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"Essentially, yes," Thea said "You were our final hope When you washed up on shore, alive, ere all so relieved"

"I nearly died!" Geave her a hard look, signaling her to stop the melodramatics "And now you’re one of us It all worked out the way it was supposed to"

"But it almost didn’t," Gemma said "And I know that you all couldn’t care less about irls you killed, but don’t you care at all about your own lives? If I had died, ould you have done?"

"I don’t know," Thea snapped "We would’ve found someone else"

"With only a few days before the full moon?" Gemma shook her head skeptically "I sincerely doubt that"

"Then ould’ve died" Thea threw up her hands, exasperated "But none of us did"

"Except for Aggie," Gemma pointed out "I don’t understand that, either Why didn’t you wait until you found a replacement siren before you killed her?"

"I didn’t kill her," Thea said pointedly "It wasn’tthe off the ocean suddenly felt cooler Gemma couldn’t see Penn or Lexi or even Sawyer anymore, but she didn’t care

"Penn couldn’t wait," Thea said finally "She couldn’t stand to be around Aggie anymore, and she just…" She trailed off and shook her head

"Penn’s younger than you," Gemma said "Why do you let your kid sister tell you what to do?"

"I don’t--" Thea abruptly stoppedher s you don’t understand You’re too young You haven’t lived long enough or made any real sacrifices You’ve never had to take care of anybody, not even yourself"

Penn, Lexi, and Sawyer suddenly surfaced, only ten or twenty feet fro for breath, but Penn and Lexi were co chilly," Thea said, and stood up "I’ in"

Gemma watched over her shoulder as Thea walked toward the house Her sari hipping in the wind, and she’d wrapped her arested, and Ge waist-deep in the water, the chiseled muscles of his torso visible above the waves

"No," Penn said without looking at hiure retreat into the house Penn’s voice was normally like silk, but it had a harshness to it as she chastised Sawyer "I’enuinely upset, and he moved toward her, like he y "We can play as long as you want"

She turned back to glare at him "I know that I’m the one thatmore, Penn turned and dove under the water Sawyer ih the waves after her