It’s already starting to get light. Damarian and I quicken our pace to make it back to land before the fishermen and early surfers arrive on the beach. The merpeople can’t tell the exact time, so every time we return is a small guessing game. We’ve never come too close, though.

After a little while, I find myself lagging behind Damarian. I pump my tail vigorously to match his speed, but it only causes my whole body to grow weak. Damarian slows down until I’m at his pace. “Forgive me, my love. We are swimming too fast.”

“It’s fine. I didn’t exactly get a lot of sleep last night.” I wink.

“Yes, because you are quite irresistible. But, my love, do you wish to slow our pace? I only worry that the time grows late.”

I raise my head toward the surface. He’s right. It won’t be too long before the fishermen start their catch.

“I’m good. Let’s go.”

Except, it becomes very apparent that I’m not fine at all. No matter how hard I pump my tail, I don’t seem to be moving any faster. It’s like pushing a brick wall. It won’t budge, no matter how many times you shove it.

Damarian tries yanking on my hand. The only outcome is him dragging me like a rag doll. “Cassie?” He’s got nothing but worry in his eyes.

“We don’t have time to freak out,” I say, once again trying to push my tail. “Damn, how tired am I?” This hasn’t happened before. And it can’t be because of last night, because Damarian and I have shared many nights like those in the past.

His concerned gaze travels along my body. He raises his head toward the surface, noticing that it has gotten even lighter. He sweeps me into his arms and speeds toward the shore. My head falls onto his shoulder as my eyes grow heavy. The last time I felt like this…it was when we fled to land because I was turning into a human. Could it be…?

It takes everything I have to open my eyes. “Dama…”

He puts his finger on my lips. “It is all right, my beautiful Cassie. Sleep. I will bring us to our home on land.”

It can’t be that I’m switching into a human. I was on land just two days ago. The other time I felt tired…

My eyes flash open. It was when I thought I was pregnant.

No way. It’s impossible. I know that for a fact.

My eyes flutter shut. I must have just overworked myself these past few days.

“We are almost there,” Damarian tells me.

When I open my eyes, I find us near the area on the beach with the rocks. It takes everything I have to look from right and left to make sure no humans are around.

“It is all right,” Damarian says. “The coast is clear.” He closes his hands around my middle and heaves me on the sand. It’s like I’m dead weight. I try to tell Damarian I’m sorry, but I can’t move my lips.

I don’t even know if I have enough energy to switch into a human. I guess I’ll have no choice but to wait until I dry off and turn the natural way.

Except, as soon as my body hits the sand, I’m engulfed in the familiar flames and aching pain. I’m so exhausted that I black out. When I come to, I am no longer tired. In fact, I spring up as though I’ve been zapped with an energy booster.

The lower half of Damarian’s body is still in the water. “Are you all right?”

“Yeah, I’m fine. I don’t get it…” I look down at myself, realizing I’m totally naked. I quickly dig the bag of essentials out of the sand and wrap a towel around me. “Let me help you out before anyone sees you.”

“That is all right.” He hauls himself onto the sand, landing right on his stomach.

I wait for him to undergo the change, something I’ve seen more times than I can count. It’s almost like second nature to us, even though it hurts to see him in pain during every transformation. But he doesn’t shift.

“Damarian?”

He lifts himself off the sand as much as he can, gazing down at his tail. “I do not understand. Why do I not shift?”

“Are you trying to shift at will?”

“Yes, certainly. I am doing what I usually do.”

My eyebrows crease. “I must have exhausted you. Just lie there and wait for the change to take place. I’ll help you dry off.” Reaching into the bag, I take out two towels, handing one to him and drying off his tail. Then I dress into the clothes I put in the bag.

Damarian doesn’t shift.

We wait another ten seconds.

Twenty seconds.

Thirty.

A full minute.

Altogether, a minute and a half has passed. That’s way too long. Damarian should have shifted by now.

Panic starts to seize my limbs. “What’s going on? Could you be sick?” I crawl over and touch his forehead. He doesn’t feel warm—actually, now that I’m a human and he’s a merman, his skin feels very cold against mine. Neither of us has gotten sick these past two years, so I have no idea if that could affect the transformation. Merpeople don’t really get sick in the ocean, so this must be a human thing.

