“Gemma!” Alex said from behind her, and she heard his screen door slam. Gemma just kept walking, though, so he chased after her. “Gemma!”

“Shh!” She whirled around. If she didn’t talk to him, he’d make enough noise to wake up her sister. “What are you doing out here?”

“I saw you from the window.” He’d stopped a few feet from her. “What are you doing out here?”

“I’m sorry. I have to leave.”

“You shouldn’t be out here alone, not with the killer on the loose.” He took a step back toward his house. “I’ll go get my shoes and I’ll come with you.”

“No, Alex.” She shook her head. “I’m leaving for good.”

“What?” Even in the dim moonlight, she could see the hurt and confusion on his face. “Where are you going?”

“I don’t know, but you can’t come with me.”

“What?” He stepped toward her, and when he did, she stepped back.

“Alex, I can’t do this.”

“What?” Alex asked. “What can’t you do?”

“Say good-bye to you.” She swallowed back tears and tried to ignore the pain in her heart.

“Then don’t,” he said simply. “Stay here, with me.”

“No, I can’t.” She started to step back, and he followed her, saying her name. “No, Alex. You can’t come with. I don’t want you to.”

“Gemma, if something’s wrong I can help.”

“No.” She shook her head and realized that the only way she’d stop him was if she hurt him. “You don’t get it, Alex. I don’t want you. I don’t even like you. You’re boring and lame. I was just using you because you had a car, but … I don’t want you anymore.”

His whole face fell. “You don’t mean that.”

“I do,” she insisted. “So leave me alone. I don’t want to see you ever again.”

She turned and bolted away from him. With her broken heart pounding in her chest, Gemma pushed herself as fast as she could.

Tears blurred her vision, but it didn’t matter. She didn’t need to see where she was going anyway. The sea called to her, telling her exactly where she needed to go.

TWENTY-FOUR

Monsters

When Gemma hit the water, the song finally stopped. Her legs turned to a tail, and she breathed in deeply.

Transforming into her mermaid form had silenced the watersong, and she closed her eyes, listening for the sirens. She couldn’t hear them, not exactly, but she could feel them. The sirens drew her to them, the same way the ocean did.

If they hadn’t had that connection, Gemma probably never would’ve found the sirens. Instead of going to the cove like she’d thought she would, Gemma found herself pulled out to sea, to Bernie’s Island a few miles off Anthemusa Bay.

Before Gemma had even surfaced, she heard the loud music blasting. It was Ke$ha, and that didn’t seem like something Bernie would listen to.

Gemma pulled herself up onto the dock, which was more difficult than it sounded since she couldn’t use her fish tail to help her. From that vantage point, she could see Bernie’s cabin through the trees, all lit up like a lighthouse.

Once her tail had returned to her usual leggy form, Gemma rummaged through her backpack and pulled on clothes. They were soaking wet, but it was better than being naked.

She walked along the dock to the trail that wound up to Bernie’s cabin. The windows were wide open, so the music came blaring out at full volume. Gemma snuck up to them, wanting to see what they were doing before she went in.

Lexi was jumping up and down on the couch, doing some kind of weird dance move. Her mouth moved along with the lyrics, but no words came out.

Rummaging through a cupboard nearby was Thea. The whole cabin looked ransacked, and by the way Thea went through stuff and tossed it around, it was obvious why. Gemma couldn’t tell if Thea was looking for anything in particular or not.

Neither Penn nor Bernie was anywhere to be seen, so Gemma crept around the cabin to another window, hoping she could see more from there.

“I’m glad you decided to join us,” Penn said, and Gemma jumped back. Penn had somehow come up right beside her, and Gemma hadn’t heard her.

Penn smiled at her, and Gemma hurried to compose herself. The last thing in the world she wanted was for Penn to know how much she’d scared her.

“I haven’t decided anything yet,” Gemma replied coolly, and Penn only smiled wider.

“Oh!” Lexi exclaimed inside the cabin. “Is Gemma here?” The music stopped short, so the only sounds came from the ocean around them and the wind through the trees.

“Come inside.” Penn took a step backward, then turned around and went into the cabin. Swallowing hard, Gemma followed her.

Lexi had gotten down off the couch, but Thea continued her searching. She crouched in front of the sink, pulling out containers of Comet and drain cleaner.

“Thea, I think it’s safe to assume there’s nothing valuable under the sink,” Penn said as she carefully stepped over all the things Thea’d tossed on the kitchen floor.

“This is a waste of time anyway.” Thea sighed and got to her feet. “Gemma’s here. Can we go now?”

“I don’t know.” Penn faced Gemma and leaned on the back of the couch. “Gemma says she’s not sure if she’s coming with us or not.”