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Alistair straightened, a dark smile coming easily to his mouth. “So thereisa curse involved.”

“I don’t think you were through telling me about yours.”

“Quite boring, actually. My uncle conspired with outcasts from the city, the dark sea fae that swim the depths. Both families, his and the female sea fae’s, had been shamed, and the only way to fix it was to cast out the one at fault. Unfortunately, they all blamed me. To ensure the bonding occurred between my cousin and the female, I was the one exiled. For good measure, they decided to take it one step further.” He swung his legs, softly kicking the counter with the tip of his shoes. “Earned myself a pair of legs and no magic to change back into my scales. Here I am, an exiled merman, and my only hope of ever salvaging my reputation and regaining my place as my father’s successor is to break the curse.”

“And how do you suppose you break it?”

That was the tricky part.

“No one knows that a servant of my father’s leaves me gold in the reefs. I go diving ever week, or that’s what my friends believe. My ability to stay under water is limited to about ten minutes, fifteen max. Far longer than the average human, but it’s nothing compared to what I’ve know most of my life. Still, it’s enough time to reach the reef and retrieve my allowance, as you might call it. It’s also a discreet way of communicating with my family and letting them know I’m okay, as well as learning what I need to do to break the curse.”

“Which is?”

“Get my fins back. And to do that, I must find the sea fae who cast the curse. My father has sought that sea fae for years. When my uncle was implicated in some questionable activities, he offered the name of the fae to avoid a death sentence.”

Niera’s brows shot up. “Your people don’t mess around, do they?”

Alistair scowled. “He took a shot at my mother’s life. He deserved a spear through his cold heart. Last correspondence I received was that she still suffers effects from the damage of the fae’s poison. It’s made me all the more anxious to return home.”

“If you know the name of the fae, what keeps you here?”

“Cats.” His laugh was a cold, humorless guffaw. Niera made a distressed sound and slumped back on her stool. “As you probably experienced, given your reaction.”

“Holly said she couldn’t let me leave. Whatever she did, I can’t pass beyond the outskirts of town. I tried three times last night. Each time, I ended up portaled back to the beach with a pitying cat staring down at me.”

He couldn’t help it. He chuckled until he laughed and shook his head, reclining on his stool and crossing his arms over his chest.

“I told you. The Sherwoods have some sort of magical powers. Some talk to you, some choose to be more unassuming, but are no less guilty of menacing behavior.” He gave the counter one final tap with the toe of his sneaker and sighed. “For three nights, I can assume part of my mer features. No fins, but I can stay submerged for the duration of the full moon, starting the night before the peak and lasting through the night after the peak. The trouble comes when I try to get to the water. Those Sherwoods put up a boundary that will not let me wade into the ocean. I was planning on trying to go down A1A a bit, but after your experience, I’m wondering how far this boundary stretches.”

“And it’s only during the full moon?”

“Yep. I can go into the water any other time without a hitch. And it’s not the sea fae keeping me out. They want me in the water so they can gnaw at my limbs and torture me. So, that’s my sad tale. I can break my curse by finding the sea fae who cast the darn thing on me, but I can’t reach the water during the full moon to do so.” He shrugged, clearly trying to lighten his solemn mood, and flashed her a forced smile. “Your turn.”

Niera picked at the seeds on her roll, tossing each extraction on the plate. After a few long moments of silence, she shifted on her stool and faced him, her hands folded in her lap as she swung her legs.

“I was always the fae who saw perfection in the connection of two people, despite the struggles to make that pairing possible. It was a gift, one I cherished, and one the Fates deemed me worthy of. I became the Mystical Matchmaker a few decades ago, but with the title came the responsibility of ensuring those I brought together weremeantto be together. You see”—she wagged her hand between them—“I can sense a fated connection. I can see the lifelines entwine and light up. I know when two people are meant to be together because it’s inarguable. My gift makes it so. The Fates thought it a gift to bestow the chore of matching one hundred couples. They warned me I had a time limit, but never told me what that limit was.

“Then, I had a dream before coming here that I had reached the end of my road. If I can’t make my one-hundredth match by the time it snows, I’ll be cursed to live alone, surrounded by everyone else’s happiness, with no hope of being happy myself.”

“But you isolate yourself?”

She lowered her head. “I’ve left myself no time or leeway for romantic involvement while I rush against an unseen clock. Do you know the effort it takes to get strangers to realize they’re meant for each other? There were times I wanted to beat my head against the wall, but in the end, their happiness filled a deep well inside me a little more.”

“You came here to play matchmaker with Annie and Danny to fulfill your deed,” he realized aloud, rapping his fingers against his biceps. “Only they were already together, so you didn’t have to put in much effort.”

“I thought they’d be my one-hundredth. Holly believes otherwise.”

“Ahh.” He dropped his head back and looked up at the ceiling. “It always comes back to the cats. What happened between you and the sea fae?”

“I stole a human love interest from one and handed him to his true mate. The sea fae didn’t take it well and banned me from the sea.”

He lowered his head and watched her nervously playing with her nails and swinging her legs.

“So your revulsion for the ocean doesn’t come from your genetic makeup, but a spell.”

“A curse.”

“No. A spell. A repelling spell. Nothing more. It’s a smoke-and-mirror spell to makes you experience sickness and revulsion when, in fact, your body and magic aren’t affected at all. I’ve seen it plenty.” He rubbed the back of his neck and released a sharp sigh. “I should’ve realized it sooner. I knew it didn’t make sense that the ocean stole your magic.”