After assuring Bastian that he could not help with the first phase of her plan, Saina reluctantly left him. Even with a rainbow of bruises and a crushed ego, he was the most intoxicating man she had ever met. She wondered if he didn’t have a little bit of siren in him somewhere, the way he enchanted her.

Chef was on the restaurant deck. It was the end of the breakfast window, and a few guests were lingering, enjoying a last cup of coffee or a relishing a last sweet pastry or piece of fruit. Chef often liked to come out at this time, or whenever the kitchen wasn’t busy, and mingle with guests. He was a charming mix of friendly and professional, and Saina wondered if he ever broke out in song as he did in the kitchen.

He was standing by the table of one of the largest women that Saina had ever seen.

“I insist you sit,” the woman was saying, indicating the opposite chair with an imperious fork. “I cannot make informed decisions with you hovering around like a common servant.” Her words were kind, but brooked no argument.

Chef sat, looking unaccountably as if he would prefer to kneel.

Saina tried not to fidget, and Chef caught sight of her over the woman’s shoulder.

“Saina,” he said, rising again with impeccable politeness. The seated woman gave a noisy sigh. “How is Bastian doing?”

“He’s awake,” Saina said, moving into the social ring of the table as the woman looked around at her. “Ma’am,” she said in polite greeting.

“This is Magnolia,” Chef introduced, bowing in her direction.

“And you must be Saina,” Magnolia said, giving her an openly appraising look. “I cannot count how many hearts you must have broken by being Bastian’s mate.”

That was not the fashion in which sirens usually broke hearts. “I… ah, yes, I’m Saina,” she said, caught off-guard.

Magnolia offered a hand of round bejeweled fingers to delicately shake. “A delight to meet you. I am looking forward to hearing you sing. I have heard so much!”

That wasn’t usually a good thing, Saina thought wryly.

“What can I do for you?” Chef asked. “You look like a woman on a mission.”

Saina glanced sideways at Magnolia. “I came to ask for a favor.”

Her cautious look did not go unnoticed. “Whatever mischief you are planning, I will find out eventually,” Magnolia said arrogantly. “And if you two don’t sit, I shall become cross.”

Saina and Chef both sat obediently, and Saina gave Magnolia as frank an appraisal as she’d received. Violet eyes looked back from a serene face ending in unabashed extra chins. Gorgeous auburn hair was perfectly styled down past the seat of her groaning chair.

Her gaze was sharp and intelligent, and warm with friendliness.

Finally, Saina smiled. “Here’s what I need…”

After Chef approved of her plan, Saina walked down from the restaurant deck past the bar towards her cottage.

She waved at Tex, behind the bar, and Laura, who was clearing tables, and winced at the ‘No Lifeguard on Duty’ sign beside the pool below. Scarlet hadn’t said one word about their delinquency, but Saina knew that this tolerance wouldn’t last indefinitely.

As she went to the gate that would take her home, a wild-haired figure stepped in front of her.

“My friend doesn’t trust you,” the young woman said.

Saina took an automatic step back. “Who is your friend?” she asked in alarm. She had heard of Gizelle, and spotted her several times in her gazelle form from across the lawn, but had never spoken to the shy girl.

Gizelle stood up tall, unexpectedly as tall as Saina, every bone in sharp relief under her pale skin. “I’m friends with the stars in the sky and the sunlight in shadows. But the ocean eats the shore.”

Saina started to speak, and fell instead.

She was standing in a strange field, sunlight illuminating grass endlessly in all directions, but when she slowly lifted her head, moving as if she was in an ocean of molasses, the sky above was black and featureless.

She opened her mouth to cry out or sing her way back, and was surprised to find that she was entirely mute. It should have alarmed her, but everything felt impossibly heavy and meaningless. She wanted to lie down and sleep, but even that much motion seemed like too much effort.

Then she was blinking in the brilliant tropical sunshine again.

“Gizelle, honey, what are you doing?”

Saina shook her head and staggered a few steps away. She felt drunk and tingly, as if all of her limbs had been asleep. She recognized Tex’s voice, and then Laura’s.

“Are you alright? Saina?” There was an odd clicking sound, and Saina realized that Laura was snapping her fingers in front of Saina’s face.

“I, ah, what happened?”

Gizelle was still looking at her, but from behind a curtain of her salt-and-pepper hair now, a shy smile blooming on her face.

“Gizelle, sweetie, you’re not supposed to do that to people,” Tex was scolding her gently.

“It’s okay,” Gizelle told him, cocking her head at him. “I like her now.”

Then she was scampering away.

“This is a very strange place,” Saina said in confusion.

“You’ve only seen it on a slow day,” Laura said wryly.