Chapter 3

*Marina POV:*

I woke up to the smell of rotting garbage.

My skin felt like it was on fire. The "chemical vat" Silas had thrown me into was a pool of diluted industrial cleaners used for the lab equipment. It had burned the outer layer of my scales and skin, leaving me raw and weeping clear fluid.

I was lying on a heap of refuse behind the Pack House kitchens.

*Marina... it's okay... I'm here...*

A soft voice drifted through my mind.

"Silas?" I whispered, hope fluttering in my chest like a dying bird. Had he realized? Was he using the Mind-Link?

A sharp kick to my ribs shattered the illusion.

"Wake up."

I groaned, curling into a ball. Emily stood over me, wearing pristine white heels. She held a plate of food.

"You must be hungry," she said, her voice dripping with fake sweetness. "Silas said you're not allowed in the house anymore. You're a Rogue now. But I'm a benevolent Luna."

She tossed the plate onto the dirt. It was chunks of raw, pinkish meat.

I was starving. My body needed fuel to heal the acid burns. I reached out with a trembling hand and took a piece of meat. I brought it to my nose.

The scent hit me instantly. It wasn't beef. It wasn't venison.

It smelled like the deep currents. *It smelled like kin.*

"Eat it," Emily commanded.

I took a bite. The flavor was rich, salty, and horrifyingly familiar.

"Do you like it?" Emily giggled. *"I had the scientists extract the hydration glands from a scout we caught. I think it might be your cousin, Triton. Don't worry, he's still alive. Barely."*

I froze. The meat turned to ash in my mouth. My stomach heaved violently. I vomited the flesh onto the ground, retching until bile burned my throat.

"You monster!" I screamed, tears streaming down my face.

"Oh, look," Emily sneered, stepping back. "You got puke on my Louboutins."

She signaled to a guard I hadn't seen. "Teach her a lesson."

The guard stepped forward and kicked me in the stomach. I curled up, gasping for air, protecting my head.

"That's enough," Emily said after a minute. She crouched down, careful not to touch me. *"I need a favor, Marina. My skin has been looking dull lately. The serum Silas takes... it makes him strong, but I want to be timeless."*

She pulled a syringe and a bucket from her bag.

"Fill it," she ordered the guard.

The guard grabbed my arm. He found a vein that hadn't collapsed yet and inserted the needle. My blood-my Essence-flowed into the tube, filling the bucket.

I felt cold. So cold. The *Wolf* inside me-the spirit of the ocean predator-was fading. I was hollowed out.

Emily hummed as she watched the bucket fill. "You know," she said casually, "I need more power. The White Wolf legend says that if you consume the heart of a Royal Mermaid, you gain their immortality. I've been trying with the commoners, but their Essence is weak. That's why I need the White Pearl."

My eyes widened. She wasn't just cruel; she was hunting us. She was the one orchestrating the attacks, not Silas. Silas was just her weapon.

"You won't find it," I whispered weakly. "Only the Queen carries the White Pearl."

"We'll see."

When the bucket was half full, she stopped. "That should be enough."

She left me there, bleeding and broken.

I lay in the dirt for hours. As the sun began to set, I heard a sound. A soft, gurgling cry.

I dragged my body across the gravel. My fingernails tore, but I pulled myself toward the back of the laboratory shed.

Through a grimy window, I looked inside.

Horror, cold and absolute, washed over me.

Hanging on meat hooks were the bodies of three merfolk. Their tails had been skinned. But in the corner, in a small glass tank filled with dirty water, was a small figure.

He was huddled in the corner, his silver tail dull and bruised. He was tiny.

"Orion," I breathed.

It was my little brother. He was only ten. He hadn't even learned to shift legs yet.

He was alive.

*