“Do you feel sick?” I ask.

He shakes his head. “I feel fine. Just as I always do.”

But this isn’t like every other time. Something serious is going on, and it’s freaking me out. Not to mention that people will appear on the beach very shortly.

I take his hand. “I’m going fill you up with some of my energy. You’re probably just wiped out.” I close my eyes and focus on melding us into one, like I have done countless times in the past. But this doesn’t feel like all those other times. Something feels wrong. Very, very wrong.

I don’t feel Damarian.

Trying to ignore the extreme panic invading my body, I squeeze my eyes tighter and put everything I have into finding his energy. It feels like minutes have passed. I don’t sense him.

“Damarian…I don’t…”

“Yes, I do not feel you either, my love.”

I jump to my feet. “I’m getting back into the ocean. People will come on the beach any minute.”

I help push him back in the water, then climb onto the stones and dive in. Sill as I human, I break the surface and reach for Damarian’s hands. “I do not understand.” His tail is moving so fast it hits my legs.

“Calm down,” I say, rubbing his arms. “Just remain calm.” I skim my lips across his temple. “Just concentrate on shifting.”

His chest inflates and then deflates as his eyes close. “I…I believe I am calm. But I do not feel you, Cassie. I have always felt you.”

“I’m going to try to change into a mermaid.”

He nods. His grip on me has lessened a bit, but his tail keeps whacking at my leg and his body trembles.

I concentrate on shifting into a human. I’ve done it so many times that it doesn’t take much effort. But nothing happens.

I imagine swimming in the ocean, amongst the beautiful fish and coral, soaring with the dolphins and whales. But again, nothing happens.

“Cassie?”

I gaze into his anxious eyes. “I…I can’t change.”

His stares down at my body in disbelief. His webbed hands go to my waist, then move lower to my legs. As though his hands must be playing tricks on him, he submerges underwater and once again touches my legs. Then he pops out. “You cannot shift into a child of the sea?”

Swallowing, I shake my head. “I can’t change into a mermaid and you can’t change into a human.”

“But why? We have successfully transformed many times in the past. Perhaps we can no longer shift at will?”

“But I’m in the ocean. I should change. And you were on land for over a minute and didn’t change.”

He grabs at his hair, his eyes beyond terrified. Then his head whips toward the entrance to the beach. “The humans. They are arriving.”

I don’t have my mermaid ears and eyes, so I can’t see or hear them. “You need to leave before they see you.”

“But…” His eyes rove over my face. “But…”

“I don’t know what’s going on, but we don’t have time to figure it out now. Go back to your family. We’ll meet tonight.”

“No, I cannot return home. I do not wish to cause my family any unease.”

“Yeah, I don’t want them to worry, either. Then can you stay somewhere until tonight? We can’t figure this out with all the surfers hanging around.”

Damarian nods, though his mind seems to be elsewhere.

“Stay out of sight. The fishermen will be starting their catch.” My chest tightens at the thought of…no, I can’t afford to think that. I grab him and press him close to me. “Be careful, Damarian. Please be careful.”

“I do not understand…I…” He quickly pushes away from me. “The surfers will soon sail the sea. I must go.”

I clench his hands. “I love you.”

“I love you as well, my sweet, beautiful Cassie. Please kiss me before I go. I must show you how much you mean to me.”

I lock my arms around his neck and our lips meet in violent desperation. But as my lips soak in his, it feels as though…I’m kissing a shower door.

Oh no. Not again.

When we pull apart, Damarian’s lips are a little swollen, but not like how they usually are after we kiss. His eyes dip to my lips, then to my eyes. “I have not felt…”

Tears fill my eyes. “I didn’t feel it, either.”

He just stares at me, totally lost.

I give him a small shove. “You have to go. And please for the millionth time, be careful.”

He nods. “Farewell, Cassie. I will see you tonight.” He dives under the water, as deep as he can go so his tail doesn’t stick out of the ocean. When the splashing stops, I know he is out of sight.

The tears drip down my cheeks. I just remain in the water, not paying attention to the waves that push me from all directions. All I see before me is Damarian lying on the sand, still in his merman form. Me in the water, still as a human. The only thing I feel is my empty, cold lips.

I didn’t feel Damarian at all. It’s like the past two years never happened.