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“You told us you were a phoenix,” Lenore added, staring daggers at Shea. “You lied to everyone.”

“I never said I was a phoenix,” Shea argued, crossing her arms. “Someone assumed and I neglected to correct them.”

“But you let us believe it, and omission is the same as a lie,” Helena said.

“Mark my words, witch, you willneverbe a student at The Dome,” Cora hissed, looking more snake than mermaid. Then she turned her venomous gaze on me. “And you’re a traitor for just being with her, but telling her about The Dome? Our kind’s most protected secret? Some mermaid you are.”

The mermaids all glared at me.

“You will never be one of us,” Lenore said, hammering the final nail in my outsider coffin.

The sting of rejection on such a large scale was almost more than I could bear, but my failure on Shea’s part hurt even more. I stepped down off the couch and looked at Shea.

“Shea…” I began, unsure of what else to say.

“This was a mistake.” Shea shook her head, her fingers running through her hair. “I shouldn’t have come here tonight.”

Then she turned around and rushed to the front door.

I ran after her, grabbing her arm as we came outside. “This isn’t the end.”

“No,” Shea stopped me, looking down at the ground. “I don’t belong here, and nobody in my world will teach me anything. Maybe I’m just not meant for this. Maybe I’m not meant for anything.”

I had never seen her so down. Shea had a never-say-die attitude, a fire inside of her that couldn’t be put out. But tonight, that fire’s light was barely visible. And I knew I was at fault. How had this night gone so horribly wrong?

“Shea, you can’t believe that,” I said.

“Sorry. I’m going home,” she said with finality. “I’ll talk to you later.”

She pulled her arm out of my gentle hold and walked off into the night.

That’s just great, Arya. In one night, not only did I pit my only two guy friends against each other, but I humiliated my best friend and got myself completely alienated from the mermaids. How was I possibly going to fix any of this?

Chapter 18

Tobias

“Why don’t you dragons just stick to your own kind,” Kendall said, puffing his chest out like a blowfish.

When Arya disappeared into the house, I poked a finger into Kendall’s ribs, which were still invading my personal space.

“And who areyouto tellmewhat to do?” I growled in a low, hostile tone.

I saw the slightest flicker of fear in his eyes, but it quickly evaporated, replaced by a smirk. “What? You think your Dracul name gives you the right to do whatever you want?”

I bared my teeth and resisted the urge to punch this asshole in the face.

“In case you’ve forgotten, I’m royalty, too.” Kendall stepped back with his hands up as if addressing the audience we’d acquired, but his eyes stayed on me.

I jutted my chin threateningly at the group of onlookers, making them jump and scatter like cockroaches.

“Not only that, but I’m amer,” Kendall emphasized.

I didn’t miss the way he was covering his cowardly retreat by addressing the crowd.

“Like Arya,” he continued. “And our kind stick together. So, if you think you have even the tiniest chance with that girl—”

“That kinda sounds like a challenge, fish boy,” I snarled, my competitive dragon nature fueling my possessiveness over her. I stalked closer. “You really think she’d pick you over me? Like you said, I’m dragon royalty. And you’re just a floundering fish on the end of her lure that she’s going to toss back in.”