him. “Does that mean you used some kind of mind control on me?”

Dorian smiled back, and slid a little closer to her. “Totally. With my incredible singing. I fried all your neurons.”

Luce snorted. “Your singing sounds like somebody beating up a frog. Humans really shouldn’t even try.”

“Just because you’re magic doesn’t mean you have to be such a snob.” His voice was playful now, and he reached out to stroke her hair, then gently tugged her until her upper body tipped back onto the beach. “I used to sing in a band and everything.”