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After plucking the splinter out of my foot, I threw off my soggy clothes and jumped into the shower.
As the water washed the salt away, I questioned everything that had happened that evening. I had fallen off a cliff. Maybe I had hit my head on the way down and hallucinated the whole mermaid thing?
I ran my hands down my legs. In the safety of my shower, the whole idea of being a mermaid sounded absurd. But as I slipped my fingers back up my thighs, the soft skin transformed to smooth scales.
“No, no!” I plummeted onto the shower floor as my tail burst back into existence, pain blossoming across my back as I slammed into the wall. “For the love of?—”
I pushed open the shower door to give myself more space, and water spattered all over the floor. The fins at the end of my tail slapped against the tiles.
“This is not happening.” I closed my eyes. “You’ve snapped, that’s all. Mental breakdown, nothing to worry about.”
I opened one eye, but the tail was still there.
It took several more minutes for me to urge my legs to return, and once I could finally stand, I finished my shower at double speed. I shoved on a pair of warm pyjamas and wrapped myself up in a dressing gown. If I couldn’t see my legs, they couldn’t turn into a tail… right?
I needed a drink.
All the lights were on in the corridor, but there wasn’t so much as a murmur from behind any of the bedroom doors.
Gods, what time was it?
I kept one hand on the wall as I made my way toward the stairs, in case my legs miraculously disappeared again.
Blaring red and blue lights at the end of the corridor had me stopping in my tracks. The police? Here? Why?
I broke into a run to the top of the stairs. Headlights beamed through the open front door, casting an unnatural light down the corridor.
My stomach lurched. What had happened?
Raised voices rose from the living room and I dashed down the stairs toward the commotion.
Two police officers, one with a notebook and pen, stood a few feet in the doorway.
Dad stood before them, grabbing a fistful of his hair. Sandra had her arm around him, dressed in her fluffiest pyjamas.
The entire family congregated on the sofas, watching with stricken faces from a distance. Even Rose, who I hadn’t seen in days, rocked her baby in an armchair by the fire, her husband squatting down by her side.
“What’s happened?” I asked.
Every head in the room snapped in my direction, and a solemn silence fell. Dad’s eyes glazed over as he stared at me.
“Can someone tell me what’s going on here?” I asked. “Is someone hurt? What?—?”
Dad pushed past the police and pulled me into a bear hug.
“Where have you been?” he demanded.
“I got in half an hour ago. I was in my room,” I said. “Dad, what’s happening?”
“We received an anonymous call.” One of the police officers tucked his notebook into his pocket. “A report that someone had seen you fall off a cliff.”
All the blood drained from my face.
Had Adrian called in to report my fall?
“Was this the Everharts?” Keith balled up his fists. “Were you pushed?”
He actually wasn’t far off the mark, but I couldn’t admit that if I wanted to keep the peace.
