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Chapter 1

She was drowning Her fingers were nuht surrounded her while her lungs burned in agony Soh theto the surface to evade the approaching being, but no ot any closer to the surface

And she knew that tonight in this dreahts before, she wouldn’t make it

It was aplayed out over and over in her head A reenactainst the sea witch Every night it plagued her subconscious as she fought against the night next

She hated this part of the drearasped her ankle Inwardly, she screarabbing her leg She kept her eyes pinched closed and refused to look at the beast She could feel its strong hands pull her down as its touch s, to her waist, and then to her shoulders The sea witch stroked her cheek, trying to convince her to open her eyes and gaze upon its hideous form

But Mina refused One thing she had learned was that so her breath for near eternity

“Come to me, Mina,” the familiar dream voice coaxed as slithery hands reached under her chin and pulled her face to mere inches from the monster’s Mina shivered in revulsion and fear

“Why do you fight h underwater, rang clear as day in her mind “Accept me”

She couldn’t help it Her eyes started to open and she ray eyes of Jared Her heart soared for a split second before she realized her ray for long Just a trick of her ied into the deep blue eyes of… Teague

“Never”

“Have it your way,” Teague sneered Then he dragged her down into the never-ending depths of her dream, to her death As always

Every scenario and every sequence Mina tried to play out always ended with this scene, and just when she couldn’t hold her breath any longer, she would wake gasping for breath and crying

She had fallen for Jared, and—because of her stupidity—he was gone Or the Jared she kneas gone He was now her mortal enemy, and these dreams were just a reminder of what she had done and what she would have to face

Tears trickled down Mina’s cheeks like rain, and she wiped her face on her blue sleep shirt, letting herself ht, scared to fall back to sleep only to return to the same dream Instead, she would lie in bed, stare out the , and wait for the sun to rise signaling a new day

Her seventeenth birthday ca more than a cake and a present from her mom and brother They tried to cheer her up, but they knehat she was going through For herwhen her father died She wasthe loss of someone she loved That pain took time to heal And it couldn’t be rushed